1. The European network of automatic lidars and ceilometers E-PROFILE
Validation through EARLINET/ACTRIS measurements & potential for satellite cal/val
Rolf Rüfenacht, Lucia Mona, Nikos Papagiannopoulos, Marco Rosoldi, Giuseppe D'Amico, Ina Mattis, Alberto Cazorla, Lucas Alados-Arboledas, Juan Luis Guerrero-Rascado, Juan Antonio Bravo-Aranda, Timo H. Virtanen, Gerrit de Leeuw, Maxime Hervo, Alexander Haefele

2. The E-PROFILE ALC network
Assess vertical /horizontal aerosol distribution and transport in real-time
commercial ALCs (different types)
270 instruments (still growing)
in operation 24/7
central data processing
automatic calibration
- Rayleigh calibration (used here)
- Cloud calibration for lower power
real-time data + quicklook delivery

3. EARLINET
Analyse aerosol situation in detail above station for targeted event
research instruments
high power, multichannel, depolarisation
manual operatian and distribution
event-based times/week
29 stations
new single calculus chain (SCC) provides attenuated backscatter

4. Intercomparison with EARLINET
Attenuated backscatter profiles
3 sites with co-location of ceilometers and lidars at 1064 nm
routine att. backscatter from E-PROFILE
att. backscatter from EARLINET SCC
first 3 months of data (1 year at the end) gr oh po

5. Intercomparison with EARLINET
Attenuated backscatter profiles Hohenpeissenberg

6. Intercomparison with EARLINET
Attenuated backscatter profiles Hohenpeissenberg
almost bias free
auto calibration ok
promising
bias <0.005 Mm-1.sr-1
50% in ±0.06 Mm-1.sr-1
99% in ±0.25 Mm-1.sr-1
bias <0.005 Mm-1.sr-1
50% in ±0.01 Mm-1.sr-1
99% in ±0.06 Mm-1.sr-1
bias <0.005 Mm-1.sr-1
50% in ±0.03 Mm-1.sr-1
99% in ±0.12 Mm-1.sr-1

7. Intercomparison with EARLINET
Attenuated backscatter profiles Potenza
almost no bias
more noise
old ceilometer (laser and firmware)
bias <0.005 Mm-1.sr-1
50% in ±0.10 Mm-1.sr-1
99% in ±0.40 Mm-1.sr-1

8. Intercomparison with EARLINET
Aerosol layer top height
Ophelia storm on 19 October 2017
layer height manually inferred
E-PROFILE stations in 100 km radius of EARLINET observations

9. Potential for satellite validation
Layer height comparison with SLSTR (Sentinel-3)
E-PROFILE has some advantages for satellite intercomparison
dense network  proximity to overpass can be required
24/7 operation  lots of data for intercomparison freely available
aerosol layer top heights were inferred from SLSTR in the framework of the EUNADICS-AV project
compared to manually inferred layer top heights of E-PROFILE  might be automated in future

10. Potential for satellite validation
Layer height comparison with SLSTR (Sentinel-3)

11. Conclusions
Europe features two complementary lidar networks for aerosol profiling
E-PROFILE’s dense 24/7 network provides high-resolution real-time information for assessing aerosol distribution and transport
EARLINET’s high power multi-channel lidars enable detailed aerosol typing and mass estimates when in operation
EARLINET vs. E-PROFILE intercomparison
first results show good agreement in att. backscatter
layer heights match very well
Potential for satellite validation has been illustrated with SLSTR layer heights

12. Thanks for your attention