Automatic Operation of Lidar Systems at Remote Sites

Automatic Operation of Lidar Systems at Remote Sites NET – – Polly Dietrich Althausen, Ronny Engelmann, Holger Baars, Birgit Heese, Thomas Kanitz, Detlef Müller, Mika Komppula, Frank Wagner, Andreas Hänel …

What would be the ideal Lidar network for aerosol typing? • worldwide measurements also at remote sites • 1 type of system 1 software also for data retrieval • Optical information of particles: 3 backscatter coefficients, 2 extinction coefficients, at least 1 depolarization ratio inversion to microphysical particle parameters We try to do this. http: //polly. tropos. de

Emitter Simultaneously emitted 180 m. J (1064 nm) 110 m. J (532 nm) 60 m. J (355 nm) compact < 0. 5 mrad automatic Receiver complex but easy to handle Raman lidar Diameter of main mirror 30 cm Receiver field of view 1 mrad 3+2+1 Divergence of beam Channels 355 nm, 532 nm, 1064 nm Elastic 387 nm, 607 nm Raman 355 nm or/and 532 nm Depolarization 3 2 1 one type of system one data format and one type of system parameters one software for backup, quicklooks, …, data retrieval Althausen et al. , J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech. , 2009

Polly. NET Network of Systems yields to closer interaction of all lidar operators support in maintenance is provided, solving of instrument problems, distribution of hardware and software improvements, test routines are exchanged, and faulty data are identified faster. http: //polly. tropos. de

Polly. NET http: //polly. tropos. de 1 + 3 systems Cooperation: If. T, FMI, Uni Evora S ≈ 2350 days measurements EARLINET EUCAARI – European integrated project on aerosol cloud climate air quality interactions OCEANET – Autonomous measuring platforms for the determination of material and energy exchange between ocean and atmosphere ALPACA – Aerosol Lidar measurements at Punta Arenas in the frame of Chilean - Germ. An cooperation

EUCAARI field site in the Amazonian rain forest / Brazil Aeronet sun photometer Satellite dish for internet connection Controlling from Germany

Polly. NET Wordwide measurements Network of Data Autonomous measurements according measurement schedule System performs backup of data to polly. tropos. de At polly. tropos. de: Storage of data, entry in My. SQL-database, quicklook generation Web-Server with start page: http: //polly. tropos. de My. SQL database provides the right plot The aim of these efforts is to backup the data at home immediately after measurement, guarantee access to quicklooks, collect the data on one server, and guarantee long-term storage of data (as sometimes required by projects).

How did we ensure our worldwide measurements? • Cooperation with local colleagues • Automatic measurements (also during interrupted internet connection) • Remote control of all parts of the system • Daily check of the transferred data • Logfiles according all parameter changes, error messages, temperatures inside the system • Fast reaction in case of errors http: //polly. tropos. de

Brazilian Observations Overview 2008 (bold=days with observations) Wet season observations Start Laser damage occasional power failures Dry season observations End of observations! 211 days of lidar observations (294 possible days) source: polly. tropos. de

Overview dry season, Brazil, 2008 55 night time observations mean 15 08 2008 Backscatter coefficients of 55 night time observations in the dry season.

15 August 2008 22: 35 and 23: 35 UTC rather high and indicate small particles Backtrajectory analysis supported this, too. dominated by biomass burning Althausen et al. , J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech. , 2009

Automatic Retrieval of Particle Backscatter und Extinction Coefficient • Automatic products! • EARLINET-ASOS (SCC) Aldo Amodeo “Optimisation of data processing” Giuseppe D’Amico “EARLINET Single Calculus Chain” • Turner, D. D. , R. A. Ferrare, L. A. Heilman, W. F. Feltz, and T. Tooman (2002), Automated retrievals of water vapor and aerosol profiles over Oklahoma from an operational Raman lidar, J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol. , 19, 37– 50.

Example of Automatically Evaluated Measurements old webpage: http: //iftwetter. tropos. de/VAP/

Summary / Outlook Polly. NET is a working lidar network - it’s a network of 1 system type (not restricted to a continent or region). - it’s a network for data handling. - made possible measurements at remote sites. Planned cooperation NIER, South Korea; UA, Australia Improvements automatic retrieval algorithms for a and b