HR: 0830h
AN: A41D-0720    [PDF]
TI: Long Term Monitoring of Post Pinatubo Aerosols
AU: * Woods, D C
EM: d.c.woods@larc.nasa.gov
AF: NASA Langley Research Center, 23A Langley Blvd, Hampton, VA 23681 United States
AU: Lucker, P L
EM: p.l.lucker
AF: Science and Technology Corp, 10 Basil Sawyer Dr., Hampton, VA 23666 United States
AB: Lidar observations at Hampton, Virginia (37.1N, 76.3W) show that the stratospheric aerosol loading, after recovering from the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption, has been very low for the past five years. Since Pinatubo, there have been no major eruptions to influence northern mid-latitude stratospheric aerosols. Thus, the aerosol level gradually decreased over the years since 1992, when the Pinatubo aerosol reached a peak level. Current lidar integrated backscatter values, measured at 694 nm wavelength, indicate the aerosol level to be slightly below "background" values measured in 1978 following a volcanically quiescent period. The current measurements suggest that the natural stratospheric aerosol background level may be lower than previously thought. This measurement activity is part of an on-going lidar monitoring program at NASA Langley Research Center to study and characterize stratospheric aerosols. The results presented here, which include a long-term lidar record spanning 30 years, were obtained with a ground-based 48-inch lidar. We will present selected backscatter ratio profiles measured during periods of enhanced aerosol loading produced by the Pinatubo eruption and profiles measured during periods well after the Pinatubo aerosol was removed. In addition, lidar integrated backscatter measurements will be compared with optical depth measurements obtained by SAGE and SAGE II satellite-based instruments, which employ the solar occultation technique.
UR: http://www-sage2.larc.nasa.gov/
DE: 0305 Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801)
DE: 0370 Volcanic effects (8409)
DE: 0394 Instruments and techniques
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting