HR: 0800h
AN: A41A-0013 [Abstracts]
TI: Vertical profiles of aerosol extinction and radiative heating at Niamey, Niger
AU: * McFarlane, S
EM: sally.mcfarlane@pnl.gov
AF: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999
MSIN K9-24, Richland, WA 99352,
AU: Kassianov, E
EM: evgueni.kassianov@pnl.gov
AF: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999
MSIN K9-24, Richland, WA 99352,
AU: Flynn, C
EM: connor.flynn@Pnl.gov
AF: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999
MSIN K9-24, Richland, WA 99352,
AU: Barnard, J
EM: jim.barnard@pnl.gov
AF: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999
MSIN K9-24, Richland, WA 99352,
AB:
Land use and land cover changes may lead to increases in Saharan dust outbreaks and increased dust aerosol
loading in the atmosphere. It is important to understand the impact of Saharan dust on the
Earth's radiation budget in order to improve model simulations of regional and global
climate. Details of the radiative impact depend on the amount, vertical profile, and optical properties of the
observed aerosol.
The ARM Mobile Facility (AMF) was deployed in Niamey, Niger during 2006 as part of the RADAGAST project
(Radiative Atmospheric Divergence using ARM Mobile Facility, GERB data and AMMA Stations) in cooperation with
the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (AMMA) experiment. This deployment represents the first long-
term series of measurements of aerosol properties from the surface in the Sahel region and provides an
unprecedented opportunity to examine the radiative heating profiles associated with aerosol in this region.
Using aerosol optical properties derived from the Multi-Filter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer (MFRSR) and the
Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (AERI), profiles of relative aerosol extinction from the micropulse
lidar (MPL), and measurements of broadband surface radiation at the AMF site, we examine the vertical profile of
aerosol extinction and aerosol radiative heating during the dry season (January - March and
Oct-Dec, 2006) at Niamey.
DE: 0305 Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801, 4906)
DE: 0360 Radiation: transmission and scattering
DE: 3359 Radiative processes
DE: 3360 Remote sensing
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting