Open AccessRetrievals of Antarctic aerosol characteristics using a Sun‐sky radiometer during the 2001–2002 austral summer campaign
Author(s) -
Di Carmine C.,
Campanelli M.,
Nakajima T.,
Tomasi C.,
Vitale V.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2004jd005280
Subject(s) - aerosol , katabatic wind , environmental science , radiometer , atmospheric sciences , effective radius , angstrom exponent , optical depth , advection , meteorology , geology , remote sensing , physics , quantum mechanics , galaxy , thermodynamics
In order to characterize the Antarctic aerosol and to analyze the effect of katabatic winds on the properties of suspended particles, measurements of solar direct and diffuse irradiance were carried out at the Italian Terra Nova Bay station in Antarctica, during the 2001–2002 austral summer campaign. Measurements were performed by the ground‐based PREDE sky radiometer and processed by using the Skyrad inversion code. Aerosol optical thickness at 500 nm was found to vary between 0.01 and 0.02. The volume size distribution curves showed bimodal features with the two modes located within 0.1–0.3 μm and 5–7 μm radius intervals, respectively. The real part of the refractive index characterizing the Antarctic aerosol was found to have a mean value of 1.40. During the katabatic event the analysis indicated that the advection of larger and drier fresh particles, together with the removal of marine suspended particles, caused the decrease in aerosol optical thickness.