Airborne in situ and remote sensing studies on the vertical and areal distribution of microphysical and optical properties of Saharan dust

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The proposal is part of the joined SAMUM (SAharan Mineral dUst ExperiMent) effort on radiative effects of desert dust aerosols. Main research objectives are a clear-column radiative closure for desert dust aerosol over a source region of aerosol extinction from lidar with aerosol extinction from particle size, shape and composition, the impact of aging and mixing processes during long-range transport on microphysical, optical and radiative properties of Saharan dust, and the validation of aerosol products from spaceborne sensors as aerosol optical thickness from SCIAMACHY and MERIS on ENVISAT and lidar backscatter profiles from ESSP 3/CALIPSO. The investigations use airborne in situ and remote sensing studies of dust layers in the free troposphere. The deployed airborne platform will be equipped with 3-wavelength DIAL, which is ohne of the world leading instruments of that type and an extensive in situ aerosol instrumentation. Aerosol backscatter profiles, extinction coefficient, depolarization ratio as a measure for particle asphericity, particle size distributions from 0.004 µm to 100 µm in diameter, particle refractive index, mixing state, chemical composition, and scattering phase function will be measured. The proposal contributes significantly to the column closure experiment and to the long-range transport experiment on desert dust, which are the major activities within SAMUM. The activities will take place parallel to the operation of ESSP 3/CALIPSO.