A decade of stratospheric aerosol observations by the CALIPSO space-borne lidar

Vernier, Jean-Paul

A decade of stratospheric aerosol observations by the CALIPSO space-borne lidar

Monday, 19 March 2018

Iriarte (Hotel Botanico)

Jean-Paul Vernier¹, Jayanta Kar¹, Fairlie T Duncan², Larry Willis Thomason², Murali Natarajan² and Hongyu Liu³, (1)Science Systems and Applications, Inc., Hampton, VA, United States, (2)NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, United States, (3)National Institute of Aerospace, Hampton, VA, United States

Abstract:

The last 3 decades have seen the levels of stratospheric aerosol varying by more than two orders of magnitude. The absence of major volcanic eruption since Mt Pinatubo in 1991 offers a unique opportunity to understand the sources and processes influencing stratospheric aerosol background levels. This presentation will focus on stratospheric aerosol from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and InfraRed Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO). We will discuss the strengths and limitations of lidar observations of UTLS aerosols and compare them with other space-borne observations and balloon-borne measurements. Finally, we will show how CALIPSO observations provided new insights on the sources and sinks influencing aerosol variability in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere over the last decade.