Urban atmospheric boundary layer height by aerosol lidar and ceilometer

Abstract:

The characteristics of urban atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) height on January, April, July and October 2014 using the gradient method by a ceilometer with a wavelength of 910 nm and an aerosol lidar with a wavelength of 532 and 1064 nm installed at two urban sites (Gwanghwamun and Jungnang) in Korea are analyzed. The Gwanghwamun site located at urban commercial area is 10 km apart from the Jungnang site located at urban residential area. The ABL height is determined by a height with a strong gradient of vertical backscatter intensity. It is found that the ABL height at both sites show a similar pattern and has a strong diurnal variation with a steep increase at 09-12 KST with a maximum in the late afternoon. And it is not determined clearly and the correlation between the ABL height by a ceilometer and that by an aerosol lidar is relatively low in case of high PM₁₀ concentration such as Asian dust, haze and smog. Uncertainty of ABL height is also found to be strongly affected by the weather phenomena such as rain, haze or fog.