Smoke and dust aerosol transport from a synergistic lidar-sunphotometer observation in the Northeast US: Implication for remote sensing of air quality

Aloft aerosol plumes injected from dust and biomass burning events can make a substantial contribution to total or column aerosol optical depth (AOD) thus affect the linkage between aerosol column amounts and surface concentration, which influences the estimate of surface aerosol concentration (PM2.5) from satellite column observation. In this study, the multi-year lidar-sunphotometer observations are used to assess the height distribution, seasonal occurrence and optical properties of aloft aerosol layers in New York City, as well as their influence on the AOD-PM2.5 relationship. A cluster analysis of backward trajectories in conjunction with the aerosol layer is used to identify source regions and characteristic transport patterns. In addition, we explore specific aloft aerosol layers and type classifications in the regional or continental scales with the ground/spaceborne lidar CALIOP observations and NAAPS transport model.