Monitoring of heavy aerosol plume by an integrated aerosol measurement system in June 2004 over Korea

Integrated approach has been adopted at the ADvanced Environmental Research Center (ADEMRC), Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Korea for effective monitoring of atmospheric environment. Various optical remote sensing techniques such as Multi-wavelength LIDAR, sun-photometry, and satellite monitoring have been utilized. This integrated monitoring system approach is to allow better characterization of physical and optical properties of atmospheric aerosol. The Multi-wavelength LIDAR system provides aerosol extinction profile using the Raman scttering channel data. Using aerosol size distribution obtained from inversion of sunphotometer measured spectral aerosol optical depth data and aerosol vertical distribution based on LIDAR measurements radiative transfer simulation was carried out to construct look-up tables for satellite aerosol retrieval. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aerosol retrieval results show spatial extent of aerosol plume and were validated with the ground-based measurements. In this study collocated multi-wavelength LIDAR and sunphotometer plus satellite data were used to characterize the thick aerosol plume observed 10~20 June 2004 over Korea, which was partially impacted by long-range transported aerosol from China. Large Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT) up to ~2.0 was observed from both MODIS and sunphotometer data on 11 June 2004 due to the aerosol plume from China, resulting in adverse effects on local air quality. These heavy aerosol plumes caused an increase in the PM10 concentration up to 348 mg/m3 in Gwangju(35.13N, 126.5E). LIDAR observations showed that aerosol layer was located below 1km and was composed of particles having depolarization ratio of 0.02. The monitoring system integrated with various optical remote sensing techniques such as LIDAR, sun-photometry, and satellite monitoring is real-time analytical tool for spatially resolved measurement of atmospheric aerosol, which can allow better characterization of their physical and optical properties.