Estimation of effective Mixing Layer Height of aerosols from CALIPSO

Abstract

Aerosol is one of major species for air quality and climate forcing studies. For the radiative effect of aerosol, the aerosol optical depth (AOD) is important parameters to identify the direct climate forcing in regional scale. However, the radiative forcing efficiency for the aerosol is also varied by the aerosol types and its vertical distribution. In particular, the mixing layer height of aerosol is simultaneously affected not only to the radiative forcing efficiency but also the concentration of aerosols near the surface. From the previous researches, top of the aerosol layer near the surface is assumed that the mixing layer height is equal to the planetary boundary layer height. However, this assumption has large uncertainties for estimating aerosol vertical distribution, and affects to the transport pattern of aerosols near the surface. Especially, the difference of layer height between mixing layer of aerosol and planetary boundary layer depended on the atmospheric stability and thermal heating change from the surface. Therefore, direct conversion of the mixing layer height from the observation dataset relating to the aerosol product is essential. In this study, we are preliminary retrieved to the mixing layer height of aerosols by using the scientific product of CALIPSO. To identify the mixing layer height, we are used to the products of aerosol type classification and extinction backscattering coefficients.