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Aerosol properties in the atmosphere of Natal/Brazil measured by an AERONET Sun-photometer

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Abstract

We analyzed data measured by a Sun-photometer of the RIMA-AERONET network with the purpose to characterize the aerosol properties in the atmosphere over Natal, state capital of Rio Grande do Norte, at the coast of Northeast Brazil. Aerosol Optical Depth, Ångström Exponent, Volume Size Distribution, Single Scattering Albedo, Complex Refractive Index, Asymmetry Factor, and Precipitable Water were analyzed from August 2017 to March 2018. In addition, MODIS and CALIOP observations, local Lidar measurements, and modeled backward trajectories were analyzed in a case study on February 9, 2018, that consistently confirmed the identification of a persistent aerosol layer below 4 km agl. Aerosols present in the atmosphere of Natal showed monthly mean Aerosol Optical Depth at 500 nm below 0.15 (~ 75%), monthly means of the Ångström Exponent at 440–670 nm between 0.30 and 0.70 (~ 69%), bimodal Volume Size Distribution is dominantly coarse mode, Single Scattering Albedo at 440 nm is 0.80, Refractive Index - Real Part around 1.50, Refractive Index - Imaginary Part ranging from 0.01 to 0.04, and the Asymmetry Factor ranged from 0.73 to 0.80. The aerosol typing during the measurement period showed that atmospheric aerosol over Natal is mostly composed of mixed aerosol (58.10%), marine aerosol (34.80%), mineral dust (6.30%), and biomass burning aerosols (0.80%). Backward trajectories identified that 51% of the analyzed air masses over Natal originated from the African continent.

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Data availability

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available:

AERONET-RIMA network, aerosol properties (https://aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov),

CALIOP/CALIPSO, aerosol subtype (https://www-calipso.larc.nasa.gov/products), MODIS/TERRA/AQUA, AOD (https://ladsweb.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov),

HYSPLIT, model backward trajectories (https://www.ready.noaa.gov/hypub-bin/trajtype.pl),

Data of the DUSTER Lidar system belong to the Lidar Laboratory of the Department of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences (DCAC) at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, Brazil, and the Center for Lasers and Applications (CLA) at the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute (IPEN/CNEN), São Paulo, Brazil. Data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request and with permission of CLA/IPEN.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the University of Granada (UGR), Andalusian Institute for Earth System Research (IISTA-CEAMA), Spain, especially Lucas Alados-Arboledas and Juan Luis Guerrero-Rascado and the RIMA network for making the Cimel Sun-photometer available in Natal and for continuous scientific discussions. We thank IF/USP, specifically Prof. Paulo Artaxo, for generous technical support and Dr. Aline Macedo de Oliveira (PPGCC/UFRN) and Dr. Ediclê de Souza Fernandes Duarte (PPGCC/UFRN) for contributions to some of the graphics and discussion of its data. The authors gratefully acknowledge the NOAA Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) for the provision of the HYSPLIT transport and dispersion model and/or READY website (https://www.ready.noaa.gov) used in this publication. The authors wish to also acknowledge the entire CALIPSO team for their substantial contributions and for the data obtained from the NASA Langley Research Center. This article and the research behind it are a direct contribution to the research themes of the Klimapolis Laboratory (klimapolis.net). Networking and coordination activities of the Klimapolis Laboratory are funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Funding

University of Granada, Andalusian Institute for Earth System Research (IISTA-CEAMA), Spain: deployment of the Cimel sun-photometer to São Paulo, support in setting up the instrument, and continuous support with the measurements.

Nuclear and Energy Research Institute (IPEN/CNEN), Center for Lasers and Applications (CLA) at the São Paulo, Brazil: deployment of the Cimel sun-photometer to Natal, local and remote support in setting up the instrument, and continuous support with the measurements, support in analysis, and interpretation of data and in writing the manuscript.

University of São Paulo, Institute for Physics (IF/USP): deployment of technical support to Natal, sensor maintenance, continuous support with instrumental issues, support in analysis, and interpretation of data.

The Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES/MCTIC), Brazil, for the master student scholarship of DCFSO.

The National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Brazil, supported the research with a postdoc grant (150716/2017-6) for FJSL and funded the research projects 479252/2011-4, 477713/2013-0, 400430/2014-2, and 432515/2018-6 that allowed to bring the Cimel sun-photometer to Natal, equip the Lidar laboratory at DCAC/UFRN, of which the instrument is part, and permitted carrying out the analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Program in Climate Sciences (PPGCC), Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, Brazil

    Daniel Camilo Fortunato dos Santos Oliveira

  2. Physical Sciences Department, School of Science, EAFIT University, Medellín, Colombia

    Elena Montilla-Rosero

  3. Environmental Science Department, Institute of Environmental, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Science, Federal University of São Paulo – UNIFESP, Rua São Nicolau, 210, Centro, 09913-030, Diadema, São Paulo, Brazil

    Fábio Juliano da Silva Lopes

  4. Center for Lasers and Applications, Nuclear and Energy Research Institute-IPEN, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 2242, Cidade Universitária, São Paulo, São Paulo, 05508-000, Brazil

    Fábio Juliano da Silva Lopes, Fernando Gonçalves Morais & Eduardo Landulfo

  5. Physics Institute, University of São Paulo – USP, Rua do Matao, 1371, 05508-090, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Fernando Gonçalves Morais

  6. Department of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences (UFRN/DCAC), Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil

    Judith Johanna Hoelzemann

Authors
  1. Daniel Camilo Fortunato dos Santos Oliveira
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  2. Elena Montilla-Rosero
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  3. Fábio Juliano da Silva Lopes
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  4. Fernando Gonçalves Morais
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  5. Eduardo Landulfo
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Contributions

This work is based on the master thesis of the first author, Daniel Camilo Fortunato dos Santos Oliveira (DCFSO, who is now Master in Climate Sciences (2019), under supervision of JJH). Contributions of all authors to this work were as follows: Instrument installation and maintenance: DCFSO, EMR, FCM, JJH. Conceptualization: EMR, FJSL, EL, JJH. Methodology: DCFSO, EMR, FJSL, EL, JJH. Formal analysis: DCFSO, JJH. Validation: DCFSO, JJH. Visualization: DCSFO, FJSL, FCM. Writing - original draft: DCFSO, JJH. Writing - review and editing: DCFSO, FJSL, FCM, JJH. Project administration: EL, JJH. Funding acquisition: EL, JJH. Resources: EL, JJH. Software: DCFSO, EMR, FJSL.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Judith Johanna Hoelzemann.

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Fortunato dos Santos Oliveira, D.C., Montilla-Rosero, E., da Silva Lopes, F.J. et al. Aerosol properties in the atmosphere of Natal/Brazil measured by an AERONET Sun-photometer. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 9806–9823 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11373-z

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