Ceilometer: Time-Height Cross Sections
Quicklook and Archive
Range Corrected Signal: 09.08.2022Munich: MIM-Ceilometer Lufft CHM15kx (blueYALIS) @ 1064 nm |
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Munich: MIM-Ceilometer Lufft CHM8k (redYALIS) @ 905 nm (+) |
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Schneefernerhaus: UFS-Ceilometer Lufft CHM15kx @ 1064 nm |
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Data from 09.08.2022
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image of today Archive: August 2022
Change month
Notes
Quicklooks of the „range corrected signal“ of our ALC (Automatic low-power lidar and ceilometer) testbed operated in the framework of ACTRIS:
at 1064 nm measured by a Lufft CHM15kx (blueYALIS)
at 905 nm by a Lufft CHM8k (redYALIS)
at 910 nm by a Vaisala CL61
at 910 nm by a Vasiala CL51
at 910 nm by a Vaisala CL31
at 912 nm by a Campbell Scientific SkyVUEPRO
In addtion, the Vaisala CL61 provides measurements of the Volume Linear Depolarization Ratio at 910 nm.
The instruments are usually located on the roof of the Meteorological Institute (MIM) of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (48.148 N, 11.573 E, altitude 539 m), unless otherwise stated in the case of calibration or measurement campaigns.
We are grateful that we are allowed to process the corresponding data (since 1. June 2010) of the CHM15k ceilometer located at the Umweltforschungsstation Schneefernerhaus on Zugspitze (UFS, altitude 2712 m, 93 km south of Munich), owned by the UFS and operated by the German Weather Service for comparison.
Range corrected signal
The range corrected signal is proportional to the attenuated backscatter, and in first approximation proportional to the
backscatter coefficient of particles. The backscatter coefficient is an indication for the „amount of aerosols“. The signals at 903 nm (redYALIS) are also influenced by water vapor absorption.
The images show clouds in white (very strong backscatter signal) and aerosols in
green and yellow (medium strong signal). Extended white and red areas down to
the ground indicate rain. Note, that „steps“ in the colored areas (visible until 27. October 2014 for the blueYALIS measurements) are due
to automatically changed settings of the ceilometer's detection
unit.
History of blueYALIS
12.06.2009 - 27.10.2014: CHM15kx „1. generation“
10.11.2014 - 08.01.2015: CHM15k „Nimbus“ (with overlap-correction provided by the manufacturer)
02.02.2015 - 26.05.2015: CHM15kx „Nimbus“
27.06.2015 - 14.09.2015: CHM15kx „Nimbus“ (after re-adjustment), CeiLinEx2015-campaign in Lindenberg
21.09.2015 - 12.11.2018: CHM15kx „Nimbus“
13.11.2018 - 03.06.2019: CHM15kx „Nimbus“ (with overlap-correction provided by the manufacturer)
since 01.08.2019: CHM15kx „Nimbus“ (new detector, with overlap-correction provided by the manufacturer)
History of redYALIS
since 25.02.2019: operational (range extended to 15 km)
11.09.2019-24.06.2020: located in Garching
24.06.2020-August 2020: located in Egling a.d. Paar on PV campaign site
August 2020-April 2021: stored
Since 20.04.2021: located at MIM
Explanations
Examples with explanations are shown here
Further reading
On the calibration of ceilometer signals: Wiegner, M. and Geiß, A. (2012): Aerosol profiling with the Jenoptik ceilometer CHM15kx, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 5, 1953-1964,
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-5-1953-2012.
On the evaluation of ceilometer data: Wiegner, M., Madonna, F., Binietoglou, I., Forkel, R., Gasteiger, J., Geiß, A., Pappalardo, G., Schäfer, K., and Thomas, W. (2014): What is the benefit of ceilometers for aerosol remote sensing? An answer from EARLINET, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 1979-1997,
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1979-2014.
On water vapor absorption affecting ceilometer measurements at 905-910 nm: Wiegner, M. and Gasteiger, J. (2015): Correction of water vapor absorption for aerosol remote sensing with ceilometers, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 3971–3984,
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-3971-2015.
On the determination of the mixing layer height: Geiß, A., Wiegner, M., Bonn, B., Schäfer, K., Forkel, R., von Schneidemesser, E., Münkel, C., Chan, K. L., and Nothard, R. (2017): Mixing layer height as an indicator for urban air quality?, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 2969-2988,
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2969-2017.
On the validation of the water vapor correction: Wiegner, M., Mattis, I., Pattantyús-Ábrahám, M., Bravo-Aranda, J. A., Poltera, Y., Haefele, A., Hervo, M., Görsdorf, U., Leinweber, R., Gasteiger, J., Haeffelin, M., Wagner, F., Cermak, J., Komínková, K., Brettle, M., Münkel, C., and Pönitz, K. (2019): Aerosol backscatter profiles from ceilometers: validation of water vapor correction in the framework of CeiLinEx2015, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 471–490,
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-471-2019.