EGU2020-4652, updated on 17 Jan 2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-4652
EGU General Assembly 2020
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Mesoscale variability of the aerosol distribution as determined from ceilometer measurements

Matthias Wiegner1, Alexander Geiß1, Ina Mattis2, Fred Meier3, and Thomas Ruhtz4
Matthias Wiegner et al.
  • 1Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Meteorological Institute, München, Germany (m.wiegner@lmu.de)
  • 2Deutscher Wetterdienst, Observatorium Hohenpeißenberg, Hohenpeißenberg, Germany
  • 3Chair of Climatology, Institute of Ecology, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany
  • 4Freie Universität Berlin, Institute for Space Sciences, Berlin, Germany

The spatial distribution of aerosol particles is relevant for studies on the radiation budget, for the verification of chemistry transport models, or for air quality studies just to name a few. As the distribution is highly variable the requirements to measurements are very demanding. As a consequence it is often assumed that the aerosol distribution is "relatively homogeneous", i.e., measurements at one site are representative for a larger area.

By exploiting 2 years of measurements from 12 ceilometers located in the area of Munich and Berlin, Germany, we have investigated the spatial differences between locations separated between 3~km and 50~km. For this purpose we have used the mixing layer height (MLH), a quantity often used when the vertical aerosol distribution should be described by a single parameter. The MLH was determined by the COBOLT-algorithm (Geiß et al., 2017). It was found that the MLHs at different locations inside the two cities are highly correlated and agree within a few tens of meters. However, the maximum extension of the mixing layer from April to September was found to be significantly larger in Berlin compared to Munich.


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, 2017.

How to cite: Wiegner, M., Geiß, A., Mattis, I., Meier, F., and Ruhtz, T.: Mesoscale variability of the aerosol distribution as determined from ceilometer measurements, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-4652, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-4652, 2020.