EGU21-8765, updated on 04 May 2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-8765
EGU General Assembly 2021
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

On stable boundary-layer height estimation using backscatter lidar data and variance processing

Marcos Paulo Araujo da Silva1, Constantino Muñoz-Porcar1, Umar Saeed2, Francesc Rey3, Maria Teresa Pay4, and Francesc Rocadenbosch1,5
Marcos Paulo Araujo da Silva et al.
  • 1CommSensLab-UPC, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Department of Signal Theory and Communications, Spain (marcos.silva@upc.edu).
  • 2Department of Communications and Networking, Aalto University, Espoo, 00076, Finland.
  • 3Department of Signal Theory and Communications, UPC, Campus Nord, E-08034 Barcelona, Spain.
  • 4Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Earth Sciences, E-08034, Barcelona, Spain.
  • 5Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia, IEEC, E-08034 Barcelona, Spain.

This study describes a method to estimate the nocturnal stable boundary layer height (SBLH) by means of lidar observations. The method permits two approaches which yield independent retrievals through either spatial or temporal variance vertical profiles of the attenuated backscatter. Then, the minimum variance region (MVR) on this profile is identified. Eventually, when multiple MVRs are detected, a temperature-based SBLH estimation derived from radiosonde, launched within the searching time, is used to disambiguate the initial guess. In order to test the method, two study cases employing lidar-ceilometer (Jenoptik CHM 15k Nimbus) measurements are investigated. Temperature-based estimates from a collocated microwave radiometer permitted validation, using either temporal or spatial backscatter variances. The dataset was collected during the HD(CP)2 Observational Prototype Experiment (HOPE) [1].   

[1] U. Saeed, F. Rocadenbosch, and S. Crewell, “Adaptive Estimation of the Stable Boundary Layer Height Using Combined Lidar and Microwave Radiometer Observations,” IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens., 54(12), 6895–6906 (2016), DOI: 10.1109/TGRS.2016.2586298.

[2] U. Löhnert, J. H. Schween, C. Acquistapace, K. Ebell, M. Maahn, M. Barrera-Verdejo, A. Hirsikko, B. Bohn, A. Knaps, E. O’Connor, C. Simmer, A. Wahner, and S. Crewell, “JOYCE: Jülich Observatory for Cloud Evolution,” Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 96(7), 1157-1174 (2015). DOI: 10.1175/BAMS-D-14-00105.1

How to cite: Araujo da Silva, M. P., Muñoz-Porcar, C., Saeed, U., Rey, F., Pay, M. T., and Rocadenbosch, F.: On stable boundary-layer height estimation using backscatter lidar data and variance processing, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-8765, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-8765, 2021.

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