ARC and ATLAS: CARS software tools for the data analysis and quality assurance of lidar measurements performed within ACTRIS

We present newly developed software for the data analysis and quality assurance of lidar systems operated in the ACTRIS (Aerosol Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure) research infrastructure. The software development is coordinated by the Meteorological Institute of Munich (MIM), which operates as one of the central facilities of the Center of Aerosol Remote Sensing (CARS) of ACTRIS. In the frame of ACTRIS, a large number of national facilities (NF) are operating lidar systems for aerosol remote sensing. In order to ensure homogeneously high data quality, CARS is developing appropriate common software tools to assist data processing, system intercomparison, and routine quality assurance of lidar data. Here, we present two such software tools, developed and tested using the long experience of the EARLINET (European Aerosol Research Lidar Network) community.

The ARC (Algorithm for Rayleigh Calculations) has been designed to calculate the cross-section and depolarization ratio of molecular back-scattering. The effect of Rotational Raman (RR) scattering is included line-by-line in ARC considering especially the partial blocking of the RR spectrum due to transmission through narrow-band interference filters. The algorithm supports calculation in variable meteorological conditions for an atmosphere that consists of up to five major gas components (N₂, O₂, CO₂, Ar, H₂O). Such a tool is needed in order to properly take into account the effect of air temperature in the molecular depolarization ratio measured by the NF lidar systems. It is also crucial for designing lidars that rely on RR scattering such as temperature and RR aerosol lidars and can even be applied for the algorithmic correction of unwanted effects introduced by the interference filter in such systems.

The second software package developed by CARS-MIM is ATLAS (AuTomated Lidar Analysis Software). It has been designed for the operational analysis of the quality assurance tests that should be regularly performed and submitted to CARS by the NF for the ACTRIS labeling process. ATLAS currently supports the analysis of all main CARS test procedures, that is, the Rayleigh fit, the Telecover, and the Polarization Calibration. It can also be used to directly compare signals from two lidar systems; It has already been applied in the first intercomparison campaign of CARS reference systems, organized in September 2022 in Magurele, Romania. The software takes raw lidar data as input so the user can detect otherwise-hidden issues in the preprocessing steps. At the time of writing, ATLAS is compatible with all ACTRIS lidar systems. Future updates will include automated syncing of the system metadata from the handbook of instruments of the network, currently hosted by the Single Calculus Chain (SCC), and a graphical user interface that will facilitate its adoption by the NF users. Both software packages are written in python and are open-source projects.