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Procedia Earth and Planetary Science 2 (2011) 217 – 222

The Second International Conference on Mining Engineering and Metallurgical

Technology

Preliminary Study of Vertical Distribution of Aerosols

during Dry Haze Periods around Shanghai Based on
CALIPSO
GENG Fuhaia, LIU Qionga,b, CHEN Yonghangb,*, Zhang Huac, Mao Xiaoqina
a
Shanghai Meteorological Bureau, Shanghai 200135, China
b
Environmental Science and Engineering College, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China
c
National Climate Center of China Meteorological Adminidtration, Beijing 100081, China

Abstract

With the lidar data onboard CALIPSO satellite, the vertical distribution of aerosols when dry haze of different
intensity occurred around Shanghai were revealed by analyzing optical parameters including attenuated backscatter
coefficient, volume depolarization ratio and total attenuated colour ratio. The preliminary conclusion is that when dry
haze occurs, the smoke and maritime aerosols are the major types of aerosols within 0-10km in troposphere around
Shanghai; the lower troposphere below 2km is the area polluted most severely with the aerosols whose total
attenuated backscatter coefficient is the strongest, mainly concentrating from 0.0015-0.0035 km-1.sr-1, volume
depolarization ratio and colour ratio mainly range from 0-15% and 0.2-0.8, respectively; within 2-10 km in
troposphere, total attenuated backscatter coefficient is smaller, mainly ranging from 0.0008-0.0025 km-1.sr-1 and
depolarization ratio and colour ratio mainly concentrate from 0-20% and 0-0.6, respectively.

© 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open

Selection and/or
access under peer-review
CC BY-NC-ND under responsibility of Society for
license.
Resources, Environment and Engineering

Keywords: dry haze; aerosols; CALIPSO satellite; optical properties; vertical distribution

*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +086-1391-824-5448; fax: +086-021-6779-2522.
E-mail address: yonghangchen@dhu.edu.cn.

1878–5220 © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
doi:10.1016/j.proeps.2011.09.035
218 GENG Fuhai et al. / Procedia Earth and Planetary Science 2 (2011) 217 – 222

1. Introduction

Various aerosols in atmosphere, including mineral dust, sea salt, sulfate, and black carbon, can absorb
or scatter solar radiation in varying degrees [1], which deteriorate the visibility and increase the occurrence
of haze [2-3]. During haze periods, lots of fine particles suspend in the air affecting the air quality and the
sky becomes cloudy appearing bluish or yellowish [4]. Current researches about haze mainly focus on its
formation [5-6] and aerosol physical, chemical and optical properties [7-8]. Studies on vertical distribution of
haze aerosols have still rarely been reported due to limitations of observational ways. Vertical distribution
of aerosols is a critical issue of estimating aerosol radiative forcing and its associated climate impacts [9-10].
The CALIPSO satellite, which provides an unprecedented opportunity to improve the understanding of
the radiative effects of aerosols, was launched successfully in April, 2006. Unlike the space-based passive
remote sensing instruments, CALIPSO can observe aerosols over bright surfaces and beneath thin clouds
as well as in clear sky conditions [11-14]. One of the most distinct advantages of the CALIPSO lidar
observations is that it provides a direct measurement of the vertical structure of aerosols over regional and
global scales. To date, CALIPSO data have been mainly used to analyze dust aerosols. For instance,
Huang et al. studied the occurrence of Tibetan dust plumes [15], the Asia dust storms [14] and Taklamakan
dust aerosol radiative heating [16]. Chen et al. [17] analyzed a case of long-distance transport of heavy dust
pollution.
Shanghai with an area of 6,430km2, a population of 19.2 million and automobiles over 3 million is one
of the largest mega-cities in China. During the past two decades, Shanghai is undergoing a rapid
development in economics and urbanization which cause severe air pollution problems such as high
particular matter concentrations and poor visibility [6,18-19], and has become a region frequently polluted by
haze [20]. Dry haze occurred more frequently than damp haze according to the previous research [20], so dry
haze aerosols are the main research contents.
This paper will be organized in the following way. Section 2 introduces the data and method used in
this study. In section 3, the statistical results are analyzed to characterize the vertical distribution of
aerosol optical properties during dry haze periods. Finally, the conclusions are given in section 4.

2. Data and methods

2.1. CALIPSO data

CALIPSO level 1B daytime data from January 2007 to November 2010, including attenuated
backscatter coefficient, volume depolarization ratio and total attenuated color ratio were used. Volume
depolarization ratio (VDR) is defined as the ratio of the perpendicular and parallel components of
received lidar signals at 532 nm, which shows the degree of irregularity of the tested particles. The higher
the volume depolarization ratio is, the more irregular the particles are. Total attenuated color ratio (ACR)
is defined as the ratio of intensity of backscatters at 1064 nm and that of total backscatters at 532 nm,
reflecting the size of aerosols; the higher the color ratio is, the larger the particles are [13,21].

2.2. Surface observations and data selection

Surface meteorological data, used to identify dry haze conditions, were obtained from Pudong
Meteorological Office in Shanghai.
 GENG Fuhai et al. / Procedia Earth and Planetary Science 2 (2011) 217 – 222 219

In this study, the dry haze hour is defined as the hour when the average visibility is less than 10km, the
average relative humidity is less than 80% for the study period (1h) without the weather of precipitation,
dust storm, blowing sand, floating dusts, smoke, blowing snow and snow storms considering the newly
issued standard for meteorologically observational operation of China [22] and the previous study [23].
When dry haze days were identified, the cases were picked up while the CALIPSO satellite went over
the area around Shanghai (30°-33°N, 120°-123°E). The cases that have little detection points or when the
laser fails to detect lower atmosphere because of thick clouds were excluded.

3. Results and discussions

3.1. Vertical distribution of aerosol total attenuated backscatter coefficient

Attenuated backscatter coefficient is one of the main parameters of CALIPSO satellite reflecting the
ability of aerosol scattering. It is generally known that the total attenuated backscatter coefficient at
532nm ranging from 0.0001-0.0008km-1.sr-1, 0.0008-0.0045 km-1.sr-1 and 0.0045-0.0100 km-1.sr-1 stands
for gas molecules, aerosols and clouds respectively [13].
Fig. 1 reflects the general trend of frequency distribution of total attenuated backscatter coefficient of
aerosols varied with heights. The results indicated that the values of total attenuated backscatter
coefficient at the height of 0-2km concentrate in the range of 0.0015-0.0035km-1.sr-1, and that at 2-4km, 4-
6km and 6-8km mainly concentrate in the range of 0.0008-0.0025 km-1.sr-1, while that at 8-10km mainly
concentrate in the range of 0.0008-0.0015 km-1.sr-1. With the increasing of height, aerosols with lower
total attenuated backscatter coefficient increase while the ones with higher total attenuated backscatter
coefficient decrease. From what discussed above, scattering from aerosols decreases with the increase of
altitudes from 0 to 10 km.
total attenuated backscatter coefficient (10 km sr )
-1

8-10(km)
-1.

35-45 6-8(km)
-4

4-6(km)
2-4(km)
0-2(km)
25-35

15-25

8-15

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

frequency(%)

Fig. 1. The frequency distribution of total attenuated backscatter coefficient at different heights during dry haze periods

3.2. Vertical distribution of aerosol volume depolarization ratio

Volume depolarization ratio, which can distinguish spherical aerosols from non-spherical aerosols, is
another parameter of CALIPSO satellite. Volume depolarization ratio (0-100% and 0-40%)
measurements are presented in Fig. 2. Volume depolarization ratio at height of 0-4km and 4-10km is
centered at a large value of 0-30% and 0-40%, respectively (Fig. 2 (a)). As the height increases, aerosols
with lower volume depolarization ratio decrease while those with higher volume depolarization ratio
increase. That means aerosols are more regular in lower troposphere than those in middle and upper
troposphere when dry haze occurs. In other words, the irregularity of aerosols increases with altitudes. As
Fig. 2 (b) illustrates, volume depolarization ratio within 0-2km concentrates in the range of 0-15% and
that of other altitudes concentrates in 0-20%.
220 GENG Fuhai et al. / Procedia Earth and Planetary Science 2 (2011) 217 – 222

90-100 8-10(km) 35-40 8-10(km)

6-8(km) 6-8(km)
80-90
4-6(km) 30-35 4-6(km)
volume depolarization ratio (%)

volume depolarization ratio (%)

70-80 2-4(km) 2-4(km)
0-2(km) 25-30 0-2(km)
60-70

50-60 20-25

40-50 15-20

30-40
10-15
20-30
5-10
10-20

0-10 0-5

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
frequency(%) frequency(%)
a b

Fig. 2. Histogram distribution of volume depolarization ratio (a. 0-100%; b. 0-40%) at different heights during dry haze periods

Liu et al. [13] analyzed the distributions of dust in Tibet Plateau, suggesting that peak value of volume
depolarization ratio of dust is around 17 percent and those of spherical aerosols and maritime aerosols are
near 0, and that of smoke aerosols including black carbon which are close to spherical is about 2 percent.
It can be initially determined that aerosols in lower troposphere are close to spherical during dry haze
periods and ordinary aerosols, smoke and maritime aerosols are the major types; the proportions of
spherical and non-spherical aerosols are nearly the same in middle and upper troposphere; due to the
dusts transported from northwest or local building construction, aerosols whose volume depolarization
ratio about 8%-28% appear sometimes in lower, middle and upper troposphere.

3.3. Vertical distribution of aerosol total attenuated colour ratio

CALIOP detector on CALIPSO satellite is designed to acquire total attenuated backscatter coefficients
at 532nm and 1064nm, which could calculate total attenuated color ratio. The higher total attenuated color
ratio is the larger aerosols are. Fig. 3 reflects the frequencies of total attenuated color ratio (0-2 and 0-0.8)
at different altitudes during dry haze periods. For 0-2 kilometers, total attenuated color ratio mainly
concentrates in the range of 0.2 to 0.8, while for other altitudes that is almost from 0 to 0.8. The
proportion of aerosols whose total attenuated color ratio from 0 to 0.4 is the largest in middle troposphere,
that from 0.4 to 0.6 decreases with the increase of height, and that from 0.6 to 2 in lower troposphere is
the maximum, followed by upper and middle troposphere. During dry haze periods, aerosols at different
height are relative small.
Thus, histogram distributions of aerosol total attenuated color ratio ranging from 0-0.8 are shown in
Fig. 3 (b). Within 0-2km, aerosols with total attenuated color ratio from 0.2 to 0.6 are the maximum and
those with total attenuated color ratio from 0 to 0.2 are the minimum. For the other altitudes, aerosols
with total attenuated color ratio from 0 to 0.4 are the maximum, and those from 0.6 to 0.8 are the
minimum. Aerosols aggregated in lower troposphere are larger than those in middle and upper
troposphere, whose total attenuated color ratio concentrate from 0 to 0.3.
 GENG Fuhai et al. / Procedia Earth and Planetary Science 2 (2011) 217 – 222 221

1.8-2.0
8-10(km) 0.7-0.8 8-10(km)
1.6-1.8 6-8(km) 6-8(km)
4-6(km) 0.6-0.7 4-6(km)
1.4-1.6
2-4(km) 2-4(km)
0.5-0.6 0-2(km)
1.2-1.4 0-2(km)

1.0-1.2 0.4-0.5

color ratio
color ratio

0.8-1.0 0.3-0.4

0.6-0.8
0.2-0.3
0.4-0.6
0.1-0.2
0.2-0.4

0-0.2 0-0.1

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

frequency(%) frequency(%)
a b

Fig. 3. Histogram distribution of colour ratio (a. 0-2.0; b. 0-0.8) at different heights during dry haze periods

According to Liu et al. [13], total attenuated color ratio of ordinary aerosols is normally small, ranging
from 0-0.5. Maritime aerosols are larger than ordinary aerosols, whose distribution is seen to center in 0-
0.75. Color ratio of smoke is from 0-1.5. Compared with other aerosol types, dust has larger color ratio
values, ranging from 0.25-1.25. The larger values are due to the larger sizes of dust particles. So, it is
concluded that smoke and maritime aerosols are the major types in lower troposphere while ordinary and
maritime aerosols are dominated in middle and upper troposphere. Within 0-10km, especially 0-2km,
aerosols with color ratio from 0.4-0.8 take their place among all the aerosols and they are most likely dust
aerosols, whose color ratio peaking at 0.8.

4. Conclusions

In this study, the lidar data obtained from CALIPSO satellite are analyzed to reveal the vertical
distributions of some aerosol optical parameters (total attenuated backscatter coefficient, volume
depolarization ratio and total attenuated color ratio) during dry haze periods around Shanghai. The main
results are concluded as follows:

(1) During dry haze periods, scattering ability of aerosols in lower troposphere below 2km is the
strongest, scattering from aerosols decreases with the increase of altitudes from 0 to 10 km.
(2) Aerosol volume depolarization ratio within 0-2km concentrates from 0-15% and that of other
altitudes concentrates from 0-20%. Aerosols are more regular in lower troposphere than those in
middle and upper troposphere when dry haze occurs.
(3) During dry haze periods, aerosols at different height are relative small. And aerosols aggregated in
lower troposphere are larger than those in middle and upper troposphere, whose total attenuated
color ratio range from 0 to 0.3.
(4) When dry haze happens in Shanghai, smoke (pollution) and maritime aerosols are the main types.
Some relative larger aerosols may likely be dust due to delivery from dust sources by the airflow.

Acknowledgements

The CALIPSO data were obtained from the NASA Langley Atmospheric Science Data Center
(ASDC). The work is partly supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant No.
40975012), National Basic Research Program (grant No. 2011CB403405) and Shanghai Leading
Academic Discipline Project (grant No. B604).
222 GENG Fuhai et al. / Procedia Earth and Planetary Science 2 (2011) 217 – 222

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