Atmospheric temperature dependence of the aerosol backscattering coefficient

• Atmospheric temperature profile was extracted from rotational Raman lidar data.
• Aerosol backscattering coefficient was corrected using the atmospheric temperature profile.
• Effects of cloud and seasonal temperature change on backscattering coefficient were discussed.

In extracting vertical profiles of aerosol backscattering coefficient from lidar signals, the effects of atmospheric temperature are usually ignored. In this study, these effects are analyzed using a rotational Raman–Mie lidar system, which is capable of simultaneously measuring atmospheric temperature and vertical profiles of aerosols. A method is presented to correct the aerosol backscattering coefficient using atmospheric temperature profiles, obtained from Raman scattering signals. The differences in the extracted aerosol backscattering coefficient with and without considering temperature effects are further discussed. The backscattering coefficients for scattering off clouds are shown to be more sensitive to temperature than that of aerosols and atmosphere molecules; the aerosol backscattering coefficient is more sensitive to temperature in summer due to higher atmospheric temperatures.

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