Instrument calibration and aerosol optical depth validation of the China Aerosol Remote Sensing Network

This paper introduced the calibration of the CE-318 sunphotometer of the China Aerosol Remote Sensing Network (CARSNET) and the validation of aerosol optical depth (AOD) by AOD module of ASTPWin software compared with the simultaneous measurements of the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET)/Photometrie pour le Traitement Operationnel de Normalization Satellitaire (PHOTONS) and PREDE skyradiometer. The results show that the CARSNET AOD measurements have the same accuracy as the AERONET/PHOTONS. On the basis of a comparison between CARSNET and AERONET, the AODs from CARSNET at 1020, 870, 670, and 440 nm are about 0.03, 0.01, 0.01, and 0.01 larger than those from AERONET, respectively. The aerosol optical properties over Beijing acquired through the CE-318 sunphotometers of one AERONET/PHOTONS site and two CARSNET sites were analyzed on the basis of 4-year measurements. It was obvious that the AOD of the Shangdianzi site (rural site) was lower than that of the two urban sites (the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) site (north urban site) and the Beijing Meteorological Observatory (BJO) site (south urban site)). The AOD of BJO was about 0.05, 0.04, 0.05, and 0.06 larger than that of IAP at 1020, 870, 670, and 440 nm, respectively, indicating that there is more local pollution in the south part of Beijing. The highest AOD was found in summer because of the stagnation planetary boundary layer and transport of pollutants from large pollution centers south of Beijing. The high temperature and relative humidity in summer also favor the production of aerosol precursor and the hygroscopic growth of the existing particles locally, which results in high AOD. In contrast, the lowest AOD at the two urban sites and one rural site in Beijing occurred in winter as the frequent cold air masses help pollutants diffuse easily.