Measurements of the spectral aerosol optical depth using a sun photometer

A sun photometer fitted with 9 narrowband interference filters from 368 nm to 1024 nm was used to determine the aerosol optical depth at 8 measuring stations in Europe. Of the 9 filters, 3 were not included in the standard equipment of the sun photometer. Given the temporal instabilities of the calibration Factors of these 3 filters, meaningful results for the aerosol optical depth can be achieved only if calibration and measurements follow each other closely. Calibration was performed using the Langley plot method. For wavelengths < 500 nm, the measured aerosol optical depths were compared with the results of a high resolution spectrometer. Broadband aerosol optical depths, centred at 427 nm, were determined with an actinometer and were also used for comparison. Generally, there was good agreement of the results. To characterize the aerosol optical depths, the Angstrom parameters alpha and beta were used. The individual measuring stations showed a clustered distribution of a and beta values.