Impact of the mixing boundary layer on the relationship between PM2.5 and aerosol optical thickness

The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between columnar aerosol optical thickness and ground-level aerosol mass. A set of Sun photometer, elastic backscattering lidar and TEOM measurements were acquired during April 2007 in Lille, France. The PM2.5 in the mixed boundary layer is estimated using the lidar signal, aerosol optical thickness, or columnar integrated Sun photometer size distribution and compared to the ground-level station measurements. The lidar signal recorded in the lowest level (240 m) is well correlated to the PM2.5 (R-2 = 0.84). We also show that the correlation between AOT-derived and measured PM2.5 is significantly improved when considering the mixed boundary layer height derived from the lidar. The use of the Sun photometer aerosol fine fraction volume does not improve the correlation. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.