Application of continuous remote sensing of mixing layer height for assessment of airport air quality

Klaus Schäfer; Costas Helmis; Stefan Emeis; George Sgouros; Ralf Kurtenbach; Peter Wiesen; Christoph Münkel; Carsten Jahn; Maria Hoffmann; Evi Anamaterou; Michael O'Connor

doi:10.1117/12.865101

11 October 2010 Application of continuous remote sensing of mixing layer height for assessment of airport air quality

Klaus Schäfer, Costas Helmis, Stefan Emeis, George Sgouros, Ralf Kurtenbach, Peter Wiesen, Christoph Münkel, Carsten Jahn, Maria Hoffmann, Evi Anamaterou, Michael O'Connor

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7827, Remote Sensing of Clouds and the Atmosphere XV; 782706 (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.865101
Event: SPIE Remote Sensing, 2010, Toulouse, France

Abstract

The assessment of airport air quality requires not only the knowledge of the emissions and the temporal and spatial distribution of meteorological parameters like wind direction and wind speed but also of the mixing layer height, because this variable controls the vertical space for rapid mixing of near-surface pollutants. It was demonstrated that the lowest stable layer or temperature inversion limits the vertical exchange of primary pollutants emitted at or near the surface and thus controls the near-surface pollutant concentrations. Remote sensing is a suitable tool to determine mixing layer height continuously as was demonstrated in urban and sub-urban areas (Hannover, Munich, Budapest, Augsburg) as well as at airports (Zurich, Paris CDG, Mexico City International Airport, Athens International Airport). The Vaisala ceilometer LD40 was used which is an eye-safe commercial lidar and designed originally to detect cloud base heights and vertical visibility for aviation safety purposes. These measurements of the vertical aerosol distribution are routinely retrieved for mixing layer height estimation by using software which was improved continuously and compared with radiosonde data. Further, mixing layer height was determined by remote sensing with a combination of a Doppler- SODAR (Sound Detection and Ranging), a RASS (Radio Acustic Sounding System) and in-situ measurements. Vertical wind, temperature and turbulence parameter profiles up to 1500 m maximum were measured by this method too. Some results of interpretation of measured data at Athens International Airport will be discussed as the influence of mixing layer height upon airport air quality and estimation of the airport emission source strengths.

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Klaus Schäfer, Costas Helmis, Stefan Emeis, George Sgouros, Ralf Kurtenbach, Peter Wiesen, Christoph Münkel, Carsten Jahn, Maria Hoffmann, Evi Anamaterou, and Michael O'Connor "Application of continuous remote sensing of mixing layer height for assessment of airport air quality", Proc. SPIE 7827, Remote Sensing of Clouds and the Atmosphere XV, 782706 (11 October 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.865101

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