Aerosol typing over Beijing using a scanning Raman Lidar with enhanced dynamics

Studies on atmospheric aerosol are required mainly to carry out information on the air pollution and its effects on human health. In the last years, the increasing urbanization and industrialization of the Asia region made China acted as one of the countries more affected by atmospheric anthropogenic particles. This, in part, is due to the fact that the Gobi desert, located in the Northern part of the country, acts as a natural particle source in the region. Thus, the combination of both anthropogenic and mineral particles strongly affects the air quality over the city of Beijing, in particular, in the lower troposphere. Hence, in order to improve the effectiveness of the solutions to be carried out by environmental agencies, more detailed characterization of the atmospheric aerosol load is primarily needed. In this context, the Aerosol Multi-wavelength Polarization Lidar Experiment (AMPLE) has been designed, developed and installed in urban area of Beijing, in the framework of the China-Italy Joint Research Center for Laser Remote Sensing, a research center recently constituted by CNISM and BRIT. The apparatus is based on high repetition rate laser transmitter to perform measurements of the aerosol extinction and backscatter coefficients, and particle linear depolarization ratio at 355nm and 532nm even for optical dense aerosol layers. Moreover, the scanning capability of this lidar device allows improving the monitor of the aerosol volume distribution. Preliminary results show how the contribution to the total aerosol load of natural and anthropogenic particles can be discriminated through lidar measurements.