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Abstract
Bigger strongly urbanized cities in the world are often exposed to atmospheric pollution events. To understand the chemical and physical processes that are taking place in these areas it is necessary to describe correctly the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) dynamics and the PBL height evolution. For these proposals, a compact and rugged eye safe UV Lidar, the EZLIDAR™, was developed by LEOSPHERE (France) to study and investigate structural and optical properties of clouds and aerosols and PBL time evolution. From 2004, several instruments were deployed all over the world producing a large database of measurements for any possible meteorological condition.
A PBL height retrieval method has been developed and tested over the database. This method is based on the detection of the slope of the range corrected backscattered signal, that is related to the sharp change in concentration of aerosols. The algorithm automatically detects and classifies the different retrieved PBL layer heights (stable, convective and residual), depending on time and date. In this paper are presented the results of the intercomparison campaign that took place in Orleans, France in the framework of ICOS (Integrated Carbon Observation System) project, in October 2008. Moreover, thanks to its 3D scanning capability, the EZLIDAR was able to provide the variability of the PBL height around the site, enabling the scientists to estimate the flux intensities that play a key role in the radiative transfer budget and in the atmospheric pollutants dispersion.