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Abstract
CAPEX (Clouds and Aerosols over Portugal Experiment) is a European project to investigate aerosol particles, radiation, cloud properties, precipitation and radioactivity over Portugal using both airborne and ground based instrumentation located at Geophysics Centre Observatory at Évora and Cabo da Roca station. This project, funded by EC under the 6th Framework Program within the EUFAR Initiative, took place from 30th May up to 18th June 2006 over central and south Portugal.
In this work our analysis is focused on the comparison between the ground based measurements performed at Geophysics Centre Observatory at Évora and airborne measurements. At Évora station, a Raman Lidar system LR321D400, a Cimel CE 318-4 sunphotometer and a nephelometer were operated. Aboard aircraft different instrumentation was available like a TSI integrating nephelometer that provided scattering and hemispheric backscatter coefficients, and a PSAP (Particle Soot Absorption Photometer) that provided absorption coefficient.
During the campaign, air masses coming from Europe, Northern Africa and Mediterranean basin were advected at Évora station. During CAPEX, two study cases corresponding to B205 and B207 flights have been selected. For these days, atmospheric conditions were dramatically different. Therefore, this work is focused on aerosol optical properties measured on 3rd and 7th June 2006 when rural aerosol particles predominant on study area were mixed with other type of particles. Thus, on 3rd June a plume originated over France and Spain advected a large particle concentration over Portugal. However, on 7th June a Saharan dust outbreak was monitored over Portugal. Good agreement has been obtained for optical properties including the closure study in terms of extinction profiles and Lidar ratio.