Demonstration of simultaneous retrievals of trace gases and aerosol microphysical properties by ground based 2D-MAX-DOAS during TCAP

The two Column Aerosol Project (TCAP) investigates uncertainties in the aerosol direct effect in the northern hemisphere mid-latitudes. The DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Mobile Facility (AMF) and Mobile Aerosol Observing System (MAOS) provide an opportunity for 1) atmospheric radiation closure studies, and 2) test retrievals of aerosol optical and microphysical properties in the presence and absence of clouds. The University of Colorado 2D-MAX-DOAS instrument was deployed during the first intensive period of the TCAP field project. This presentation presents an inversion algorithm to obtain both aerosol extinction profiles and column from off axis measurements, and infer - for the first time- aerosol microphysical properties from the solar angular distribution of sky radiances. An innovative aspect of the method is that the optical and microphysical properties of aerosols are inferred without the need for an absolute radiance calibration. We compare retrievals of aerosol optical properties with those retrieved from the MFRSR and the Cimel Sunphotometer, for case studies in the presence/absence of clouds, and assess the need for atmospheric correction of NO2. 2D-GMAX-DOAS also facilitates a link between the ground-based ARM/MAOS dataset and DoE's G1 aircraft, NASA's King Air aircraft, and NASA's OMI satellite (i.e., NO2 vertical column). Early results that explore these linkages are presented for a case study that combines ground based MFRSR, in-situ observations aboard the G1 aircraft, as well as High Spectral Resolution LIDAR aboard the King Air aircraft.