Dr. Roberto Román

@article{rs16203821,

title = {Retrieval of Solar Shortwave Irradiance from All-Sky Camera Images},

author = {Daniel González-Fernández and Roberto Román and David Mateos and Celia Herrero del Barrio and Victoria E. Cachorro and Gustavo Copes and Ricardo Sánchez and Rosa Delia García and Lionel Doppler and Sara Herrero-Anta and Juan Carlos Antuña-Sánchez and África Barreto and Ramiro González and Javier Gatón and Abel Calle and Carlos Toledano and Ángel Frutos},

url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/16/20/3821},

doi = {10.3390/rs16203821},

issn = {2072-4292},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-10-14},

urldate = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Remote Sensing},

volume = {16},

number = {20},

abstract = {The present work proposes a new model based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) to retrieve solar shortwave (SW) irradiance via the estimation of the cloud modification factor (CMF) from daytime sky images captured by all-sky cameras; this model is named CNN-CMF. To this end, a total of 237,669 sky images paired with SW irradiance measurements obtained by using pyranometers were selected at the following three sites: Valladolid and Izaña, Spain, and Lindenberg, Germany. This dataset was randomly split into training and testing sets, with the latter excluded from the training model in order to validate it using the same locations. Subsequently, the test dataset was compared with the corresponding SW irradiance measurements obtained by the pyranometers in scatter density plots. The linear fit shows a high determination coefficient (R2) of 0.99. Statistical analyses based on the mean bias error (MBE) values and the standard deviation (SD) of the SW irradiance differences yield results close to ?2% and 9%, respectively. The MBE indicates a slight underestimation of the CNN-CMF model compared to the measurement values. After its validation, model performance was evaluated at the Antarctic station of Marambio (Argentina), a location not used in the training process. A similar comparison between the model-predicted SW irradiance and pyranometer measurements yielded R2=0.95, with an MBE of around 2% and an SD of approximately 26%. Although the precision provided by the SD at the Marambio station is lower, the MBE shows that the model’s accuracy is similar to previous results but with a slight overestimation of the SW irradiance. Finally, the determination coefficient improved to 0.99, and the MBE and SD are about 3% and 11%, respectively, when the CNN-CMF model is used to estimate daily SW irradiation values.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{gonzalez2024CCNeural,

title = {A neural network to retrieve cloud cover from all-sky cameras: A case of study over Antarctica},

author = {Daniel González-Fernández and Roberto Román and Juan Carlos Antuña-Sánchez and Victoria E. Cachorro and Gustavo Copes and Sara Herrero-Anta and Celia Herrero del Barrio and África Barreto and Ramiro González and Ramón Ramos and Patricia Martín and David Mateos and Carlos Toledano and Abel Calle and Ángel Frutos},

url = {https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/qj.4834},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.4834},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-08-28},

journal = {Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society},

volume = {n/a},

number = {n/a},

abstract = {Abstract We present a new model based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) to predict daytime cloud cover (CC) from sky images captured by all-sky cameras, which is called CNN-CC. A total of 49,016 daytime sky images, recorded at different Spanish locations (Valladolid, La Palma, and Izaña) from two different all-sky camera types, are manually classified into different CC (oktas) values by trained researchers. Subsequently, the images are randomly split into a training set and a test set to validate the model. The CC values predicted by the CNN-CC model are compared with the observations made by trained people on the test set, which serve as reference. The predicted CC values closely match the reference values within ±$$ ± $$1?oktas in 99% of the cloud-free and overcast cases. Moreover, this percentage is above 93% for the rest of partially cloudy cases. The mean bias error (MBE) and standard deviation (SD) of the differences between the predicted and reference CC values are calculated, resulting in MBE=0.007$$ mathrmMBE=0.007 $$?oktas and SD=0.674$$ mathrmSD=0.674 $$?oktas. The MBE and SD are also represented for different intervals of measured aerosol optical depth and Ångström exponent values, revealing that the performance of the CNN-CC model does not depend on aerosol load or size. Once the model is validated, the CC obtained from a set of images captured every 5?min, from January 2018 to March 2022, at the Antarctic station of Marambio (Argentina) is compared against direct field observations of CC (not from images) taken at this location, which is not used in the training process. As a result, the model slightly underestimates the observations with an MBE of ?$$ - $$0.3?oktas. The retrieved data are analyzed in detail. The monthly and annual CC values are calculated. Overcast conditions are the most frequent, accounting for 46.5% of all observations throughout the year, rising to 64.5% in January. The annual mean CC value at this location is 5.5?oktas, with a standard deviation of approximately 3.1?oktas. A similar analysis is conducted, separating data by hours, but no significant diurnal cycles are observed except for some isolated months.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Graßl2024,

title = {From Polar Day to Polar Night: A Comprehensive Sun and Star Photometer Study of Trends in Arctic Aerosol Properties in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard},

author = {Sandra Graßl and Christoph Ritter and Jonas Wilsch and Richard Herrmann and Lionel Doppler and Roberto Román},

url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/16/19/3725},

doi = {10.3390/rs16193725},

issn = {2072-4292},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-07-22},

urldate = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Remote Sensing},

volume = {16},

number = {19},

abstract = {The climate impact of Arctic aerosols, like the Arctic Haze, and their origin are not fully understood. Therefore, long-term aerosol observations in the Arctic are performed. In this study, we present a homogenised data set from a sun and star photometer operated in the European Arctic, in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, of the 20 years from 2004–2023. Due to polar day and polar night, it is crucial to use observations of both instruments. Their data is evaluated in the same way and follows the cloud-screening procedure of AERONET. Additionally, an improved method for the calibration of the star photometer is presented. We found out, that autumn and winter are generally more polluted and have larger particles than summer. While the monthly median Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) decreases in spring, the AOD increases significantly in autumn. A clear signal of large particles during the Arctic Haze can not be distinguished from large aerosols in winter. With autocorrelation analysis, we found that AOD events usually occur with a duration of several hours. We also compared AOD events with large-scale processes, like large-scale oscillation patterns, sea ice, weather conditions, or wildfires in the Northern Hemisphere but did not find one single cause that clearly determines the Arctic AOD. Therefore the observed optical depth is a superposition of different aerosol sources.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Herrero-Anta2023,

title = {Retrieval of aerosol properties from zenith sky radiance measurements},

author = {Sara Herrero-Anta and Roberto Román and David Mateos and Ramiro González and Juan Carlos Antuña-Sánchez and Marcos Herreras-Giralda and Antonio Fernando Almansa and Daniel González-Fernández and Celia Herrero del Barrio and Carlos Toledano and Victoria Eugenia Cachorro and Ángel Máximo de Frutos},

url = {https://amt.copernicus.org/articles/16/4423/2023/},

doi = {10.5194/amt-16-4423-2023},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-10-09},

urldate = {2023-10-09},

journal = {Atmospheric Measurement Techniques},

volume = {16},

number = {19},

pages = {4423–4443},

abstract = {This study explores the potential to retrieve aerosol properties with the GRASP algorithm (Generalized Retrieval of Atmosphere and Surface Properties) using as input measurements of zenith sky radiance (ZSR), which are sky radiance values measured in the zenith direction, recorded at four wavelengths by a ZEN-R52 radiometer. To this end, the ZSR measured at 440, 500, 675 and 870?nm by a ZEN-R52 (ZSRZEN), installed in Valladolid (Spain), is employed. This instrument is calibrated by intercomparing the signal of each channel with coincident ZSR values simulated (ZSRSIM) at the same wavelengths with a radiative transfer model (RTM). These simulations are carried out using the GRASP forward module as RTM and the aerosol information from a co-located CE318 photometer belonging to AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) as input. The dark signal and the signal dependence on temperature are characterized and included in the calibration process. The uncertainties for each channel are quantified by an intercomparison with a co-located CE318 photometer, obtaining lower values for shorter wavelengths; they are between 3?% for 440?nm and 21?% for 870?nm. The proposed inversion strategy for the aerosol retrieval using the ZSRZEN measurements as input, i.e. so-called GRASP-ZEN, assumes the aerosol as an external mixture of five pre-calculated aerosol types. A sensitivity analysis is conducted using synthetic ZSRZEN measurements, pointing out that these measurements are sensitive to aerosol load and type. It also assesses that the retrieved aerosol optical depth (AOD) values in general overestimate the reference ones by 0.03, 0.02, 0.02 and 0.01 for 440, 500, 675 and 870?nm, respectively. The calibrated ZSRZEN measurements, recorded during 2.5 years at Valladolid, are inverted by the GRASP-ZEN strategy to retrieve some aerosol properties like AOD. The retrieved AOD shows a high correlation with respect to independent values obtained from a co-located AERONET CE318 photometer, with determination coefficients (r2) of 0.86, 0.85, 0.79 and 0.72 for 440, 500, 675 and 870?nm, respectively, and finding uncertainties between 0.02 and 0.03 with respect to the AERONET values. Finally, the retrieval of other aerosol properties, like aerosol volume concentration for total, fine and coarse modes (VCT, VCF and VCC, respectively), is also explored. The comparison against independent values from AERONET presents r2 values of 0.57, 0.56 and 0.66 and uncertainties of 0.009, 0.016 and 0.02?µm3?µm?2 for VCT, VCF and VCC, respectively},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Salgueiro2023,

title = {Characterization of Tajogaite volcanic plumes detected over the Iberian Peninsula from a set of satellite and ground-based remote sensing instrumentation},

author = {V. Salgueiro and J. L. Guerrero-Rascado and M. J. Costa and R. Román and A. Cazorla and A. Serrano and F. Molero and M. Sicard and C. Córdoba-Jabonero and D. Bortoli and A. Comerón and F. T. Couto and M. Á. López-Cayuela and D. Pérez-Ramírez and M. Potes and J. A. Muñiz-Rosado and M. A. Obregón and R. Barragán and D. C. F. S. Oliveira and J. Abril-Gago and R. González and C. Gíl-Díaz and I. Foyo-Moreno and C. Muñoz-Porcar and M. J. Granados-Muñoz and A. Rodríguez-Gómez and M. Herreras-Giralda and J. A. Bravo-Aranda and C. V. Carvajal-Pérez and A. Barreto and L. Alados-Arboledas},

url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0034425723002353},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2023.113684},

issn = {0034-4257},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-06-13},

urldate = {2023-01-01},

journal = {Remote Sensing of Environment},

volume = {295},

pages = {113684},

abstract = {Three volcanic plumes were detected during the Tajogaite volcano eruptive activity (Canary Islands, Spain, September–December 2021) over the Iberian Peninsula. The spatiotemporal evolution of these events is characterised by combining passive satellite remote sensing and ground-based lidar and sun-photometer systems. The inversion algorithm GRASP is used with a suite of ground-based remote sensing instruments such as lidar/ceilometer and sun-photometer from eight sites at different locations throughout the Iberian Peninsula. Satellite observations showed that the volcanic ash plumes remained nearby the Canary Islands covering a mean area of 120 ± 202 km2 during the whole period of eruptive activity and that sulphur dioxide plumes reached the Iberian Peninsula. Remote sensing observations showed that the three events were mainly composed of sulphates, which were transported from the volcano into the free troposphere. The high backscatter-related Ångström exponents for wavelengths 532–1064 nm (1.17 ± 0.20 to 1.40 ± 0.24) and low particle depolarization ratios (0.08 ± 0.02 to 0.09 ± 0.02), measured by the multi-wavelength Raman lidar, hinted at the presence of spherical small particles. The layer aerosol optical depth at 532 nm (AODL532) obtained from lidar measurements contributed between 49% and 82% to the AERONET total column AOD at 532 nm in event II (11–13 October). According to the GRASP retrievals, the layer aerosol optical depth at 440 nm (AODL440) was higher in all sites during event II with values between 0.097 (Badajoz) and 0.233 (Guadiana-UGR) and lower in event III (19–21 October) varying between 0.003 (Granada) and 0.026 (Évora). Compared with the GRASP retrievals of total column AOD at 440 nm, the AODL440 had contributions between 21% and 52% during event II. In the event I (25–28 September), the mean volume concentrations (VC) varied between 5 ± 4 ?m3cm?3 (El-Arenosillo/Huelva) and 17 ± 10 ?m3cm?3 (Guadiana-UGR), while in event II this variation was from 11 ± 7 ?m3cm?3 (Badajoz) to 27 ± 10 ?m3cm?3 (Guadiana-UGR). Due to the impact of volcanic events on atmospheric and economic fields, such as radiative forcing and airspace security, a proper characterization is required. This work undertakes it using advanced instrumentation and methods.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Montero-Martín2023,

title = {Reconstruction of daily global solar radiation under all-sky and cloud-free conditions in Badajoz (Spain) since 1929},

author = {Javier Montero-Martín and Manuel Antón and José Manuel Vaquero and Roberto Román and Javier Vaquero-Martinez and Alejandro J. P. Aparicio and Arturo Sanchez-Lorenzo},

url = {https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/joc.8042},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.8042},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-02-16},

journal = {International Journal of Climatology},

volume = {n/a},

number = {n/a},

abstract = {Abstract This work analyses the long-term temporal variability of the annual and seasonal series of reconstructed global solar radiation for both all-sky and cloud-free conditions in Badajoz (Spain) over the 1929–2015 period. Specifically, daily values of global horizontal irradiation (GHI) for all-sky cases are derived from a semiempirical method based on the relationship between the cloud modification factor and sunshine duration records. Additionally, cloud-free situations are selected using cloud cover (CC) information recorded by surface observations. Regarding GHI linear trends for all-sky conditions, three periods are clearly identified: during the 1929–1950 period, there is a positive and statistically significant trend of +4.18?W·m?2·decade?1. It is followed by a significant dimming with a trend of ?3.72?W·m?2·decade?1 between 1951 and 1984. GHI levels increase again from 1985 to 2015 with a statistically significant trend of +2.04?W·m?2·decade?1. The seasonal trends are found to be statistically significant only in summer for all the three subperiods. With the goal to find out the possible causes of the reconstructed GHI trends, the temporal variability of the CC was also analysed. It was observed that CC has a statistically significant negative trend between 1985 and 2015 which may partially explain the GHI increase shown for this period. In contrast, not statistically significant trends were found in the annual and seasonal CC series before 1985. The long-term evolution of the GHI under cloud-free conditions exhibits the same pattern as all-sky conditions: an increase during 1929–1950, followed by a decrease in 1951–1984 and then a new increase from 1985 to 2015. Therefore, the positive (negative) linear trends in GHI reported in this study could be partially related to a decrease (increase) in the aerosol load during the analysed three subperiods.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Bazo2023,

title = {Evaluation of the vertically-resolved aerosol radiative effect on shortwave and longwave ranges using sun-sky photometer and ceilometer measurements},

author = {Elena Bazo and María J. Granados-Muñoz and Roberto Román and Juan Antonio Bravo-Aranda and Alberto Cazorla and Antonio Valenzuela and Ramiro González and Francisco José Olmo and Lucas Alados-Arboledas},

url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169809522005038},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2022.106517},

issn = {0169-8095},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-01-01},

urldate = {2023-01-01},

journal = {Atmospheric Research},

volume = {282},

pages = {106517},

abstract = {The aerosol radiative effect (ARE) is one of the atmospheric components still affected by large uncertainty. One of the causes is related to the fact that the longwave (LW) component is usually neglected, even though it is necessary for an accurate quantification of the ARE together with the shortwave component (SW). In this study we have developed a methodology based on the GAME (Global Atmospheric Model) radiative transfer model (RTM) that allows to obtain the radiative effect of the atmospheric aerosol for both spectral ranges in an automated way. The microphysical and optical properties necessary to feed the RTM have been obtained through the GRASP (Generalized Retrieval of Aerosol and Surface Properties) algorithm, with the combination of ceilometer and sun-sky photometer data. Data measured in Granada (Spain) during 2017 have been used for the evaluation and implementation of this methodology. According to the results, the ARE in the SW spectral range (ARESW) varies between 0 and ? 50 Wm?2 for most of the data, whereas the ARE in the LW range (ARELW) varies between 0 and 5 Wm?2, at heights near the surface. In general, the obtained results agree with those found in the literature, with negative values in the SW range (cooling effect) and positive values in the LW (heating effect). The seasonal analysis shows that, for both components, the ARE is more important during the spring and summer seasons, when the aerosol load is greater, as expected. The analysis of the aerosol heating rate (AHR) shows positive values in the SW and negative values in the LW range. The majority of the AHRSW data varies between 0 and 1 Kd?1 during the year whereas the AHRLW does it between 0 and ? 0.15 Kd?1. The seasonal analysis of the AHR shows that the greater monthly average values are found during spring, however there is not much variability along the year, with the exception of February, under the effects of an extreme dust intrusion. The mineral dust particles in this event cause an ARESW of ?130 Wm?2 and an ARELW of 23 Wm?2 (ARELW/ARESW = 17%), thus pointing out that the LW component should not be neglected for coarse mode particles. Additionally, it is observed that the vertical distribution of the aerosol layers strongly influences the ARE and the AHR obtained profiles, affecting the way the atmospheric cooling/heating occurs in the vertical coordinate.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{rs15225362,

title = {Analysis of Daytime and Night-Time Aerosol Optical Depth from Solar and Lunar Photometry in Valladolid (Spain)},

author = {Celia Herrero del Barrio and David Mateos and Roberto Román and Ramiro González and Sara Herrero-Anta and Daniel González-Fernández and Abel Calle and Carlos Toledano and Victoria Eugenia Cachorro and Ángel Máximo De Frutos Baraja},

url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/22/5362},

doi = {10.3390/rs15225362},

issn = {2072-4292},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-01-01},

urldate = {2023-01-01},

journal = {Remote Sensing},

volume = {15},

number = {22},

abstract = {Aerosol optical depth (AOD) at night-time has become a hot topic in recent years due to the development of new instruments recording accurate ground-based lunar irradiance measurements, and the development of calibration methods and extraterrestrial irradiance models adapted to lunar photometry. This study uses all daytime and night-time AOD data available at Valladolid (Spain) from October 2016 to March 2022 in order to analyze its behavior and the added contribution of night data. The annual, monthly and daily AOD evolution is studied comparing daytime and night-time values and checking the correlation between them. For this purpose, the daily averages are computed, showing an annual pattern, with low AOD values throughout the year (mean value of AOD at 440 nm: 0.122), where winter months have the lower and summer the higher values, as observed in previous studies. All these AOD values are modulated by frequent desert dust events over the Iberian Peninsula, with a strong influence on daily and monthly mean values in February and March, where the strongest desert outbreaks occurred. The added new data confirm these results and the good correlation between daytime and night-time data. Also, a complete daily evolution is shown, observing that AOD and Ångström exponent (AE) mean values vary by only ±0.02 in 24 h, with a maximum value at 06:00 UTC and minimum at 18:00 UTC for both parameters.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{García2022,

title = {La erupción volcánica de La Palma y el papel de la Agencia Estatal de Meteorología},

author = {García, O. and Suárez, D. and Cuevas, E. and Ramos, R. and Barreto, Á. and Hernández, M. and Quintero, V. and Toledano, C. and Sicard, M. and Córdoba-Jabonero, C. and Riz, V. and Roininen, R. and López, C. and Vilches, J. and Weiss, M. and Carreño, V. and Taquet, N. and Boulesteix, T. and Fraile, E. and Torres, C. and Prats, N. and Alcántara, A. and León, S. and Rivas, P. and Álvarez, Ó. and Parra, F. and de Luis, J. and González, C. and Armas, C. and Romero, P. and de Bustos, J. and Redondas, A. and Marrero, C. and Milford, C. and Román, R. and González, R. and López-Cayuela, M. and Carvajal-Pérez, C. and Chinea, N. and García, R. and Almansa, F. and González, Y. and Bullón, F. and Poggio, M. and Rivera, C. and Bayo, C. and Rey, F.},

url = {https://pub.ame-web.org/index.php/TyC/article/view/2516},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-05-04},

journal = { Revista Tiempo Y Clima},

volume = {5},

number = {76},

abstract = {Durante la erupción del volcán de Cumbre Vieja, en la isla de La Palma en 2021, la Agencia Estatal de Meteorología (AEMET), en calidad de Servicio Nacional y Autoridad Meteorológica del Estado, prestó diferentes servicios de apoyo al Comité Científico y al Comité Asesor del Plan de Emergencias Volcánicas de Canarias (PEVOLCA). Parte de sus actividades abarcaron la vigilancia y predicción meteorológica, la monitorización y predicción del transporte del penacho volcánico, y la valoración del impacto de las emisiones de gases y cenizas de la erupción volcánica en la calidad del aire en la isla de La Palma y en la región de Canarias.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Antuña-Sánchez2022,

title = {ORION software tool for the geometrical calibration of all-sky cameras},

author = {J.C. Antuña-Sánchez and R. Román and J.L. Bosch and C. Toledano and D. Mateos and R. González and V.E. Cachorro and Ángel de Frutos},

doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0265959},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-03-31},

urldate = {2022-03-31},

journal = {PLoS ONE 17(3)},

abstract = {This paper presents the software application ORION (All-sky camera geOmetry calibRation from star positIONs). This software has been developed with the aim of providing geometrical calibration to all-sky cameras, i.e. assess which sky coordinates (zenith and azimuth angles) correspond to each camera pixel. It is useful to locate bodies over the celestial vault, like stars and planets, in the camera images. The user needs to feed ORION with a set of cloud-free sky images captured at night-time for obtaining the calibration matrices. ORION searches the position of various stars in the sky images. This search can be automatic or manual. The sky coordinates of the stars and the corresponding pixel positions in the camera images are used together to determine the calibration matrices. The calibration is based on three parameters: the pixel position of the sky zenith in the image; the shift angle of the azimuth viewed by the camera with respect to the real North; and the relationship between the sky zenith angle and the pixel radial distance regards to the sky zenith in the image. In addition, ORION includes other features to facilitate its use, such as the check of the accuracy of the calibration. An example of ORION application is shown, obtaining the calibration matrices for a set of images and studying the accuracy of the calibration to predict a star position. Accuracy is about 9.0 arcmin for the analyzed example using a camera with average resolution of 5.4 arcmin/pixel (about 1.7 pixels).},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Antuña-Marrero2022,

title = {Integrated water vapor over the Arctic: Comparison between radiosondes and sun photometer observations},

author = {Juan Carlos Antuña-Marrero and Roberto Román and Victoria E. Cachorro and David Mateos and Carlos Toledano and Abel Calle and Juan Carlos Antuña-Sánchez and Javier Vaquero-Martínez and Manuel Antón and Ángel M. Frutos Baraja},

url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016980952200045X},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2022.106059},

issn = {0169-8095},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-02-02},

urldate = {2022-01-01},

journal = {Atmospheric Research},

volume = {270},

pages = {106059},

abstract = {The amplification of global warming because of the feedbacks associated with the increase in atmospheric moisture and the decrease in sea ice and snow cover in the Arctic is currently the focus of scientists, policy makers and society. The amplification of global warming is the response to increases in precipitation originally caused by climate change. Arctic predominant increases in specific humidity and precipitation have been documented by observations. In comparison, evapotranspiration in the Arctic is poorly known, in part, because the spatial and temporal sparsity of accurate in situ and remote sensing observations. Although more than 20 observations sites in the Arctic are available, where AERONET sun photometer integrated water vapor (IWV) measurements have been conducted, that information have been barely used. Here, we present a comparison of IWV observations from radiosondes and AERONET sun photometers at ten sites located across the Arctic with the goal to document the feasibility of that set of observations to contribute to the ongoing and future research on polar regions. Sun photometer IWV observations are averaged for three-time windows; 30 min, 6 and 24 h. The predominant dry bias of AERONET IWV observations with respect to radiosondes, identified at tropical and midlatitudes, is also present in the Arctic. The statistics of the comparison show robust results at eight of the ten sites, with precision and accuracy magnitudes below 8 and 2% respectively. The possible causes of the less robust results at the other two sites are discussed. In addition, the impact of selecting other temporal coincidence windows in the average sun photometer IWV used in the comparison were tested. Auto-correlation in diurnal sun photometer IWV could produce appreciable bias in the statistics used for the comparison. We suggest using only one pair of values per day, consisting in the daily mean IWV sun photometer and the IWV radiosonde observation value. This feature should be valid also for comparison of IWV from sun photometer and other instruments. Maximum 10% error level of IWV from sun photometer observations, when compared with radiosondes, have been found for the Arctic. It is in the same order of magnitude than at tropical and middle latitudes locations. It has been demonstrated the feasibility of AERONET IWV observations in the Arctic for research on this variable. AERONET standard instruments and its centralized-standard processing algorithm allow its IWV observations to be considered a relative standard dataset for the re-calibration of other instrumental IWV observations assuming radiosondes as the absolute standard dataset.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Román2022,

title = {Retrieval of aerosol properties using relative radiance measurements from an all-sky camera},

author = {R. Román and J. C. Antuña-Sánchez and V. E. Cachorro and C. Toledano and B. Torres and D. Mateos and D. Fuertes and C. López and R. González and T. Lapionok and M. Herreras-Giralda and O. Dubovik and Á. M. Frutos},

url = {https://amt.copernicus.org/articles/15/407/2022/},

doi = {10.5194/amt-15-407-2022},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-01-27},

urldate = {2022-01-01},

journal = {Atmospheric Measurement Techniques},

volume = {15},

number = {2},

pages = {407--433},

abstract = {This paper explores the potential of all-sky cameras to retrieve aerosol properties with the GRASP code (Generalized Retrieval of Atmosphere and Surface Properties). To this end, normalized sky radiances (NSRs) extracted from an all-sky camera at three effective wavelengths (467, 536 and 605?nm) are used in this study. NSR observations are a set of relative (uncalibrated) sky radiances in arbitrary units. NSR observations have been simulated for different aerosol loads and types with the forward radiative transfer module of GRASP, indicating that NSR observations contain information about the aerosol type, as well as about the aerosol optical depth (AOD), at least for low and moderate aerosol loads. An additional sensitivity study with synthetic data has been carried out to quantify the theoretical accuracy and precision of the aerosol properties (AOD, size distribution parameters, etc.) retrieved by GRASP using NSR observations as input. As a result, the theoretical accuracy of AOD is within ±0.02 for AOD values lower than or equal to 0.4, while the theoretical precision goes from 0.01 to 0.05 when AOD at 467?nm varies from 0.1 to 0.5. NSR measurements recorded at Valladolid (Spain) with an all-sky camera for more than 2 years have been inverted with GRASP. The retrieved aerosol properties are compared with independent values provided by co-located AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) measurements. AODs from both data sets correlate with determination coefficient (r2) values of about 0.87. Finally, the novel multi-pixel approach of GRASP is applied to daily camera radiances together by constraining the temporal variation in certain aerosol properties. This temporal linkage (multi-pixel approach) provides promising results, reducing the highly temporal variation in some aerosol properties retrieved with the standard (one by one or single-pixel) approach. This work implies an advance in the use of all-sky cameras for the retrieval of aerosol properties.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}