Evaluation of the EarthCARE aerosol classification scheme using ACTRIS/EARLINET observations

Aerosol typing has gained significant international attention as it plays an important role in identifying aerosol sources, monitoring environmental events and formulating effective mitigation strategies. Understanding the origin and characteristics of aerosols is essential to detect hazardous situations, provide early warnings and minimise their potential impacts on climate, air quality and public health. To date, several aerosol typing schemes have been developed within ACTRIS (Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure) and EARLINET (European Aerosol Research Lidar Network) based on ground based lidar observations, to provide the predominant aerosol type or aerosol mixture in the atmospheric column [1,2,3]. Aerosol classification from spaceborne observations is also important to quantify the anthropogenic versus natural aerosol loading of the atmosphere and to study aerosol-cloud interactions. The Earth Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) is a joint mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) mission equipped with four sensors, a cloud-profiling radar (CPR), a high-spectral-resolution cloud–aerosol lidar (ATLID), a cloud–aerosol multi-spectral imager (MSI), and a three-view broad-band radiometer (BBR). The three instruments, i.e., ATLID, MSI, and BBR, provide information on global aerosol distribution and contribute to the overarching EarthCARE goals of sensor synergy and radiation closure with respect to aerosol presence. In this study we select cases with complex atmospheric conditions to evaluate the EarthCARE aerosol classification scheme [4] by comparing its performance with the ACTRIS/EARLINET dataset and the predominant aerosol types identified by the different algorithms developed within them.