Spectral and spatial dependency of aerosol extinction in the upper troposphere based on the moon surface photometry in the Earth’s umbra

The work is based on photometry of the Moon’s surface during the total lunar eclipse of June 15, 2011. Photometric data are used to retrieve the value of aerosol extinction coefficient in the troposphere above the Earth’s limb in various spectral bands in the optical and near-IR ranges. The results are analyzed in comparison with the data of previous eclipses in 2004–2008. The main result consists in an increased aerosol concentration in the South-East Asia, which is maximum among all eclipses observed in recent years. At the same time, no relationship between eclipse brightness and solar activity is observed, as well as unified latitude dependency of umbra brightness noticed earlier.     

Investigations of the Background Stratospheric Aerosol Using Multicolor Wide-Angle Measurements of the Twilight Glow Background

The first results of multiwave measurements of twilight background and the all-sky camera with a color (RGB) CCD matrix conducted in the spring and summer of 2016 in Central Russia (55.2° N, 37.5° E) have been discussed. The observations reveal the effect of aerosol scattering at heights of up to 35 km, which is substantially enhanced in the long-wave part of the spectrum (R band with an effective wavelength of 624 nm). An analysis of the behavior of the sky color during light period of twilight with allowance for the absorption by ozone in the Chappuis bands make it possible to restore the angular dependences of the intensity of the aerosol scattering of the light. This is used to determine the parameters of the lognormal distribution of aerosol particles over their sizes with a mean radius of 0.08 μm and a width of 1.5–1.6 for the stratospheric height interval.