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Recent Advances in Atmospheric Optics: From Advanced Instrumentation and Techniques...
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Recent Advances in Atmospheric Optics: From Advanced Instrumentation and Techniques to Applications in Aerosol Monitoring

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Atmospheric Techniques, Instruments, and Modeling".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 2432

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Marius M. Cazacu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Physics, Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iași, 700050 Iași, Romania
Interests: remote sensing techniques for environmental monitoring; long-range transport of aerosols; pollution; environmental engineering; atmospheric pollution; analytical microscopy; nanoscale imaging and spectroscopy; optical atmosphere; spectroscopy and lasers; physics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Atmospheric optics is an interdisciplinary field that studies the interaction of light with the Earth's atmosphere. It has wide applications in fields such as air pollution, meteorology, climatology, astronomy, and telecommunications. Recent years have seen significant progress in atmospheric optics due to the development of new instruments and observation techniques.

This Special Issue presents the latest advances in atmospheric optics, with a focus on applications in aerosol monitoring. The topics covered will address the impact of atmospheric aerosols on air quality, human health, climate, and visibility, as well as their sources and monitoring methods. It will include a variety of articles, from literature reviews and case studies to presentations of advanced tools and techniques, covering the following areas of interest:

  • Technological breakthroughs and advances
    • Development of advanced optical instruments and new and improved techniques for investigating atmospheric aerosols;
    • Advanced modelling and simulation of light propagation in complex aerosol environments.
  • Applications and impact
    • Air quality monitoring and air pollution;
    • Detection and characterisation of aerosol emissions from natural and anthropogenic sources;
    • Contributions to climate and climate change;
    • Applications in meteorology, telecommunications, and other related fields.
  • Machine learning technologies for analysing atmospheric data
    • Machine learning algorithms for processing and interpreting data from atmospheric optical instruments;
    • Development of predictive models to determine trends in atmospheric parameters;
    • Identifying complex patterns in atmospheric data using deep learning techniques;
    • Improving data quality and correcting measurement errors;
    • Automatic classification of aerosol types and identification of their sources;
    • Forecasting air quality and extreme weather events;
    • Development of early warning systems for air pollution.
  • Case studies (examples)
    • Presentation of practical examples of the use of new optical instruments and techniques for the study of aerosols in different environments and regions;
    • Analysis of the impact of these studies on understanding the atmosphere and addressing issues of air quality and climate change;
    • Use of machine learning to analyse atmospheric data and identify trends in global aerosol concentrations for the development of prediction models.

Dr. Marius M. Cazacu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • advanced optical instruments
  • advanced modelling and simulation
  • machine learning technologies
  • air quality monitoring
  • atmospheric aerosol and pollution

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 12621 KiB  
Article
How Does the Location of Power Plants Impact Air Quality in the Urban Area of Bucharest?
by Doina Nicolae, Camelia Talianu, Jeni Vasilescu, Alexandru Marius Dandocsi, Livio Belegante, Anca Nemuc, Florica Toanca, Alexandru Ilie, Andrei Valentin Dandocsi, Stefan Marius Nicolae, Gabriela Ciocan, Viorel Vulturescu and Ovidiu Gelu Tudose
Atmosphere 2025, 16(6), 636; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16060636 - 22 May 2025
Viewed by 147
Abstract
This study investigates the impact of a thermal power plant site on air quality in Bucharest, Romania. It emphasizes the importance of accurate air pollutant inmission measurements in urban areas by utilizing mobile measurements of low-cost sensors, Copernicus’ Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) [...] Read more.
This study investigates the impact of a thermal power plant site on air quality in Bucharest, Romania. It emphasizes the importance of accurate air pollutant inmission measurements in urban areas by utilizing mobile measurements of low-cost sensors, Copernicus’ Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) and Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (CLMS), and satellite retrieval to better understand climate change drivers and their potential impact on near- surface concentrations and column densities of NO2, CO, and PM (particulate matter). It focuses the attention on the need of considering the placement of power plants in relation to metropolitan areas while making this assessment. The research highlights the limits of typical mesoscale air quality models in effectively capturing pollution dispersion and distribution using LUR (Land Use Regressions) retrievals. The authors investigate a variety of ways to better understand air pollution in metropolitan areas, including satellite observations, mobile measurements, and land use regression models. The study focuses largely on Bucharest, the capital of Romania, which has air pollution issues caused by vehicle traffic, industrial activity, heating systems, and power plants. The results indicate how the placement of a power plant may affects air quality in the nearby residential areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Atmospheric Optics: From Advanced Instrumentation and Techniques to Applications in Aerosol Monitoring)
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19 pages, 2696 KiB  
Article
Demonstration of a Simplified, Two-Wavelength Optical Approach to Measuring Nitrogen Dioxide in Cities
by Eibhlín F. Halpin, Rohit Vikas, Conor W. Dorney, Meng Wang and Dean S. Venables
Atmosphere 2025, 16(5), 599; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16050599 - 15 May 2025
Viewed by 140
Abstract
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a major air pollutant in urban areas, and achieving good accuracy and sensitivity in low-cost measurements is desirable to monitor NO2 levels in settings with high spatio-temporal variability. This paper describes a ratiometric approach that uses [...] Read more.
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a major air pollutant in urban areas, and achieving good accuracy and sensitivity in low-cost measurements is desirable to monitor NO2 levels in settings with high spatio-temporal variability. This paper describes a ratiometric approach that uses the different absorption at two nearby wavelengths to quantify NO2. The response to NO2 and other potential interferences is calculated at 437.3 and 439.4 nm for a low-resolution (1.44 nm) system. Owing to its elevated concentration and strong absorption compared to other absorbing gases, NO2 dominates the ratio of light absorption at these wavelengths in urban settings. The approach is experimentally demonstrated in a simple measurement system comprising a blue LED, narrow bandpass filters and non-dispersive detectors. The approach was validated in atmospheric simulation chamber experiments over an 8 m pathlength and achieved a high level of agreement against a reference DOAS spectral analysis (R2 = 0.97). Mixing ratios of up to 12 ppm were measured with a standard deviation of 51 ppb, suggesting that low ppb-level sensitivity can be achieved in pathlengths of a few hundred metres. The spectral stability of the ratiometric method was demonstrated in the open atmosphere using a short open-path system with a pathlength of 45 m. The standard deviation of the ratio of intensities in the two channels was 0.2%, despite changes in the transmitted intensity of almost 90%. The ratiometric two-channel approach developed in this work can be used in both in situ and remote sensing configurations, and we suggest that it has potential for use in a range of settings, including for low-cost monitoring in low-income cities and towns and continuous emission monitoring. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Atmospheric Optics: From Advanced Instrumentation and Techniques to Applications in Aerosol Monitoring)
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14 pages, 4382 KiB  
Article
Investigations on Stubble-Burning Aerosols over a Rural Location Using Ground-Based, Model, and Spaceborne Data
by Katta Vijayakumar, Panuganti China Sattilingam Devara and Saurabh Yadav
Atmosphere 2024, 15(11), 1383; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15111383 - 17 Nov 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1013
Abstract
Agriculture crop residue burning has become a major environmental problem facing the Indo-Gangetic plain, as well as contributing to global warming. This paper reports the results of a comprehensive study, examining the variations in aerosol optical, microphysical, and radiative properties that occur during [...] Read more.
Agriculture crop residue burning has become a major environmental problem facing the Indo-Gangetic plain, as well as contributing to global warming. This paper reports the results of a comprehensive study, examining the variations in aerosol optical, microphysical, and radiative properties that occur during biomass-burning events at Amity University Haryana (AUH), at a rural station in Gurugram (Latitude: 28.31° N, Longitude: 76.90° E, 285 m AMSL), employing ground-based observations of AERONET and Aethalometer, as well as satellite and model simulations during 7–16 November 2021. The smoke emissions during the burning events enhanced the aerosol optical depth (AOD) and increased the Angstrom exponent (AE), suggesting the dominance of fine-mode aerosols. A smoke event that affected the study region on 11 November 2021 is simulated using the regional NAAPS model to assess the role of smoke in regional aerosol loading that caused an atmospheric forcing of 230.4 W/m2. The higher values of BC (black carbon) and BB (biomass burning), and lower values of AAE (absorption Angstrom exponent) are also observed during the peak intensity of the smoke-event period. A notable layer of smoke has been observed, extending from the surface up to an altitude of approximately 3 km. In addition, the observations gathered from CALIPSO regarding the vertical profiles of aerosols show a qualitative agreement with the values obtained from AERONET observations. Further, the smoke plumes that arose due to transport of a wide-spread agricultural crop residue burning are observed nationwide, as shown by MODIS imagery, and HYSPLIT back trajectories. Thus, the present study highlights that the smoke aerosol emissions during crop residue burning occasions play a critical role in the local/regional aerosol microphysical and radiation properties, and hence in the climate variability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Atmospheric Optics: From Advanced Instrumentation and Techniques to Applications in Aerosol Monitoring)
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