Automatic determination of the planetary boundary layer height using lidar: One-year analysis over southeastern Spain

The planetary boundary layer (PBL) height is a key variable in climate modeling and has an enormous influence on air pollution. A method based on the wavelet covariance transform (WCT) applied to lidar data is tested in this paper as an automated and non-supervised method to obtain the PBL height. The parcel and the Richardson number methods applied to radiosounding data and the parcel method applied to microwave radiometer temperature profiles are used as independent measurements of the PBL height in order to optimize the parameters required for its detection using the WCT method under different atmospheric conditions. This optimization allows for a one-year statistical analysis of the PBL height at midday over Granada (southeastern Spain) from lidar data. The PBL height showed a seasonal cycle, with higher values in summer and spring while lower values were found in winter and autumn. The annual mean was 1.7 +/- 0.5 km a.s.l. during the study period. The relationship of the PBL height with aerosol properties is also analyzed for the one-year period.