Evaluation of the boundary layer morning transition using the CL-31 ceilometer signals

The morning transition of the atmospheric boundary layer from nighttime to daytime conditions was investigated using the Vaisala’s CL-31 ceilometer, located at Magurele, Romania (44.35°N, 26.03°E). Based on the 5-days backward trajectories, we rejected those measurements which were related to the intrusions of long-range transported particles. In the several discussed cases, which are representative for the morning transition in spring and summer seasons over Magurele, the increasing depth of the boundary layer related to the local aerosol load was well discernible. The dynamic change of its depth was estimated with errors using a simple method based on finding the minimum of the first derivative of the ceilometer signal. In the summer, the increase of the boundary layer depth due to the morning transition from the nighttime to daytime conditions starts on average of about 80 min earlier and the growth rate of this depth is 143 ± 6 m/h and about 37% slower than in the spring case.