Editor's choice 

Following the handling editor recommendation, the manuscript presents innovative analysis of a ground-based imaging experiment using a shortwave infrared spectral camera to quantify carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from a coal-fired power plant. The innovation of the manuscript is to use low spectral resolution (7nm) imaging spectroscopy to measure CO2 plume structure and estimate emission amounts from chimneys by the ground-based observation. The methodology has potential important applications for fine-scale estimates of CO2 and other GHG emissions

This paper presents a detailed analysis about the methane emissions leakage event in the UK in 2023 by multiple approaches, which is highly available for the GHG emission, climate change, as well as the air quality communities, and highly concerned by the public and society.

This paper demonstrates that lidar CO₂ measurements can substantially complement current passive remote sensors by providing measurements above clouds and within cloud gaps. Furthermore, lidar provides data at high latitudes where spectroscopy suffers from low solar illumination and challenging albedo variations. This is of particular importance in the context of "Arctic amplification". The paper paves the way for future CO₂ and also CH₄ lidar measurements from satellites.

Tornadoes are having impact on peoples live and are in a general interest.

This is the first time showing that long-term polarization observations with a Doppler lidar are possible. Second, the methodology could be applied to other HALO lidars and thus expand the capabilities for observing atmospheric aerosol. Third: It shows that Finland (any maybe whole Scandinavia) is during summer time most of the time dominated by Pollen or other biogenic aerosol, something which is maybe attributed to the continental background class used in CALIPSO, and not yet fully understood.

This work validates retrievals from the latest operational version of the NASA Goddard Profiling Algorithm (GPROF), currently version 7, and it quantitatively demonstrates the performance improvements with respect to previous versions (GPROF v05) at various spatial and temporal resolutions. It also presents new, not yet operationally implemented, machine learning based versions of GPROF (GPROF-NN).

Aerosol properties are usually retrieved on scales of 300-1000m, which is more than enough considering the spatial variability of aerosols. However, a higher spatial resolution is needed in some specific cases (volcanic eruptions, technogenic catastrophes, dust storms, military operations, and industrial pollution). Various parameters of the aerosol plume are needed, including the direction of propagation, spatial coverage, plume height, chemical composition and microstructure parameters. Such information is required for practical applications, including population warning systems. This paper is one of the first studies retrieving aerosol properties using spaceborne PRISMA hyperspectral 30m spatial resolution measurements. It opens the way for developing automatic procedures for monitoring aerosol plumes. The hyperspectral instrumentation can also be installed on airborne platforms and used to monitor particulate matter and gaseous components of pollution plumes.

I agree with the reviewer's assessment

As the Editor states does this manuscript describe application of long-path absorption spectroscopy to detection of gas leak plumes. The technique uses an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) carrying a retroreflector as the endpoint of the absorption path, which allows for rapid discovery of plume location and quantification of plume cross section for emissions rate determination. The technique works at a safe standoff distance and through the use of the UAV doesn't need two fixed end locations. It would be of interest to many seeking to find and quantify gas leaks, which is important for safety and minimizing greenhouse gas and reactive gas emissions.

From the handling editor : I think this paper is of particular interest to the geoscience community (following peer review) though likely too arcane for broader public/media. There's been a lot of discussion of the potential for preferentially oriented dust particles and this has impacts for remote sensing and modeling. So this seems to be an important step towards real characterisation of them. I agree with the authors' provided comment here so reproduce it below: Atmospheric dust particles with irregular shapes may present a preferential orientation in the Earth's atmosphere. This alignment can be detected from the resulting dichroic extinction of the transmitted sunlight through the elevated dust layers. Since mineral dust is one of the most abundant atmospheric aerosols and plays a significant role to the radiative forcing of the global climate, the somewhat elusive observation of particle orientation will be a game changer to existing remote sensing measurement techniques and the implementation of particle dynamics in desert dust transport models. With our research, we utilize a specifically designed direct sun Solar Polarimeter (SolPol), installed and operated on a remote observatory in Greece, and report on unique observations of enhanced linear polarization during dust events. We aim to interpret our measurements as the first observations of atmospheric dust particle orientation by measuring direct sunlight.

Measuring water vapour in the UTLS region has been challenging for decades. The method presented here provides a breakthrough for future high precision measurements at the low concentrations and under the conditions found in the UTLS region. Such measurements are essential given the critical role of water vapour in this region for the Earth's radiative balance.

The study makes a substantial promise with direct benefits for the society at large.

The paper provides the general overview on the upcoming EarthCARE mission, which carries a unique suite of active and passive instruments for aerosol, cloud and radiation observations. It is thought to be the introductory paper for the AMT Special Issue "EarthCARE Level 2 algorithms and data products".

These are important first results of carbon monoxide from the GEO perspective which gives the diurnal variation of a critical atmospheric pollutant.

The paper introduces a machine learning based retrieval algorithm for Aura/MLS, which could lead to a major update of the Aura/MLS NRT L2 products.

This study evaluates many currently available conventional and polarimetric radar-based remote-sensing retrievals of ice water content, total number concentration and mean diameter of ice hydrometeors. It has the potential to become a reference for the assessment of measurement uncertainties from radar observations for which no in-situ reference data are available.

I agree with the handling editor that the technique described is a breakthrough in analytical capability with potential wide ranging applications.

I agree with the handling editor that this paper covers a very good study that would be a very useful for the community, especially for measurements of reactive gases.

I agree with the handling editor Dr. Laura Bianco and the reviewer Dr. Frank Beyrich that this is a very good paper and that it is of general interest and relevance.

Accurate detection and quantification of methane emissions are urgently needed for climate change mitigation. Multiple observations and measurement approaches can contribute to this challenge. This study shows how Sentinel-2 can provide useful coverage and spatial resolution for methane plumes, despite limited spectral sensitivity for methane absorption.

The manuscript gives exceptional good insight into true eddy accumulation.

Next to tackling the fundamental problem in the representativeness of point measurements of particles and retrieving the surface flux in a turbulent atmosphere, this manuscript provides a general framework to plan sampling strategies for aerosol field campaigns and provides tools to quantify related uncertainties.

This manuscript discusses the basis and uncertainties of the Aeolus mission performance and its improvement over time. Aeolus is a key ESA mission for atmospheric dynamics, greatly beneficial for numerical weather prediction and Earth system dynamics studies. The lessons learned in understanding and improving the atmospheric measurement technique described here will be of great importance for the Aeolus follow-on mission, now being planned by EUMETSAT and ESA in Europe.

The remote sensing observation of condensation water in cloud is realized by using active and passive remote sensing instruments. This is the first application, to our knowledge, of observations for atmospheric column condensate evaluation, which is significant for research on the hydrologic cycle and the assessment of cloud water resources.