Retrieving global sources of aerosols from MODIS observations by inverting GOCART model

Abstract

Knowledge of the global distribution of tropospheric aerosols is important for studying the effects of aerosols on global climate. Chemical transport models rely on archived meteorological fields, accounting for aerosol sources, transport and removal processes can simulate the global distribution of atmospheric aerosols. However, the accuracy of global aerosol modeling is limited. Uncertainty in location and strength of aerosol emission sources is a major factor in limiting modeling accuracy. This paper describes an effort to develop an algorithm for retrieving global sources of aerosol from satellite observations by inverting the GOCART aerosol transport model.