Estimation of aerosol optical thickness over northeast Asia from Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS) data during the 2001 ACE-Asia intensive observation period

Abstract

Radiative forcing by aerosol is one of the greatest sources of uncertainty in climate change modeling. One of the main objectives of the Asian Pacific Regional Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE-Asia) was to assess the spatial and temporal variability of aerosol properties in northeast Asia. Aerosol optical parameters are retrieved from the Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS) satellite data to study aerosol characteristics over northeast Asia during the ACE-Asia intensive observation period 2001. The aerosol optical thickness (AOT) and Ångström exponent are retrieved over land and ocean at a spatial scale of 1 × 1 km2 by using the Bremen aerosol retrieval (BAER) technique. SeaWiFS-derived AOT data were compared with those ground-measured AERONET AOT. The validation between SeaWiFS and Sun photometer data showed good correlation coefficients (r > 0.89) during the ACE-Asia IOP. The SeaWiFS-retrieved AOT showed a high AOT value of around 0.8 and Ångström exponent of 0.51 during an Asian dust case of 13 April 2001 over Gosan. Aerosol parameters retrieved from SeaWiFS data by using the BAER technique showed promising results to monitor atmospheric aerosol loading and estimate its optical properties. Copyright 2OO4 by the American Geophysical Union.