Estimation of PM2.5 from fine-mode aerosol optical depth

Abstract

The correlation between fine Particulate Matters (PM2.5) and Fine-mode Aerosol Optical Depth (AODf) is established. AOD f is obtained from product of Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) and fine-mode fraction at Beijing site belonging to the AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) in January 2013. And then we compare estimation with observation of PM2.5 from 1 to 15 February,2013. The results show that the developed correction method is effective to estimate PM2.5 during haze, with root-mean-square error of 50 μg/m3 at a mean level of 85 μg/m3. The relationship between AODf and PM 2.5 is obviously better than that of AOD and PM2.5. It is also found that when the relative humidity is higher than 80%, the humidity correction on AOD-PM2.5 correlation is limited, and the vertical correction cannot improve the correlation during haze.