Retrieval analysis of aerosol integral properties from simulated extinction at SAGE II and HALOE wavelengths

Abstract

Aerosol integral properties inferred from simulated multispectral extinction data at Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) II and the Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE) wavelengths using two different retrieval methods are analyzed and compared. The discrepancy in aerosol integral properties that results from using different retrieval techniques is analyzed, and the differences caused by sampling the same aerosol population at different wavelengths with the same retrieval technique are evaluated. We found that a better agreement was achieved when different methods were applied to the same data set as compared to a case where the same method is applied to data recorded by two different sensors. Our results demonstrate that when comparing aerosol properties derived from different instruments, the particle size information contents from optical instruments have to be taken into consideration together with the propagation of measurement errors and the systematic errors arising from the retrieval methods.