Particle mass loading estimation from extinction data: Application to satellite determination

Conference · Sun Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:220674

Cachorro, V E ^[1]; Tanre, D ^[2]

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1. Univ. de Valladolid (Spain). Centro de Tecnologia Laser
2. Univ. de Lille, Villeneuve d`Ascq (France). Lab. d`Optique Atmospherique

Here the goal is to determine the existing correlation between aerosol mass loading M and extinction {tau}{sub a} ({lambda}) and in particular the possible improvement using the spectral dependence. The ratio M/{tau}{sub a} obviously depends on the aerosol size distribution model and so the authors first carried out a theoretical analysis to observe this dependence. Two functions were selected, the Junge and the lognormal function. Also, ground-based sun photometer measurements under variable atmospheric conditions were made during two campaigns in April and May in both 1986 and 1987 at M`bour, 80 Km south of Dakar, Senegal. The spectral dependence of the aerosol optical thickness is used to derive the columnar aerosol size distribution, its mass loading and hence the M-{tau}{sub a} relationship. Good correlations expressed by a power law have been established which can be used to estimate desert aerosol content within an acceptable margin of error. This associated error oscillates between {+-}8% and {+-}15%. However errors as high as 40% are reached in the estimation of M using the simple ratio formula. This improvement could be performed as well by satellite using the good spectral coverage of sensors like MODIS (EOS satellite) or MERIS (Envisat).

• OSTI ID: 220674
• Report Number(s): CONF-9409265--; ISBN 0-8194-1641-X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AEROSOLS
DEPOSITION
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
PARTICLE SIZE
PROBABILISTIC ESTIMATION
REMOTE SENSING