Improvement of aerosol optical depth retrieval from MODIS spectral reflectance over the global ocean using new aerosol models archived from AERONET inversion data and tri-axial ellipsoidal dust database data
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Abstract. New over-ocean aerosol models are developed by integrating extensive AERONET inversion data and a database of the optical properties of tri-axial ellipsoidal dust particles. These models allow more accurate retrieval of aerosol optical depth (AOD) from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) for high AOD cases. Spectral AOD, single scattering albedo (SSA), and phase function, which are used to calculate a lookup table (LUT), are archived by combining inversion data from Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) Sun/sky radiometers and single-scattering properties from the tri-axial ellipsoidal dust database. The aerosol models are categorized from the AERONET data using the fine-mode fraction (FMF) at 550 nm and the SSA at 440 nm to resolve a variety of aerosol types throughout the globe. For each aerosol model, the changes in aerosol optical properties (AOP) are included as functions of AOD. Comparisons of AODs between AERONET and MODIS for the period from 2003 to 2010 show that the new aerosol models improve correlation compared to the MODIS Collection 5 products with a Pearson coefficient of 0.93 and a regression slope of 0.99 compared to 0.92 and 0.85, respectively, for the MODIS operational algorithm. Moreover, use of the new algorithms increases the percentage of data within an expected error of (0.03 + 0.05 AOD) from 62 to 64% overall and from 39 to 51% for high AOD cases (AOD > 0.3). Errors in the retrieved AOD are characterized further with respect to the ngstrm exponent (AE), scattering angle (), and air mass factor (AMF). Overall, the new aerosol models reduce systematic errors in AOD retrieval compared with the Collection 5 data due to realistic AOP assumptions. In particular, the scattering angle dependence of the retrieved AOD for dust cases is significantly mitigated due to improved treatment of the nonsphericity of dust particles by the new algorithm.
