Aerosol optical thickness retrieval over the Atlantic Ocean using GOES imager data     

M Moula  J Verdebout  H Eva 《Physics and Chemistry of the Earth》2002,27(35):1525-1531

An algorithm based on simulated satellite signal calculated by the 6S radiative transfer model has been developed in order to retrieve the aerosol optical thickness of dust over the Atlantic ocean. The algorithm is applied to the visible channel of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES 8) images. The inversion uses a look-up table giving the satellite signal intensity as a function of surface albedo, viewing geometry, solar illumination and the optical properties of the aerosols. The study consists of assessing the feasibility of monitoring and mapping the transport of suspended particles across the Atlantic from the Sahara to the Caribbean. The study area is between 10 and 25 N and 30 and 65 W. The optical thickness of aerosols has been calculated over a period of 11 days between 10th and 20th of June 1997 for the 14:15 UT GOES image acquisition. The calculated aerosol optical thickness ranges from 0.0 to 0.81 with an important event of dust presence occurring between 13th and 16th of June. The retrieved aerosol optical thickness is in good agreement with the values obtained between 14h UT and 15h UT from ground based sun photometer measurements on the island of Guadeloupe, and a coefficient correlation (R²) of 0.88 has been found between the data sets.  相似文献