Satellite observations of unusual dust event over North-East India and its relation with meteorological conditions

An unusual intense dust storm occurred over North-East region of India on 17 March 2009, which was analyzed using multi-satellite data sets. Terra MODIS AOD₅₅₀ showed high values on 17 March 2009 with low values of Angstrom exponent (α), suggesting coarse mode particle loading in the atmosphere. NCEP temperature and relative humidity anomalies showed high temperature and low humidity during March 2009. Dry weather conditions due to deficit rainfall during January–March 2009 and higher winds resulted in unusual dust storm over the region. Satellite observations of aerosol optical depth variations suggested increased aerosol loading in March 2009 due to dust storm.     

珠江三角洲对流层气溶胶时空变化特征分析

利用AERONET资料对珠三角地区气溶胶物理性质特征进行分析,建立珠三角地区的气溶胶模型,在此基础上,根据RT3 辐射传输模型构建矢量查找表,采用多角度偏振方法从PARASOL L1B数据反演得到细模态气溶胶光学厚度(AOD),最后采用2007-2009年MODIS总的AOD产品和本文的细模态AOD三年的反演结果分析了珠三角地区气溶胶的时间变化和空间分布特征,为深入研究珠三角地区污染物的局地排放和输送提供了条件.结果表明:(1)珠三角地区对流层气溶胶呈双峰型对数正态分布,其中细粒子平均半径主要集中在0.05~0.1,标准方差以0.5、0.6为主,粗粒子平均半径以0.9、1.0为主,标准方差为0.6、0.7,复折射指数实部以1.4、1.5 居多,虚部以0、0.01为主,细粒子所占比例大于70%,珠三角气溶胶呈现出粗颗粒物和细颗粒物并存的特征;(2)PARASOL业务算法中的气溶胶模型在珠三角地区有较大的局限性,引入当地气溶胶模型使细模态AOD的反演精度较卫星产品有了很大提高,细模态AOD主要反映了珠三角地区二次污染的强度;(3)珠三角地区总AOD值春季较大,秋夏季次之,冬季较小,并呈现逐年较小的趋势;(4)珠三角地区细模态AOD也在逐年降低,2009年细模态AOD年均值比2007年低了0.02,在空间分布上,高值地区主要集中在广州、佛山、中山等城市.     

Analysis of aerosol and carbon monoxide characteristics over Arabian Sea during crop residue burning period in the Indo-Gangetic Plains using multi-satellite remote sensing datasets

In this study, we have used multi-satellite data to retrieve aerosol loadings and carbon monoxide (CO) pollution over the Arabian Sea, caused due to anthropogenic activities over the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) in India. Relatively high aerosol and CO loadings during 9–14 November 2007 over Arabian Sea were attributed to crop residues burning in the IGP and fireworks during Diwali festival. Aerosol index (AI) obtained from ozone monitoring instrument (OMI) and CO from measurements of pollution in the troposphere instrument (MOPITT). CO showed higher values over the Arabian Sea suggesting long-range transport of anthropogenic aerosols and trace gases from the continental to Arabian Sea region.     

Monitoring temporal–spatial variations of AOD over the Yangtze River Delta,China

Aerosol can induce visibility reduction, affect radiation balance and modify cloud property on the environmental effect, and show the harmful effects on human health. Insight of aerosol becomes an integral task in the process of control measures for environmental pollution. The present study provided an analysis of temporal–spatial variations of aerosol optical depth (AOD) using the MOD04 level-2 in collection 6 (C6) with the deep blue retrieval algorithm from January 2005 to December 2015 over Yangtze River Delta (YRD) in China. The AOD validations between MODIS and Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) were estimated by the methods of regression, correlation. Then, the periodic features and trends of AOD and angstrom exponent (AE) were explored with the wavelet transformation (WT) procedure. Further, the variations of AOD and AE spatial distribution on multi-time scales (annual, monthly and season) were demonstrated. Meantime, the sources of AOD are discussed. It was found that the daily AOD from MODIS has a strong correlation relationship (slope?=?0.9838, r?=?0.84) with AERONET over YRD. The variations of both AOD and AE on time series have been distinct temporal periodic (12, 6 and 4 months) characteristics, and show the decreasing trends on annual and semi-annual periods. On annual, the AOD on spatial distribution is slowly declining from the northwest towards the southeast, and the AE on spatial distribution is gradually decreasing from the northwest to the southeast and from the land to the coast. The variations both inter-annual AOD and AE on spatial distribution show the inverse trends, respectively. On monthly, the means of AOD range from minimum 0.46 in January to maximum 0.90 in July, and the variations of spatial distribution mainly occur in the north parts of Yangtze River and some scattered areas with high terrain and south coast. The means of AE range from minimum 1.13 in October to maximum 1.58 in April, and the variations of spatial distribution are mainly found in the south of Henan, the north of Jiangsu, the coast belt and the riverside of Yangtze River and the high terrain regions. On seasonality, the means of AOD reaches its maximum 0.68 in summer and minimum 0.50 in winter, and the variations of spatial distribution mainly occur in the coast belt, the north parts of Hongze Lake and the south parts with high terrain. The means of AE reaches its maximum 1.48 in spring and minimum 1.25 in autumn, and the variations of spatial distribution were shown the similarity with that of monthly.     

Long-range transport of aerosols from agriculture crop residue burning in Indo-Gangetic Plains—A study using LIDAR,ground measurements and satellite data

Agriculture crop residue burning in tropics is an important source of atmospheric aerosols and monitoring their long-range transport is an important element in climate change studies. Synchronous measurements using micro-pulsed lidar, MICROTOPS-II sun photometer, multi-filter rotating shadow band radiometer (MFRSR) on aerosol optical depth and ground reaching solar irradiance were carried at an urban location in central region of India. Aerosol backscatter profiles obtained from micro-pulse lidar showed elevated aerosol layers up to ～3 km on certain days during October 2007. Satellite data observations on aerosol properties suggested transport of particles from agriculture crop residue burning in Indo-Gangetic Plains over large regions. Radiative forcing of aerosols estimated from SBDART model with input information on aerosol chemical properties, aerosol optical depth and single scattering albedo and broadband solar irradiance measurements using MFRSR showed good correlation (R=0.98).     

Studies of aerosol optical depth with the use of Microtops II sun photometers and MODIS detectors in coastal areas of the Baltic Sea

In this paper we describe the results of a research campaign dedicated to the studies of aerosol optical properties in different regions of both the open Baltic Sea and its coastal areas. During the campaign we carried out simultaneous measurements of aerosol optical depth at 4 stations with the use of the hand-held Microtops II sun photometers. The studies were complemented with aerosol data provided by the MODIS. In order to obtain the full picture of aerosol situation over the study area, we added to our analyses the air mass back-trajectories at various altitudes as well as wind fields. Such complex information facilitated proper conclusions regarding aerosol optical depth and Ångström exponent for the four locations and discussion of the changes of aerosol properties with distance and with changes of meteorological factors. We also show that the Microtops II sun photometers are reliable instruments for field campaigns. They are easy to operate and provide good quality results.     

Effects of polarization calibration on aerosol optical depth retrieval: An ocean case sensitivity analysis

Reflectance measurements of both the visible and infrared bands of passive remote sensing sensors are widely used to retrieve aerosol optical depth(AOD) information. This is performed commonly for data obtained over both ocean and land, and these measurements allow for the off line development of a lookup table using radiative transfer models. Owing to molecular and aerosol effects, the reflected light received by the sensor is usually highly polarized. The linear polarization effect may be up to 100%, and the polarization factor of a sensor optical system will change the total intensity as well as the polarization status of the signal reaching the detector. The detector response will be different when the incident light polarization status changes, even if the total intensity remains constant. However, if the polarization calibration is neglected, it will cause obvious errors in the aerosol data retrieval. This is especially true for aerosol optical depth retrieval over an ocean. This measurement relies directly on the reflectance output of the sensor. Cases involving land surfaces are not discussed herein because the inhomogeneous properties conceal the error due to polarization. Taking the 550 and 860 nm bands as examples, the difference between the real top-of-atmosphere(TOA) reflectance and the reflectance reaching the detector is calculated using three different sensor polarization standards according to the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor(Sea Wi FS) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS) standards. The differences in AOD retrieval are also demonstrated using the lookup table developed previously from a vector radiative transfer code. The results reveal that under a normal situation in which the AOD is 0.15, the maximum AOD retrieval error could reach 0.04 in 550 nm but only 0.02 in 860 nm for the dust aerosol model. For the soot aerosol model, the maximum AOD retrieval error is 0.1 in 550 nm and 0.12 in 860 nm, indicating that the lack of polarization calibration will lead to large errors in aerosol retrieval over an ocean.     

基于VIIRS数据的中国东部气溶胶光学厚度反演算法改进

VIIRS(Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite)作为MODIS(The MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer)的后继传感器,可在全球范围内实现对气溶胶的连续时空监测.卫星反演的气溶胶光学厚度(Aerosol Optical Depth,AOD)是研究地球能量收支平衡、气候效应和空气质量的重要大气参数.但在中国重污染天气情况下,现有的VIIRS陆地气溶胶产品存在一定不足.因此,本研究改进云识别方法,优化像元筛选,约束气溶胶类型选择,实现重污染情况下AOD的反演.基于地基AERONET(AErosol RObotic NETwork)的验证结果表明,相比NOAA(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)产品,改进后的反演结果克服了反演值偏低的问题,且表现出更好的相关性,RMSE从0.236下降到0.219.为验证在重污染条件下改进算法的适用性和准确性,本文对比了两种污染条件下的反演结果(0.61).统计结果表明,在较重污染天气条件下(AODAERONET>1),相比NOAA的AOD产品,本文结果的反演率从32.3%提升为68.8%,回归分析的斜率提高为0.80,相关系数达到0.76,均方根误差为0.307,在增加反演量的同时保证了反演的精度.     

High resolution aerosol optical thickness retrieval over the Pearl River Delta region with improved aerosol modelling

Aerosol retrieval algorithms for the MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) have been developed to estimate aerosol and microphysical properties of the atmosphere, which help to address aerosol climatic issues at global scale. However, higher spatial resolution aerosol products for urban areas have not been well researched mainly due to the difficulty of differentiating aerosols from bright surfaces in urban areas. Here, a new aerosol retrieval algorithm using the MODIS 500 m resolution image...     

Aerosol retrieval over land by exploiting the synergy of TERRA and AQUA MODIS DATA

Aerosol particles over land mainly come from man- made source such as biomass burning, industrial de-bris and natural source such as soil dust, sea salt parti-cles, etc. More and more research results show that, aerosols impact global and regional energy radiative budget; aerosol particles also modify the cloud mi-crophysics, as a result, aerosol particles may change the cloud radiative properties. Aerosol particles also play an important role in many biogeochemical cycles. All the above-menti…     

Aerosol properties over an urban site in central East China derived from ground sun-photometer measurements

Sun-photometer measurements at Hefei, an urban site located in central East China, were examined to investigate the variations of aerosol loading and optical properties. It is found that aerosol optical thickness (AOT) keeps higher in winter/spring and gets relatively lower in summer/autumn. The large AOT in winter is caused by anthropogenic sulfate/nitrate aerosols, while in spring dust particles elevate the background aerosol loading and the excessive fine-mode particles eventually lead to severe pollution. There is a dramatic decline of AOT during summer, with monthly averaged AOT reaching the maximum in June and soon the minimum in August. Meanwhile, aerosol size decreases consistently and single scattering albedo (SSA) reaches its minimum in July. During summertime large-sized particles play a key role to change the air from clean to mild-pollution situation, while the presence of massive small-sized particles makes the air being even more polluted. These complicated summer patterns are possibly related to the three key processes that are active in the high temperature/humidity environment concentrating on sulfate/nitrate aerosols, i.e., gas-to-particle transformation, hygroscopic growth, and wet scavenging. Regardless of season, the increase of SSA with increasing AOT occurs across the visible and near-infrared bands, suggesting the dominant negative/cooling effect with the elevated aerosol loading. The SSA spectra under varying AOT monotonically decrease with wavelength. The relatively large slope arises in summer, reinforcing the dominance of sulfate/nitrate aerosols that induce severe pollution in summer season around this city.     

A multiyear analysis of aerosol optical thickness over Europe and Central Poland using NAAPS model simulation

This study contains a comparative analysis of aerosol optical thickness (AOT) between numerical calculations obtained from the Navy Aerosol Analysis and Prediction System (NAAPS) model and direct observations from the AERONET robotic network and the Saharan Aerosol over WArsaw (SAWA) field campaign. AOT was calculated for 500 nm wavelength. The comparison shows underestimation of the total aerosol optical thickness simulated by NAAPS. The correlation coefficients between model and observation oscillates between 0.57 and 0.72. Results of seven-year (1998–2004) NAAPS simulation of aerosol components (sea salt, mineral dust, sulphate, and smoke) show large temporal and spatial variability of the aerosol optical thickness over Europe. The least polluted region is the Iberian Peninsula, while the highest aerosol burdens occurred in Central Europe, mostly due to anthropogenic sulphate particles. Finally, the analysis of mineral dust transport shows frequent episodes of Saharan dust inflow over Central Europe. There are about 20 days a year (4 days in May) when instantaneous AOT associated with mineral dust aerosol increases over 0.1.     

Aerosol optical depth retrieval by HJ-1/CCD supported by MODIS surface reflectance data

The high spatial resolution and temporal observation frequency of HJ-1/CCD make it suitable for aerosol monitoring. However, because of the lack of a shortwave infrared band, it is difficult to use HJ-1/CCD imagery to retrieve aerosol optical depth (AOD). We developed a new algorithm for HJ-1/CCD AOD retrieval by introducing MODIS surface reflectance outputs (MOD09) as support. In this algorithm HJ-1/CCD blue band surface reflectance was retrieved through MOD09 blue band surface reflectance by band matching of the two sensors. AOD at 550 nm was then generated through a pre-calculated look-up table for HJ-1/CCD. Eighteen HJ-1/CCD images covering the Jing-Jin-Tang (Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan) region were used to retrieve AOD using the new algorithm, and the AODs were then validated using AERONET ground measurements in Beijing and Xianghe. The validation shows that compared with AERONET ground measurements, 27/29 AODs have error less than 0.1 in absolute value.     

Cases of aerosol optical depth estimation in the Athens area,Greece

This work estimates the Ångström turbidity coefficients and investigates the variation of the aerosol optical depth (AOD) in the Athens area, during different atmospheric conditions. The AOD is estimated in the wavelength band of 400–670 nm from direct-beam spectral irradiance measurements using ground-based instrumentation, during an experimental campaign performed in the period 22 September–1 October 2002. All data were collected under clear-sky conditions near the city center of Athens; the AODs were estimated relative to the local zenith to avoid the influence of the optical air mass. The study shows that the AOD is influenced by wind regime and traffic in the Athens area. The Angstrom's turbidity coefficients and the AOD values were found to be higher under the influence of South-sector winds compared to those from the North-sector. Under South-sector low winds, the pollutants are accumulated in the Athens basin. On the contrary, the North-sector winds clean the atmosphere.     

华北典型污染地区多轴差分吸收光谱技术的气溶胶反演研究

基于华北典型污染地区的地基多轴差分吸收光谱仪（MAX-DOAS）近4年的观测数据,利用最优估计算法和LIDORT辐射传输模式反演了该区域气溶胶的消光系数垂直廓线和光学厚度（AOD）.MAX-DOAS观测反演的AOD与全球气溶胶观测网络同波段在华北地区的AOD间具有很好的一致性,相关系数都在0.9以上,证明MAX-DOAS具备对华北污染区域气溶胶光学厚度和消光系数垂直廓线的反演能力.AOD的反演误差表现为冬季最大,春夏最小,早晚大于正午,这是因为冬季以及早晚太阳天顶角较大导致信噪比偏小,所以AOD反演误差偏大.反演廓线表明该区域气溶胶主要集中在1 km以下的边界层,浓度随高度呈指数递减,部分情况下峰值出现在300 m处;气溶胶光学厚度夏季最大,冬季最小,正午较大,早晚较小.在东风条件下浓度最高,表明东边（即重工业城市唐山方向）的输送对香河和周边区域的气溶胶积聚有重要贡献.     

东南亚地区生物体燃烧影响华南地区对流层臭氧垂直分布的个例分析

2001年3月7日与8日在香港与昆明用电化学臭氧探空仪探测到了对流层低层异常的高浓度臭氧分布. 本文使用NCEP（美国环境预报中心）分析资料、中尺度数值模式MM5模拟的大气环流数据、卫星观测的东南亚地区的生物体燃烧状况、气溶胶指数等资料,分析了这段时间的天气形势、大气环流、空气的后向轨迹以及生物体燃烧产生的烟尘的轨迹,结果发现高浓度的臭氧空气来源于有生物体燃烧的中南半岛地区. 燃烧烟尘的轨迹还表明生物体燃烧地区的下风方的对流层低层臭氧的分布会受到上游地区生物体燃烧产物的影响.     

Aerosol optical depth retrieval by HJ-1/CCD supported by MODIS surface reflectance data

The high spatial resolution and temporal observation frequency of HJ-1/CCD make it suitable for aerosol monitoring. However, because of the lack of a shortwave infrared band, it is difficult to use HJ-1/CCD imagery to retrieve aerosol optical depth (AOD). We developed a new algorithm for HJ-1/CCD AOD retrieval by introducing MODIS surface reflectance outputs (MOD09) as support. In this algorithm HJ-1/CCD blue band surface reflectance was retrieved through MOD09 blue band surface reflectance by band matching of the two sensors. AOD at 550 nm was then generated through a pre-calculated look-up table for HJ-1/CCD. Eighteen HJ-1/CCD images covering the Jing-Jin-Tang (Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan) region were used to retrieve AOD using the new algorithm, and the AODs were then validated using AERONET ground measurements in Beijing and Xianghe. The validation shows that compared with AERONET ground measurements, 27/29 AODs have error less than 0.1 in absolute value.

     

Spatio-temporal characteristics of aerosol distribution over Tibetan Plateau and numerical simulation of radiative forcing and climate response

In this paper we have analyzed aerosol distribution over the Tibetan Plateau by using the global monthly mean satellite data of Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment II (SAGE II). The results are as follows: (1) Stratospheric aerosol optical depth can oscillate in the four seasons. It means that the aerosol optical depth is the thickest in winter and a little thinner in spring and the thinnest in summer and then a little thicker in autumn. We have found that the oscillation is caused by the oscillation of tropopause in different seasons. (2) Stratospheric aerosol comes mainly from sprays of volcano. After eruption of Mount Pinatubo aerosol optical depth in stratosphere over the Tibetan Plateau increases 10 times compared with before. (3) The characteristic of aerosol vertical distribution over the Tibetan Plateau is that there is an extremely high value at the altitude of 70 hPa. The most interesting thing is that the extremely high value can oscillate between 50 hPa and 100 hPa. We have verified that the oscillation is a unique characteristic over the Tibetan Plateau by comparing it with South China and North China. Then the radiative forcing and regional climate response over the Tibetan Plateau of aerosol are investigated. We have discovered such things as followed by: (1) The radiative forcing is positive because the parameterized aerosol optical depth is less than 0.14 which is the optical depth of the uniform background boundary aerosol layer. It is 0–3 W/m² in January and 0–4 W/m² in April and less than 3 W/m² in July and 3–6 W/m² in October. (2) Ground temperature rises 0.1–0.2 K in October which is the biggest increasing magnitude, and 0.01–0.02 in July which is the smallest one. It rises about 0.05-0.01 K in January and April. (3) Air temperature near the earth’s surface and the one at the altitude of 500 hPa rise too, but the increasing magnitude is less than the former one.

     

Application of MODIS satellite products to the air pollution research in Beijing

The direct correlation between NASA MODIS aerosol optical depth (AOD) products and the air pollution index (API) in Beijing was found relatively low based on the long-term comparison analysis. The correlation improved to some extent after taking account of the seasonal variation of scale height and the vertical distribution of aerosols. The correlation coefficient further improved significantly after considering the influencing factor of Relative Humidity (RH). This study concluded that satellite remote-sensing could serve as an efficient tool for monitoring the spatial distribution of particulate pollutants on the ground-level, as long as corrections have been made in the two aforementioned processes. Taking advantage of the MODIS information, we analyzed a pollution episode occurring in October 2004 in Beijing. It indicated that satellite remote-sensing could describe the formation process of the ground-level pollution episode in detail, and showed that regional transport and the topography were crucial factors to air quality in Beijing. The annual averaged distribution in the urban area of Beijing and its surroundings could be also obtained from the high-resolution retrieval results, implicating that high-resolution satellite remote-sensing might be potential in monitoring the source distribution of particulate pollutants.     

Numerical simulation of the influence of aerosol radiation effect on urban boundary layer

With the intensification of pollution and urbanization, the aerosol radiation effect continues to play an important role in the urban boundary layer. In this paper, a winter pollution process in Beijing has been taken as an example, and a new aerosol vertical profile in the radiative parameterization scheme within the Weather Forecast Research and Forecasting (WRF) model has been updated to study the effect of aerosols on radiation and the boundary layer. Furthermore, the interactions among aerosols, urbanization, and planetary boundary layer (PBL) meteorology were discussed through a series of numerical experiments. The results show the following: (1) The optimization improves the performance of the model in simulating the distribution features of air temperature, humidity, and wind in Beijing. (2) The aerosols reduce the surface temperature by reducing solar radiation and increasing the temperature in the upper layer by absorbing or backscattering solar radiation. The changes in the PBL temperature lead to more stable atmospheric stratification, reducing the energy transfer from the surface and the height of the boundary layer. (3) With the increase in the aerosol optical depth, the atmospheric stratification most likely becomes stable over rural areas, most likely becomes stable over suburb areas, and has great difficultly becoming stable over urban areas. Aerosol radiative forcing, underlying urban surfaces, and the interaction between them are the main factors that affect the changes in the meteorological elements in the PBL.