Detecting Aerosols over Land from Satellites by Measuring Far IR Radiation from the Earth-Atmospheric System

In this study, a special method is proposed for detecting aerosols over land by analyzing satellite-measured far IR radiation at three channels, 8.7, 11.5, and 12.5 um. Sensitivity tests revealed that the behavioral features of radiative brightness temperatures (BTs) at these three channels with increasing optical depth are different among different types of aerosols. Analyzing how BTs and their differences, xBT (BT11.5-BT12.5) and yBT (BT8.7-BT11.5), behave with varying optical depth can help to qualitatively distinguish among aerosols and semi-quantitatively estimate their optical thicknesses. In addition, the authors found that the vertical density profile of aerosols has little impact on this method.     

Calibration of the Wetland Hydrodynamic Model to the Everglades Nutrient Removal Project

The objective of this study was to calibrate the Everglades Wetland Hydrodynamic Model (EWHM) to the Everglades Nutrient Removal (ENR) Project, from April 1995 through July of 1996. Model predictions were evaluated graphically and statistically against field observations to quantify the accuracy of model predictions and evaluate the success of model calibration. Comparisons between model predictions and field observations of water surface elevations at interior stations indicated that the model was successfully calibrated and model predictions were highly correlated with observed water surface elevations (r² ranged from 0.79 to 0.84). Model-predicted chloride (Cl) concentrations fell within the observed range of field observations, further confirming the success of model calibration. Good agreement found in these comparisons between observed and predicted results warrants the use of the model in a predictive mode. This is further supported by noting that the model contains no adjustable constants and requires no computational fitting of parameters to experimental data as is necessary in many previous obstructed flow studies.