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Special Issue Article

Multi-sensor satellite remote sensing of dust aerosols over North Africa during GERBILS

  1. Sundar A. Christopher1,*,
  2. Pawan Gupta2,†,
  3. Ben Johnson3,‡,
  4. Catherine Ansell4,
  5. Helen Brindley4,
  6. Jim Haywood3,‡

Article first published online: 17 JUN 2011

DOI: 10.1002/qj.863

Issue

Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society

Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society

Special Issue: Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget Intercomparison of Longwave and Shortwave radiation (GERBILS)

Volume 137, Issue 658, pages 1168–1178, July 2011 Part A

Additional Information

How to Cite

Christopher, S. A., Gupta, P., Johnson, B., Ansell, C., Brindley, H. and Haywood, J. (2011), Multi-sensor satellite remote sensing of dust aerosols over North Africa during GERBILS. Q.J.R. Meteorol. Soc., 137: 1168–1178. doi: 10.1002/qj.863

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Atmospheric Science, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Alabama, USA

  2. 2

    Earth System Science Centre, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Alabama, USA

  3. 3

    Met Office, Exeter, UK

  4. 4

    Imperial College, London, UK

  1. †

    Now at the University of Maryland in Baltimore County, Maryland, USA.

  2. ‡

    The contribution of these authors was written in the course of their employment at the Met Office, UK, and is published with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.

*University of Alabama, NSSTC, Huntsville, AL 35806, USA.

  1. †

    Now at the University of Maryland in Baltimore County, Maryland, USA.

  2. ‡

    The contribution of these authors was written in the course of their employment at the Met Office, UK, and is published with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 25 JUL 2011
  2. Article first published online: 17 JUN 2011
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 15 MAY 2011
  4. Manuscript Revised: 7 APR 2011
  5. Manuscript Received: 27 SEP 2010

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Keywords:

  • dust aerosols;
  • satellite remote sensing;
  • aerosol optical thickness;
  • Terra;
  • Aqua;
  • A-train;
  • SEVIRI;
  • MODIS;
  • MISR;
  • OMI

Abstract

In this paper we provide an overview of various satellite products over the Sahara Desert that were available during the GERBILS field campaign. Our results indicate that all mid-visible satellite aerosol optical depth (AOD) products match well with AERONET retrievals. For low AOD (AOD < 1), the satellite AODs compare well with aircraft AOD values but they tend to underestimate at high AOD values. We then assessed the satellite products in 0.5 × 0.5 degree grids for the entire study region (10–30°N and 20°W–10°E). If we use a multi-angle imaging spectroradiometer (MISR) as a benchmark for AOD retrievals over bright targets, the estimated AOD derived from the ozone-monitoring instrument aerosol index–MISR relationship performs best when compared with MISR for the entire study region. Although differences exist among satellite products, the advancement in satellite retrieval techniques now provide AOD retrievals over bright targets such as deserts, which are useful for numerical modeling simulation comparisons and other studies. Furthermore, the in situ information from aircraft and the ground continue to provide valuable information for validating satellite products and for assessing their strengths and weaknesses. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society and British Crown Copyright, theMet Office

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