Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net 1680-7367 1680-7375 9 5 2009 10.5194/acpd-9-21785-2009 http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/9/21785/2009/ http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/9/21785/2009/acpd-9-21785-2009.html http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/9/21785/2009/acpd-9-21785-2009.pdf 21785 21817 2009-10-16 Absorption Angstrom Exponent in AERONET and related data as an indicator of aerosol composition P. B. Russell R. W. Bergstrom Y. Shinozuka A. D. Clarke P. F. DeCarlo J. L. Jimenez J. M. Livingston J. Redemann B. Holben O. Dubovik A. Strawa NASA Ames Research Center, MS 245-5, Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000, USA Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, 560 3rd Street West, Sonoma, CA 95476, USA Oak Ridge Associated Universities, NASA Ames Research Center, MS 245-5, Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000, USA School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA Cooperative Institute for Research in the Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA Dept. of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA SRI International, 333 Ravenswood Avenue, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Laboratory for Atmospheres, Code 912, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA Laboratoire d'Optique Atmospherique, CNRS Universite de Lille, Bat 5, 59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq CEDEX, France now at: Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen, Switzerland Recent results from diverse air, ground, and laboratory studies using both radiometric and in situ techniques show that the fractions of black carbon, organic matter, and mineral dust in atmospheric aerosols determine the wavelength dependence of absorption (expressed as Absorption Angstrom Exponent, or AAE). Taken together, these results hold promise of improving information on aerosol composition from remote measurements. The purpose of this paper is to show that AAE values for Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) retrievals from Sun-sky measurements describing the full aerosol vertical column are also strongly correlated with aerosol composition or type. In particular, we find AAE values near 1 (the theoretical value for black carbon) for AERONET-measured aerosol columns dominated by urban-industrial aerosol, larger AAE values for biomass burning aerosols, and the largest AAE values for Sahara dust aerosols. Ambiguities in aerosol composition or mixtures thereof, resulting from intermediate AAE values, can be reduced via cluster analyses that supplement AAE with other variables, for example Extinction Angstrom Exponent (EAE), which is an indicator of particle size. Together with previous results, these results strengthen prospects for determining aerosol composition from space, for example using the Glory Aerosol Polarimetry Sensor (APS), which promises retrievals of multiwavelength single-scattering albedo (SSA) and aerosol optical depth (and therefore aerosol absorption optical depth (AAOD) and AAE), as well as shape and other aerosol properties. Cluster analyses promise additional information content, for example by using the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) to add AAOD in the near ultraviolet and CALIPSO aerosol layer heights to reduce height-absorption ambiguity. Adachi, K. and Buseck, P. R.: Internally mixed soot, sulfates, and organic matter in aerosol particles from Mexico City, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 6469–6481, 2008. Aiken, A. C., Salcedo, D., Cubison, M. J., Huffman, J. A., DeCarlo, P. F., Ulbrich, I. M., Docherty, K. S., Sueper, D., Kimmel, J. R., Worsnop, D. R., Trimborn, A., Northway, M., Stone, E. A., Schauer, J. J., Volkamer, R. 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