Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net 1680-7367 1680-7375 9 2 2009 10.5194/acpd-9-9961-2009 http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/9/9961/2009/ http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/9/9961/2009/acpd-9-9961-2009.html http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/9/9961/2009/acpd-9-9961-2009.pdf 9961 10013 2009-04-20 Comparison of aerosol optical depths from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on Aura with results from airborne sunphotometry, other space and ground measurements during MILAGRO/INTEX-B J. M. Livingston john.livingston@sri.com J. Redemann P. B. Russell O. Torres B. Veihelmann P. Veefkind R. Braak A. Smirnov L. Remer R. W. Bergstrom O. Coddington K. S. Schmidt P. Pilewskie R. Johnson Q. Zhang SRI International, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA Bay Area Environmental Research Institute (BAERI), Sonoma, CA, 95476, USA NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, 94035, USA Center for Atmospheric Sciences, Hampton University, Hampton, VA, 23668, USA Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), De Bilt, The Netherlands NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA Science Systems and Applications, Inc., Lanham, MD, 20706, USA Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA Airborne sunphotometer measurements are used to evaluate retrievals of extinction aerosol optical depth (AOD) from spatially coincident and temporally near-coincident measurements by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) aboard the Aura satellite during the March 2006 Megacity Initiative-Local And Global Research Observations/Phase B of the Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment (MILAGRO/INTEX-B). The 14-channel NASA Ames Airborne Tracking Sunphotometer (AATS) flew on nine missions over the Gulf of Mexico and four in or near the Mexico City area. Retrievals of AOD from near-coincident AATS and OMI measurements are compared for three flights over the Gulf of Mexico for flight segments when the aircraft flew at altitudes 60–70 m a.s.l., and for one flight over Mexico City when the aircraft flew ~420–590 m a.g.l. OMI-measured top of atmosphere (TOA) reflectances are routinely inverted to yield aerosol products such as AOD and aerosol absorption optical depth (AAOD) using two different retrieval algorithms: a near-UV (OMAERUV) and a multiwavelength (OMAERO) technique. This study uses the archived Collection 3 data products from both algorithms. In particular, AATS and OMI AOD comparisons are presented for AATS data acquired in 20 OMAERUV retrieval pixels (15 over water) and 19 OMAERO pixels (also 15 over water). At least four pixels for one of the over-water coincidences and all pixels for the over-land case were cloud-free. Coincident AOD retrievals from 17 pixels of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard Aqua are available for two of the over-water flights and are shown to agree with AATS AODs to within root mean square (RMS) differences of 0.00–0.06, depending on wavelength. Near-coincident ground-based AOD measurements from ground-based sun/sky radiometers operated as part of the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) at three sites in and near Mexico City are also shown and are generally consistent with the AATS AODs (which exclude any AOD below the aircraft) both in magnitude and spectral dependence. The OMAERUV algorithm retrieves AODs corresponding to a non-absorbing aerosol model for all three over-water comparisons, whereas the OMAERO algorithm retrieves best-fit AODs corresponding to an absorbing biomass-burning aerosol model for two of the three over-water cases. For the four cloud-free pixels in one over-water coincidence (10 March), the OMAERUV retrievals underestimate the AATS AODs by ~0.20, which exceeds the expected retrieval uncertainty, but retrieved AODs agree with AATS values within uncertainties for the other two over-water events. When OMAERO retrieves AODs corresponding to a biomass-burning aerosol over water, the values significantly overestimate the AATS AODs (by up to 0.55). For the Mexico City coincidence, comparisons are presented for a non-urban region ~50–70 km northeast of the city and for a site near the center of the city. OMAERUV retrievals are consistent with AERONET AOD magnitudes for the non-urban site, but are nearly double the AATS and AERONET AODs (with differences of up to 0.29) in the center of the city. Corresponding OMAERO retrievals exceed the AATS and/or AERONET AODs by factors of 3 to 10. Ahn, C., Torres, O., and Bhartia, P. K.: Comparison of ozone monitoring instrument UV aerosol products with Aqua/Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer and Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer observations in 2006, J. Geophys. Res., 113, D16S27, doi:10.1029/2007JD008832, 2008. Barnard, J. C., Volkamer, R., and Kassianov, E. I.: Estimation of the mass absorption cross section of the organic carbon component of aerosols in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 6665–6679, 2008. Bergstrom, R. W., Pilewskie, P., Russell, P. B., Redemann, J., Bond, T. C., Quinn, P. K., and Sierau, B.: Spectral absorption properties of atmospheric aerosols, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 7, 5937–5943, 2007. Bergstrom, R. W., Pilewskie, P., Coddington, O., Schmidt, K. S., Livingston, J., Redemann, J., and Russell, P.: Aerosol absorption in the Mexico City area; results from airborne measurements during MILAGRO/INTEX-B, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., in preparation, 2009. Brinksma, E. J., Pinardi, G., Volten, H., Braak, R., Richter, A., Schönhardt, A., van Roozendael, M., Fayt, C., Hermans, C., Dirksen, R. J., Vlemmix, T., Berkhout, A. J. C., Swart, D. P. J., Oertjen, H., Wittrock, F., Wagner, T., Ibrahim, O. W. , de Leeuw, G., Moerman, M., Curier, R. L., Celarier, E. A., Cede, A., Knap, W. H., Veefkind, J. P., Eskes, H. J., Allaart, M., Rothe, R., Piters, A. J. M., and Levelt, P. F.: The 2005 and 2006 DANDELIONS NO₂ and aerosol intercomparison campaigns, J. Geophys. Res., 113, D16S46, doi:10.1029/2007JD008808, 2008. de Almeida Castanho, A. D., Prinn, R., Martins, V., Herold, M., Ichoku, C., and Molina, L. T.: Analysis of Visible/SWIR surface reflectance ratios for aerosol retrievals from satellite in Mexico City urban area, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 7, 5467–5477, 2007. Coddington, O., Schmidt, K. S., Pilewskie, P., Gore, W. J., Bergstrom, R. W., Román, M., Redemann, J., Russell, P. B., Liu, J., and Schaaf, C. C.: Aircraft measurements of spectral surface albedo and its consistency with ground-based and space-borne observations, J. Geophys. Res., 113, D17209, doi:10.1029/2008JD010089, 2008. Curier, R. L., Veefkind, J. P., Braak, R., Veihelmann, B., Torres, O., and de Leeuw, G.: Retrieval of aerosol optical properties from OMI radiances using a multiwavelength algorithm: Application to western Europe, J. Geophys. Res., 113, D17S90, doi:10.1029/2007JD008738, 2008. Dubovik, O., Smirnov, A., Holben, B. N., King, M. D., Kaufman, Y. J., Eck, T. F., and Slutsker, I.: Accuracy assessments of aerosol optical properties retrieved from Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) Sun and sky radiance measurements, J. Geophys. Res., 105(D8), 9791–9806, 2000. Dubovik, O., Holben, B. N., Eck, T. F., Smirnov, A., Kaufman, Y. J., King, M. D., Tanré, D., and Slutsker, I.: Variabilityof absorption and optical properties of key aerosol types observed in worldwide locations, J. Atmos. Sci., 59, 590–608, 2002. Eck, T. F., Holben, B. N., Dubovik, O., Smirnov, A., Slutsker, I., Lobert, M., and Ramanathan, V.: Column-integrated aerosol optical properties over the Maldives during the northeast monsoon for 1998–2000, J. Geophys. Res., 106, 28555–28566, 2001. Herman, J. R., Bhartia, P. K., Torres, O., Hsu, C., Seftor, C., and Celarier, E.: Global distribution of UV-absorbing aerosol from Nimbus-7/TOMS data, J. Geophys. Res., 102, 16911–16922, 1997. Holben, B. N., Eck, T. F., Slutsker, I., Tanré, D., Buis, J. P., Setzer, A., Vermote, E., Reagan, J. A., Kaufman, Y. J., Nakajima, T., Lavenu, F. T., Jankowiak, I., and Smirnov, A .: AERONET – A federated instrument network and data archive for aereosol characterization, Remote Sens. Environ., 66, 1–16, 1998. Holben, B. N., Tanré, D., Smirnov, A., Eck, T. F., Slutsker, I., Abuhassan, N., Newcomb, W. W., Schafer, J. S., Chatenet, B., Lavenu, F., Kaufman, Y. J., Vande Castle, J., Setzer, A., Markham, B., Clark, D., Frouin, R., Halthore, R., Karneli, A., O'Neill, N. T., Pietras, C., Pinker, R. T., Voss, K., and Zibordi, G.: An emerging ground-based aerosol climatology: Aerosol optical depth from AERONET, J. Geophys. Res., 106(D11), 12067–12097, 2001. King, M. D., Kaufman, Y. J., Menzel, W. P., and Tanré, D.: Remote-sensing of cloud, aerosol, and water-vapor properties form the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS), IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 30(1), 2–27, 1992. Kleipool, Q. L., Dobber, M. R., de Haan, J. F., and Levelt, P. F: Earth surface reflectance climatology from 3 years of OMI data, J. Geophys. Res., 113, D18308, doi:10.1029/2008JD010290, 2008. Levelt, P. F., Hilsenrath, E., Leppelmeier, G. W., van den Ooord, G. H. J., Bhartia, P. K., Taminnen, J., de Haan, J. F., and Veefkind, J. P.: Science objectives of the Ozone Monitoring Instrument, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 44(5), 1283–1287, 2006. Li, R.-R., Kaufman, Y. J., Gao, B.-C., and Davis, C. O.: Remote sensing of suspended sediments and shallow coastal waters, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 41, 559–566, 2003. Livingston, J. M., Schmid, B., Russell, P. B., Eilers, J. A., Kolyer, R. W., Redemann, J., Ramirez, S. R., Yee, J.-H., Swartz, W. H., Trepte, C. R., Thomason, L. W., Pitts, M. C., Avery, M. A., Randall, C. E., Lumpe, J. D., Bevilacqua, R. M., Bittner, M., Erbertseder, T., McPeters, R. D., Shetter, R. E., Browell, E. V., Kerr, J. B., and Lamb, K.: Retrieval of ozone column content from airborne Sun photometer measurements during SOLVE II: comparison with coincident satellite and aircraft measurements, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 5, 2035–2054, 2005. Livingston, J. M., Schmid, B., Redemann, J., Russell, P. B., Ramirez, S. A., Eilers, J., Gore, W., Howard, S., Pommier, J., Fetzer, E. J., Seemann, S. W., Borbas, E., Wolfe, D. E., and Thompson, A. M.: Comparison of water vapor measurements by airborne Sun photometer and near-coincident in situ and satellite sensors during INTEX/ITCT 2004, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D12S16, doi:10.1029/2006JD007733, 2007. Martins, J. V., Tanré, D., Remer, L., Kaufman, Y., Mattoo, S., and Levy, R.: MODIS cloud screening for remote sensing of aerosols over oceans using spatial variability, Geophys. Res. Lett., 29(12), 8009, doi:10.1029/2001GL013252, 2002. Michalsky, J. J., Liljegren, J. C., and Harrison, L. C.: A comparison of Sun photometer derivations of total column water vapor and ozone to standard measures of same at the Southern Great Plains Atmospheric Radiation site, J. Geophys. Res., 100, 25995–26003, 1995. Molina, L. T., Madronich, S., Gaffney, J., et al.: An Overview of MILAGRO 2006 Campaign: Mexico City Emissions and its Transport and Transformation, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., in preparation, 2009. Pilewskie, P., Pommier, J., Bergstrom, R., Gore, W., Howard, S., Rabbette, M., Schmid, B., Hobbs, P. V., and Tsay, S. C.: Solar spectral radiative forcing during the Southern African Regional Science Initiative, J. Geophys. Res., 108(D13), 8486, doi:10.1029/2002JD002411, 2003. Reagan, J., Thome, K., Herman, B., Stone, R., Deluisi, J., and Snider, J.: A comparison of columnar water-vapor retrievals obtained with near-IR solar radiometer and microwave radiometer measurements, J. Appl. Meteorol., 34, 1384–1391, 1995. Redemann, J., Zhang, Q., Livingston, J., Russell, P., Shinozuki, Y., Clarke, A., Johnson, R., and Levy, R: Testing aerosol properties in MODIS (MOD35/MYD35) Collection 4 and 5 using airborne sunphotometer observations in INTEX-B/MILAGRO, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., submitted, 2009. Remer, L., Kaufman, Y. J., Tanré, D., Mattoo, S., Chu, D. A., Martins, J. V., Li, R.-R., Ichoku, C., Levy, R. C., Kleidman, R. G., Eck, T. F., Vermote, E., and Holben, B. N.: The MODIS aerosol algorithm, products and validation, J. Atmos. Sci., 62, 947–973, 2005. Russell, P. B., Livingston, J. M., Dutton, E. G., Pueschel, R. F., Reagan, J. A., DeFoor, T. E., Box, M. A., Allen, D., Pilewskie, P., Herman, B. M., Kinne, S. A., and Hofmann, D. J.: Pinatubo and pre-Pinatubo optical-depth spectra: Mauna Loa measurements, comparisons, inferred particle size distributions, radiative effects, and relationship to lidar data, J. Geophys. Res., 98, 22969–22985, 1993a. Russell, P. B., Livingston, J. M., Pueschel, R. F., Reagan, J. A., Browell, E. V., Toon, G. C., Newman, P. A., Schoeberl, M. R., Lait, L. R., Pfister, L., Gao, Q., and Herman, B. M.: Post-Pinatubo optical depth spectra vs. latitude and vortex structure: Airborne tracking sunphotometer measurements in AASE II, Geophys. Res. Lett., 20, 2571–2574, 1993b. Russell, P., Livingston, J., Schmid, B., Eilers, J., Kolyer, R., Redemann, J., Ramirez, S., Yee, J.-H., Swartz, W., Shetter, R., Trepte, C., Risley Jr., A., Wenny, B., Zawodny, J., Chu, W., Pitts, M., Lumpe, J., Fromm, M., Randall, C., Hoppel, K., and Bevilacqua, R.: Aerosol optical depth measurements by airborne sun photometer in SOLVE II: Comparisons to SAGE III, POAM III and airborne spectrometer measurements, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 5, 1311–1339, 2005. Russell, P. B., Livingston, J. M., Redemann, J., Schmid, B., Ramirez, S. A., Eilers, J., Kahn, R., Chu, A., Remer, L., Quinn, P. K., Rood, M. J., and Wang, W.: Multi-grid-cell validation of satellite aerosol property retrievals in INTEX/ITCT/ICARTT 2004, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D12S09, doi:10.1029/2006JD007606, 2007. Schmid, B., and Wehrli, C.: Comparison of sun photometer calibration by Langley technique and standard lamp, Appl. Optics, 34, 4500–4512, 1995. Schmid, B., Thome, K. J., Demoulin, P., Peter, R., Matzler, C., and Sekler, J.: Comparison of modeled and empirical approaches for retrieving columnar water vapor from solar transmittance measurements in the 0.94-μm region, J. Geophys. Res., 101, 9345–9358, 1996. Schmid, B., Spyak, P. R., Biggar, S. F., Wehrli, C., Sekler, J., Ingold, T., Mätzler, C., and Kämpfer, N.: Evaluation of the applicability of solar and lamp radiometric calibrations of a precision Sun photometer operating between 300 and 1025 nm, Appl. Optics, 37, 3923–3941, 1998. Schmid, B., Michalsky, J. J., Slater, D. W., Barnard, J. C., Halthore, R. N., Liljegren, J. C., Holben, B. N., Eck, T. F., Livingston, J. M., Russell, P. B., Ingold, T., and Slutsker, I.: Comparison of columnar water-vapor measurements from solar transmittance methods, Appl. Optics, 40, 1886–1896, 2001. Schmid, B., Redemann, J., Russell, P. B., Hobbs, P. V., Hlavka, D. L., McGill, M. J., Holben, B. N., Welton, E. J., Campbell, J. R., Torres, O., Kahn, R. A., Diner, D. J., Helmlinger, M. C., Chu, D. A., Robles-Gonzalez, C., and de Leeuw, G.: Coordinated airborne, spaceborne, and ground-based measurements of massive, thick aerosol layers during the dry season in Southern Africa, J. Geophys. Res., 108(D13), 8496, doi:10.1029/2002JD002297, 2003a. Schmid, B., Hegg, D. A., Wang, J., Bates, D., Redemann, J., Russell, P. B., Livingston, J. M., Jonsson, H. H., Welton, E. J., Seinfeld, J. H., Flagan, R. C., Covert, D. S., Dubovik, O., and Jefferson, A.: Column closure studies of lower tropospheric aerosol and water vapor during ACE-Asia using airborne sunphotometer, airborne in-situ and ship-based lidar measurements, J. Geophys. Res., 108(D23), 8656, doi:10.10292002JD003361, 2003b. Schmidt, K. S., Pilewskie, P., Coddington, O., Bierwirth, E., Bergstrom, R., Redemann, J, Russell, P., Livingston, J., Gore, W., and Wendisch, M.: Spectral aerosol radiative forcing efficiency and absorption from airborne measurements during MILAGRO, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., in preparation, 2009. Smirnov, A., Holben, B. N., Eck, T. F., Dubovik, O., and Slutsker, I.: Cloud screening and quality control algorithms for the AERONET data base, Remote Sens. Environ., 73(3), 337–349, 2000. Torres, O., Bhartia, P. K., Herman, J. R., and Ahmad, Z.: Derivation of aerosol properties from satellite measurements of backscattered ultraviolet radiation: Theoretical basis, J. Geophys. Res., 103, 17099–17110, 1998. Torres, O., Decae, R., Veefkind, J. P., and de Leeuw, G.: OMI aerosol retrieval algorithm, in OMI Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document: Clouds, Aerosols, and Surface UV Irradiance, vol. 3, version 2, OMI-ATBD-03, edited by: Stammes, P., NASA Goddard Space Flight Cent., Greenbelt, Md., 47–71, (available at: http://eospso.gsfc.nasa.gov/eos_homepage/for_scientists/atbd/docs/OMI/ATBD-OMI-03.pdf), 2002. Torres, O., Tanskanen, A., Veihelmann, B., Ahn, C., Braak, R., Bhartia, P. K., Veefkind, P., and Levelt, P.: Aerosols and surface UV products from Ozone Monitoring Instrument observations: An overview, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D24S47, doi:10.1029/2007JD008809, 2007. Veefkind, J. P., de Leeuw, G., and Durkee, P. A.: Retrieval of aerosol optical depth over land using two angle view satellite radiometry during TARFOX, Geophys. Res. Lett., 25(16), 3135–3138, 1998. Veihelmann, B., Levelt, P. F., Stammes, P., and Veefkind, J. P.: Simulation study of the aerosol information content in OMI spectral reflectance measurements, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 7, 3115–3127, 2007.