Using the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) to Observe Trends in Pollutants

• Main Authors: Ruff, James, Gatebe, Charles
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: DigitalCommons@CalPoly 2010
• Subjects: Aerosol Robotic Network
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/star/34; https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/context/star/article/1032/viewcontent/Ruff__James_Poster.pdf

Tiny solid and liquid particles suspended in the atmosphere are called aerosols. Windblown dust, sea salts, volcanic ash, smoke from wildfires, and pollution from factories are all examples of aerosols. Depending upon their size, type and location, aerosols can either coll the surface, or warm it. They can help clouds form, or they can inhibit cloud formation. And if inhaled, some aerosols can be harmful to people's health. Aerosol optical depth (AOD), or aerosol optical thickness (AOT) is a quantitative measure of the extinction of solar radiation by aerosol scattering and absorption between the point of observation and the top of the atmosphere. The AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) program is a federation of ground-based remote sensing aerosol networks established by NASA and LOA-PHOTONS (CNRS). AERONET collaboration provides globally distributed observations of spectral aerosol optical depth (AOD), inversion products, and precipitable water in diverse aerosol regimes. Aerosol optical depth data are computed for three data quality levels: Level 1.0 (unscreened), Level 1.5 (cloud-screened), and Level 2.0 (cloud screened and quality assured).