The Dark Target Algorithm for Observing the Global Aerosol System: Past, Present, and Future ...

• Main Authors: Remer, Lorraine, Levy, Robert C., Mattoo, Shana, Tanré, Didier, Gupta, Pawan, Shi, Yingxi, Sawyer, Virginia, Munchak, Leigh A., Zhou, Yaping, Kim, Mijin, Ichoku, Charles, Patadia, Falguni, Li, Rong-Rong, Gassó, Santiago, Kleidman, Richard G., Holben, Brent N.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI 2020
• Subjects: Aerosol Robotic Network
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.13016/m2lc99-bgic; https://mdsoar.org/handle/11603/24289

The Dark Target aerosol algorithm was developed to exploit the information content available from the observations of Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometers (MODIS), to better characterize the global aerosol system. The algorithm is based on measurements of the light scattered by aerosols toward a space-borne sensor against the backdrop of relatively dark Earth scenes, thus giving rise to the name “Dark Target”. Development required nearly a decade of research that included application of MODIS airborne simulators to provide test beds for proto-algorithms and analysis of existing data to form realistic assumptions to constrain surface reflectance and aerosol optical properties. This research in itself played a significant role in expanding our understanding of aerosol properties, even before Terra MODIS launch. Contributing to that understanding were the observations and retrievals of the growing Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) of sun-sky radiometers, which has walked hand-in-hand with MODIS and ...