Aerosol optical depth retrieval from the EarthCARE Multi-Spectral Imager: the M-AOT product ...

• Main Authors: Docter, Nicole, Preusker, Rene, Filipitsch, Florian, Kritten, Lena, Schmidt, Franziska, Fischer, Jürgen
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Freie Universität Berlin 2023
• Subjects: Aerosol optical depth retrieval; EarthCARE Multi-Spectral Imager; Earth Explorer; 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik550 Geowissenschaften, Geologie551 Geologie, Hydrologie, Meteorologie; Aerosol Robotic Network
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.17169/refubium-40822; https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/41101

The Earth Explorer mission Earth Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) will not only provide profile information on aerosols but also deliver a horizontal context to it through measurements by its Multi-Spectral Imager (MSI). The columnar aerosol product relying on these passive signals is called M-AOT (MSI-Aerosol Optical Thickness). Its main parameters are aerosol optical thickness (AOT) at 670 nm over ocean and valid land pixels and at 865 nm over ocean. Here, the algorithm and assumptions behind it are presented. Further, first examples of product parameters are given based on applying the algorithm to simulated EarthCARE test data and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Level-1 data. Comparisons to input fields used for simulations, to the official MODIS aerosol product, to AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) and to Maritime Aerosol Network (MAN) show an overall reasonable agreement. Over ocean, correlations are 0.98 (simulated scenes), 0.96 (compared to MYD04) and 0.9 ...