Abstract
Aerosol optical thickness (AOT) was retrieved using the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) PATMOS-x Level-2b gridded radiances and the two-channel algorithm of the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). The primary retrieval product is AOT at 0.63 μm channel. AOT is also retrieved at 0.83 μm or 1.61 μm channel for consistent check. The retrieval was made during day time, under clear sky and snow-free conditions, and over the global oceans. The spatial resolution is 0.1×0.1 degree grid and the temporal resolution is both daily and monthly. The resultant AVHRR AOT climate data record (CDR) spans from August 1981 to December 2009 and provides the longest aerosol CDR currently available from operational satellites. This dataset is useful in studying aerosol climate forcing, monitoring long-term aerosol trends, and evaluating global air pollution and aerosol transport models over the global ocean.
Highlights
Aerosols affect the climate through direct and indirect effects
Considering that 1.61 μm channel is only available after 1998 on Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) version 3 and the measurement in broad 0.83 μm channel is contaminated by water vapor absorption [16], only Aerosol optical thickness (AOT) retrieved from 0.63 μm channel is served as an AOT long-term climate data record (CDR)
The AOT value corresponding to the best match-up of reflectance in the look-up table (LUT) is considered as retrieved AOT
Summary
Aerosols affect the climate through direct and indirect effects They affect the surface and atmospheric radiation budgets directly through scattering and absorbing shortwave radiation [1, 2]. Using the AVHRR PATMOS-x Level-2b top of atmosphere (TOA) radiances and the two-channel aerosol retrieval algorithm [12, 16] of the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), aerosol optical thickness (AOT) has been retrieved over global oceans from August 1981 to December 2009, which forms the longest aerosol CDR currently available from operational satellites. The product is named NCDC version 2 aerosol CDR product and will be available for public access soon through the official NCDC CDR Web portal (available through FTP by request from the authors) This paper introduces this version 2 aerosol CDR data product
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