Abstract
The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) spaceborne lidar, expected to be launched in 2004, will collect profiles of the lidar attenuated backscattering coefficients of aerosol and clouds at 0.53 and 1.06 /spl mu/m. The measurements are sensitive to the vertical distribution of aerosols. However, the information is insufficient to be mapped into unique aerosol physical properties and vertical distribution. Spectral radiances measured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) on the Aqua spacecraft, acquired simultaneously with the CALIPSO observations, can constrain the solutions. The combination of the MODIS and CALIPSO data can be used to derive extinction profiles of the fine and coarse modes of the aerosol size distribution for aerosol optical thickness of 0.1 and larger. Here we describe a new inversion method developed to invert simultaneously MODIS and CALIPSO data over glint-free ocean. The method is applied to aircraft lidar and MODIS data collected over a dust storm off the coast of West Africa during the Saharan Dust Experiment (SHADE). The backscattering-to-extinction ratio (BER) (BER=/spl omega//sub o/P(180)/4/spl pi/) can be retrieved from the synergism between measurements avoiding a priori hypotheses required for inverting lidar measurements alone. For dust, the resultant value of BER =0.016 sr/sup -1/ is over 50% smaller than what is expected using Mie theory, but in good agreement with recent results obtained from Raman lidar observations of dust episodes. The inversion is robust in the presence of 10% and 20% noise in the lidar signal at 0.53 and 1.06 /spl mu/m, respectively. Calibration errors of the lidar of 5% to 10% can cause an error in optical thickness of 20% to 40%, respectively, in the tested cases.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
More From: IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.