Simultaneous retrieval of aerosol optical thickness and chlorophyll concentration from multiwavelength measurement over East China Sea

Abstract

AbstractA flexible inversion algorithm is proposed for simultaneously retrieving aerosol optical thickness (AOT) and surface chlorophyll a (Chl) concentration from multiwavelength observation over the ocean. In this algorithm, forward radiation calculation is performed by an accurate coupled atmosphere‐ocean model with a comprehensive bio‐optical ocean module. Then, a full‐physical nonlinear optimization approximation approach is used to retrieve AOT and Chl. For AOT retrieval, a global three‐dimensional spectral radiation‐transport aerosol model is used as the a priori constraint to increase the retrieval accuracy of aerosol. To investigate the algorithm's availability, the retrieval experiment is conducted using simulated radiance data to demonstrate that the relative errors in simultaneously determining AOT and Chl can be mostly controlled to within 10% using multiwavelength and angle covering in and out of sunglint. Furthermore, the inversion results are assessed using the actual satellite observation data obtained from Cloud and Aerosol Imager (CAI)/Greenhouse gas Observation SATellite GOSAT and MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)/Aqua instruments through comparison to Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) aerosol and ocean color (OC) products over East China Sea. Both the retrieved AOT and Chl compare favorably to the reported AERONET values, particularly when using the CASE 2 ocean module in turbid water, even when the retrieval is performed in the presence of high aerosol loading and sunglint. Finally, the CAI and MODIS images are used to jointly retrieve the spatial distribution of AOT and Chl in comparison to the MODIS AOT and OC products.