CiteULike is a free online bibliography manager. Register and you can start organising your references online.

Quantitative evaluation and intercomparison of morning and afternoon Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aerosol measurements from Terra and Aqua Export

Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 110, No. D10. (10 February 2005), D10S03.

Citation Format

[Posts]

View FullText article


X Reviews [Write a review of this article]

X Find related articles from these CiteULike users

X Find related articles with these CiteULike tags

X Posting History

X Abstract

The quality of the aerosol optical thickness (AOT) data retrieved operationally from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors aboard the Terra and Aqua satellites, over land, and over ocean from 2000 to 2003 (Aqua only from June 2002) were evaluated thoroughly. Terra-MODIS versions 3 and 4 data (T003 and T004) and Aqua-MODIS version 3 data (A003) were independently and comparatively evaluated with collocated AOT from ground-based Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) Sun photometers. At 550 nm wavelength, 67.3%, 55.0%, and 55.5% of AOT from T003, T004, and A003, respectively, meet the prespecified accuracy conditions of ±(0.05 + 0.2aot) over land, while about 63.3%, 59.4%, and 62.2% fall within the more stringent range of ±(0.03 + 0.05aot) over ocean. However, when based on equal standards of comparison and regression analysis, aerosol retrievals are much more accurate over ocean than over land. Analysis of MODIS full regional AOT averages from 12 land and 6 oceanic regions shows that aerosol loading exhibits an annual cycle in almost every region, with the exception of very remote oceanic regions such as the central Pacific. On the basis of regional monthly averages, west Africa, China, and India show the highest peak monthly mean AOT value of ∼0.7 at 550 nm, while the highest over-ocean aerosol loading occurs over the Mediterranean and Mid-Atlantic oceans, with a regional monthly peak of ∼0.35, which is half of the peak over land. The magnitude of day-to-day variation between morning (Terra) and afternoon (Aqua) AOT varies from region to region and increases with aerosol loading for any given region. However, none of the regions examined show any consistent regional trend in morning-to-afternoon aerosol loading, all showing almost equal likelihood of increase or decrease from morning to afternoon.


X BibTeX record

X RIS record


Privacy Statement | Terms & Conditions
CiteULike organises scholarly (or academic) papers or literature and provides bibliographic (which means it makes bibliographies) for universities and higher education establishments. It helps undergraduates and postgraduates. People studying for PhDs or in postdoctoral (postdoc) positions. The service is similar in scope to EndNote or RefWorks or any other reference manager like BibTeX, but it is a social bookmarking service for scientists and humanities researchers.