HR: 11:00h
AN: A11G-03    [PDF]
TI: TOMS aerosol data and GOCART dust model: Results of a collaborative research
AU: * Ginoux, P
EM: Paul.Ginoux@noaa.gov
AF: UCAR & NOAA GFDL, Forrestal Campus, Princeton, NJ 08542-0308 United States
AU: Torres, O
EM: torres@tparty.gsfc.nasa.gov
AF: JCET UMBC, NASA GSFC Code 916, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AU: Prospero, J M
EM: jprospero@rsmas.miami.edu
AF: University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149 United States
AU: Chin, M
EM: Mian.Chin@nasa.gov
AF: NASA GSFC, NASA GSFC Code 916, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AB: Satellite data provides the most useful data sets to study aerosol distribution at the global scale over several years. Among the related instruments, the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) has the particularity to measure backscattering radiances in the near UV. The advantage of the near UV technique is that aerosol properties can be retrieved over both land and ocean. A difficulty of the technique is the sensitivity of the backscattering radiances to the vertical distribution of absorbing aerosols which is measured continuously at only a few places. Such information has been provided by simulating dust distribution with the Global Ozone Chemistry Aerosol Radiation Transport (GOCART) model. The collaboration GOCART-TOMS went well beyond the delivery of vertical profiles. Some of the key scientific results are: 1) the establishment of the first global inventory of dust source, 2) the characterization of dust emission from the major sources, 3) the study of dust long range transport and dust variability, in particular it was found that dust emission and distribution over Africa is correlated in winter with the North Atlantic Oscillation. Recently, TOMS data has been combined with higher resolution satellite instruments to map exactly all dust sources associated with ephemeral lakes. These results will be presented as well as the methodology developed to obtain them, in particular the use of an equivalent aerosol index which allows direct quantitative comparison with TOMS AI.
DE: 0300 ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE
DE: 0305 Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801)
DE: 0365 Troposphere--composition and chemistry
DE: 0394 Instruments and techniques
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting