HR: 1340h
AN: A43B-0080    [Abstracts]
TI: Using the NPOESS Aerosol Polarimetry Sensor to Retrieve Aerosol Environmental Data Records
AU: Chowdhary, J
EM: jc84@columbia.edu
AF: Columbia University, 2880 Broadway, New York, NY 10025 United States
AU: Cairns, B
EM: bc25@columbia.edu
AF: Columbia University, 2880 Broadway, New York, NY 10025 United States
AU: * Knobelspiesse, K
EM: kdk2103@columbia.edu
AF: Columbia University, 2880 Broadway, New York, NY 10025 United States
AU: Mishchenko, M
EM: mmishchenko@giss.nasa.gov
AF: NASA Goddard Insitute for Space Studies, 2880 Broadway, New York, NY 10025 United States
AB: The direct radiative effect of aerosols is determined by their amount (optical depth), their ability to absorb (single-scattering albedo) and the fraction of scattered radiation that continues to propagate in the forward direction (asymmetry parameter). Although none of these quantities can be directly measured from satellite, by making comprehensive multi-angle multi-spectral measurements of the radiance and state of polarization of light scattered from the atmosphere-surface system it is possible to accurately infer the following properties of the observed column of aerosols: Their optical depth, single scattering albedo, refractive index the locations and widths of both modes of a bimodal size distribution and an indicator of particles shape (i.e. spherical, or non-spherical). These retrieved properties are sufficient to accurately estimate the aerosols radiative forcing and also to diagnose the types of aerosols that contribute to the forcing. In this paper we show how the passive polarimetric measurements that will be available from the planned NPOESS Aerosol Polarimetry Sensor (APS) can be used to perform this type of retrieval over both ocean and land. We also demonstrate that the aerosol height can be estimated under conditions of high aerosol loading, such as when observing the plumes from forest fires and sand storms.
DE: 0305 Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801, 4906)
DE: 0345 Pollution: urban and regional (0305, 0478, 4251)
DE: 0365 Troposphere: composition and chemistry
DE: 1640 Remote sensing (1855)
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005