HR: 0800h
AN: A11C-0060    [Abstracts]
TI: Results from the Portable Infrared Aerosol Transmission Experiment (PIRATE) - Caribbean: An examination of the column integrated infrared extinction of Saharan dust and comparisons with data commonly used in models
AU: * Thomas, M
EM: thomas@mrcsb.com
AF: Institute for Computational Earth Systems Science, UCSB 6804 Ellison Hall, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 United States
AU: Gautier, C
EM: gautier@icess.ucsb.edu
AF: Institute for Computational Earth Systems Science, UCSB 6804 Ellison Hall, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 United States
AB: Infrared optical depth of Saharan dust from field measurements made in Puerto Rico are presented and compared with frequently-used dust models. The Portable Infrared Aerosol Transmission Experiment (PIRATE) - Caribbean was a ground-based experiment that measured the infrared transmission of transportted dust from the Saharan Desert. A Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometer was used in Boqueron, Puerto Rico from June 23 through June 30, 2004 as a high-resolution infrared sun photometer. The visible aerosol optical depth (AOD) around the time of each FTIR measurement was taken from a nearby AERONET sensor at La Parguera, Puerto Rico, for reference. The FTIR recorded the direct solar and scattered radiances from 3 to 14 microns. By collecting the solar radiance for several days, some for which the AOD was either very low ($<$0.1) or high ($>$0.5), the infrared AOD of the dust was determined as a function of wavelength. The measured infrared AOD of the dust is compared with frequently-used dust models, i.e. Volz and Sokolik, for various effective radii and assumed dust compositions. Since Saharan dust is often pervasive over large regions of the globe, these results are potentially important in models and satellite measurements attempting to determine the regional forcing from dust.
DE: 5199 General or miscellaneous
DE: 6904 Atmospheric propagation
DE: 3359 Radiative processes
DE: 3394 Instruments and techniques
DE: 0305 Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801)
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting