HR: 10:50h
AN: A12A-03 [Abstracts]
TI: Fusion of MODIS, TOMS, MOPITT and GOCART for aerosol studies
AU: * Christopher, S
EM: sundar@nsstc.uah.edu
AF: University of Alabama Huntsville, 320 Sparkman Drive, NSSTC, Huntsville, AL 35805, United States
AU: Jones, T
EM: tjones@nsstc.uah.edu
AF: University of Alabama Huntsville, 320 Sparkman Drive, NSSTC, Huntsville, AL 35805, United States
AB:
Two years [January 2003-December 2004] of Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS),
Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS), and Measurement of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) data
over the open ocean are used in conjunction with Goddard Chemistry Transport Model (GOCART) to characterize
differing aerosol types as a function of satellite observable parameters. GOCART model output is used to select
regions that are dominated (at least 80% of the total aerosol optical thickness from a single aerosol species) by
anthropogenic (Black Carbon + Organic Carbon + Sulfate), dust (DU) and sea salt regions (SS). Aerosol optical
thickness (AOT) and fine mode fraction (FMF) retrieved from MODIS are averaged for each aerosol species region
at one month intervals to examine the observational differences among each aerosol species. Anthropogenic
(AN) aerosols are further separated into those produced primarily from biomass burning (BB) vs. those from
combustion and industrial pollution (PO). TOMS ultraviolet absorbing aerosol index (AI) in conjunction with
MOPITT Carbon Monoxide (CO) data sets on Terra are used to contrast the differences between BB and PO
aerosol properties.
Preliminary estimates for SS, DU, and AN MODIS FMF are 0.25¡Ó0.07, 0.45¡Ó0.05, and 0.84¡Ó0.04 respectively, in
agreement with, or slightly lower than previous estimates. However, FMF values were observed to change
substantially as a function of space and time as regions dominated by single aerosol types shrink, expand, and
move around from month to month. The greatest variability in FMF was observed for SS and DU aerosols. Dust
transport off of the Saharan Desert is maximized in the northern hemisphere summer respectively, increasing the
area of predominately dust aerosols. MODIS aerosol effective radius for each aerosol type also showed a similar
trend with SS, DU, and AN values of 1.03, 0.68, and 0.32 ƒÝm. TOMS-AI values for DU exceeded SS and AN
values up to 100% between April and October 2004 in association with the greatest dust concentrations in the
north Atlantic. For BB and PO components of AN aerosols, no significant difference in MODIS FMF were observed;
however, substantial differences in TOMS-AI and MOPITT values were observed between BB and PO aerosols,
especially between June and November. For both TOMS-AI and MOPITT CO, BB aerosols are generally
associated with higher values than are PO aerosols. The use of GOCART to constrain regions where a dominant
aerosol species exists has allowed a comprehensive analysis of the satellite observed properties of various
aerosol species.
UR: http://vortex.nsstc.uah.edu/~sundar/papers/2007/submit-final-jgr2007-FMF.pdf
DE: 0305 Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801, 4906)
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting