A43A-0244
Aerosol absorption retrievals from the PACE broad spectrum Ocean Color Instrument (OCI)
Thursday, 17 December 2015
Poster Hall (Moscone South)
Shana Mattoo1, Lorraine A Remer2, Robert C Levy3, Omar Torres4, Pawan Gupta4 and Ziauddin Ahmad5, (1)Science Systems and Applications, Inc., Lanham, MD, United States, (2)University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, United States, (3)NASA/Goddard Space Flight Ctr, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (4)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (5)Science and Data Systems, Inc., Siver Spring, MD, United States
Abstract:
The PACE (Pre- Aerosol, Clouds and ocean Ecosystem) mission, anticipated for launch in the early 2020s is designed to characterize oceanic and atmospheric properties. The primary instrument on-board will be a moderate resolution (~1 km nadir) radiometer, called the Ocean Color Instrument (OCI). OCI’s main purpose will be to enhance current science in aquatic biogeochemistry by offering greater capability than either MODIS or SeaWiFS. To do so, OCI will provide high spectral resolution (5 nm) from the UV to NIR (350 – 800 nm), with additional spectral bands in the NIR and SWIR to support atmospheric correction. Supplementary instruments, such as a multi-angle imaging polarimeter are also being discussed, and these supplementary instruments are associated with the atmospheric objectives of the mission, although they may also offer important new measurements for oceanic objectives. However, the OCI itself is an excellent instrument for atmospheric objectives, providing measurements across a broad spectral range that in essence combines the capabilities of MODIS and OMI, but with the UV channels from OMI to be available at moderate resolution. In preparation for the PACE mission we have begun the theoretical work necessary to create a robust, operational aerosol retrieval for OCI. This retrieval is based on the MODIS Dark Target aerosol retrieval over ocean that returns aerosol optical depth and an estimate of aerosol size distribution. It then uses these retrieved parameters to constrain a retrieval of aerosol absorption in the UV, using the OCI UV channels. The algorithm is described and its sensitivity to retrieval assumptions is tested. The goal is to understand the limitations of such an algorithm and under what conditions could we expect to obtain quantitative aerosol absorption information from OCI on PACE.
