GC23E-1185
Nighttime Aerosol Optical Thickness Retrievals Via the VIIRS Day/Night Band and the Effects of Lunar Contamination
Tuesday, 15 December 2015
Poster Hall (Moscone South)
Theodore M McHardy1, Jianglong Zhang1, Jeffrey S. Reid2, Steven D Miller3, Edward J. Hyer4 and Ralph Kuehn5, (1)University of North Dakota, Atmospheric Sceinces, Grand Forks, ND, United States, (2)Naval Research Lab Monterey, Monterey, CA, United States, (3)Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, Fort Collins, CO, United States, (4)Naval Research Laboratory, Marine Meteorology Division, Monterey, CA, United States, (5)University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI, United States
Abstract:
Using Visible/Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Day/Night Band (DNB) data, a method for retrieving aerosol optical thickness (AOT) values at night via the examination of the dispersion of radiance values above an artificial light source ,dubbed the “variance method”, is presented. Based on the improvement of a previous algorithm, this updated method derives a semi-quantitative indicator of nighttime AOT using artificial light sources. Nighttime DNB AOT retrievals from the variance method are compared with an AOT value from late afternoon and early morning ground observations from four AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) sites as well as column integrated from one High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) site at Huntsville, AL during the NASA Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) campaign, providing full diel coverage. An emphasis is placed on sensitivity studies performed to examine the effects of lunar illumination on VIIRS DNB AOT retrievals made via the variance method. Although the small sample size of this study limits the conclusiveness thus far, investigation reveals that lunar contamination may have a smaller impact on VIIRS DNB AOT retrievals made using this method than previously thought. Preliminary results suggest that artificial light sources can be used for estimating regional and global nighttime aerosol distributions in the future.
