A31D-0075
Accounting for High-biases in the MODIS Aerosol Optical Depth Retrieval
Wednesday, 16 December 2015
Poster Hall (Moscone South)
Falguni Patadia, Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research, Greenbelt, MD, United States, Robert C Levy, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Ctr, Greenbelt, MD, United States, Shana Mattoo, Science Systems and Applications, Inc., Lanham, MD, United States and Steven E Platnick, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States
Abstract:
Aerosol optical depth retrieved from observations made by the MODIS instrument, onboard Terra and Aqua satellites, has been extensively validated against ground based AERONET AOD. Global validation of the current Collection 6 (C6) AOD over ocean indicates that 68% of retrieved AOD agrees to within 0.03 ± 10% * AERONET AOD. However there does exist high bias in MODIS AOD retrievals. There are a number of reasons for over-estimation. One is cloud contamination, which is where undetected clouds are retrieved as aerosol. A second is 3D radiative effects, where observed radiance is enhanced due to scattering from clouds. Here we parse out and attempt to quantify the contributions from the cloud contamination in AOD retrieval over ocean. Among other reasons for high bias are wrong aerosol models, improper surface characterization, error in local windspeed data and adjacency effects.
