Results from Observations Made by the Research Scanning Polarimeter During the Ship-Aircraft Bio-Optical Research (SABOR) Experiment

The SABOR experiment was composed of the ocean going research vessel (R/V) Endeavor with a wide range of ocean optics, chemistry, ecology and polarimetric observations and the NASA Langley Research Center UC-12 aircraft operating a high spectral resolution lidar (HSRL1) and the Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP). The HSRL1 resolves vertical variations in scattering by phytoplankton in the water column and profiles of extinction by aerosols in the atmosphere, in addition to measuring intensive aerosol properties that can be used to identify the types of aerosols that are present. The RSP measures the intensity and linear polarization of reflected sunlight in nine spectral bands from 410 to 2264 nm at multiple viewing angles. These measurements are used to retrieve aerosol and cloud properties and also the near surface chlorophyll concentration [Chl]. In this paper we will present an evaluation of passive only retrievals of aerosol optical thickness and its vertical distribution compared with the HSRL profiles of extinction. We will also compare the [Chl] retrievals and their uncertainties with both lidar in water retrievals of diffuse attenuation and the R/V Endeavor in situ observations of [Chl] and comprehensive optical measurements. Finally we will compare the estimated polarization at the surface based on the high altitude airborne observations with the polarimetric observations made on the R/V Endeavor.