Comparative analysis of aerosol optical thickness from MODIS and CALIPSO L2 satellite products

Authors: Gustokashin P. E., Kataev M. Yu.

Annotation: Aerosol optical thickness is a significant climatic parameter that determines the state of the atmosphere along with gas composition and clouds. The study of changes in this parameter, depending on a variety of conditions is an important scientific task. This paper compares the temporal dynamics of an aerosol optical thickness of the atmosphere in Western Siberia, obtained from satellite data CALIPSO (lidar signals) and MODIS (multi-spectral images) according to L2 data. A description is given of the satellite instrument MODIS, which measures the optical thickness of the aerosol integrated over the entire atmosphere and the instrument CALIPSO, which measures the height profiles of the aerosol dispersion coefficient. It is shown that there is a correlation between the measurements of these devices over a period of 3 years.

Keywords: aerosol optical thickness, atmosphere, lidar sensing, satellite multispectral images