Retrieving the height of smoke and dust aerosols by synergistic use of VIIRS, OMPS, and CALIOP observations

Abstract

This study extends the application of the previously developed Aerosol Single-scattering albedo and layer Height Estimation (ASHE) algorithm, which was originally applied to smoke aerosols only, to both smoke and dust aerosols by including nonspherical dust properties in the retrieval process. The main purpose of the algorithm is to derive aerosol height information over wide areas using aerosol products from multiple satellite sensors simultaneously: aerosol optical depth (AOD) and Ångström exponent from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), UV aerosol index from the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS), and total backscatter coefficient profile from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP). The case studies suggest that the ASHE algorithm performs well for both smoke and dust aerosols, showing root-mean-square error of the retrieved aerosol height as compared to CALIOP observations from 0.58 to 1.31 km and mean bias from -0.70 to 1.13 km. In addition, the algorithm shows the ability to retrieve single-scattering albedo to within 0.03 of Aerosol Robotic Network inversion data for moderate to thick aerosol loadings (AOD of ~1.0). For typical single-layered aerosol cases, the estimated uncertainty in the retrieved height ranges from 1.20 to 1.80 km over land and from 1.15 to 1.58 km over ocean when favorable conditions are met. Larger errors are observed for multilayered aerosol events, due to the limited sensitivities of the passive sensors to such cases.