Variability of Absorption and Optical Properties of Key Aerosol Types Observed in Worldwide Locations
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Dubovik, Oleg, Brent Holben, Thomas F. Eck, Alexander Smirnov, Yoram J. Kaufman, Michael D. King, Didier Tanré, and Ilya Slutsker. “Variability of Absorption and Optical Properties of Key Aerosol Types Observed in Worldwide Locations.” Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 59, no. 3 (February 1, 2002): 590–608. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(2002)059<0590:VOAAOP>2.0.CO;2.
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This work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
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Abstract
Abstract Aerosol radiative forcing is a critical, though variable and uncertain, component of the global climate. Yet climate models rely on sparse information of the aerosol optical properties. In situ measurements, though important in many respects, seldom provide measurements of the undisturbed aerosol in the entire atmospheric column. Here, 8 yr of worldwide distributed data from the AERONET network of ground-based radiometers were used to remotely sense the aerosol absorption and other optical properties in several key locations. Established procedures for maintaining and calibrating the global network of radiometers, cloud screening, and inversion techniques allow for a consistent retrieval of the optical properties of aerosol in locations with varying emission sources and conditions. The multiyear, multi-instrument observations show robust differentiation in both the magnitude and spectral dependence of the absorption—a property driving aerosol climate forcing, for desert dust, biomass burning, urban–industrial, and marine aerosols. Moreover, significant variability of the absorption for the same aerosol type appearing due to different meteorological and source characteristics as well as different emission characteristics are observed. It is expected that this aerosol characterization will help refine aerosol optical models and reduce uncertainties in satellite observations of the global aerosol and in modeling aerosol impacts on climate.