VALIDATION OF AEROSOL PRODUCTS FROM ESA/AATSR OVER CHINA AND AOD FUSION BASED ON UNCERTAINTIES

The use of AOD data retrieved from ATSR-2, AATSR and AVHRR to produce a very long time series is investigated. The study is made over a small area in northern China with a large variation of AOD values. Sun photometer data from AERONET and CARSNET and radiance-derived AOD are used as reference. The results show that all data sets compare well. However, AVHRR underestimates high AOD (mainly occurring in summer) but performs better than (A)ATSR in winter.

Multi-satellite/sensor observations and ground-based measurements combined with the HYSPLIT model were used to analyse the dynamical processes of the origin and transport of a strong dust storm. The optical and microphysical properties of the dust particles were analysed using AERONET measurements. The combined observations revealed comprehensive information about the dynamic transport of dust and the dust-affected regions, and the effect of dust storms on the aerosol properties.

Remotely sensed data could provide continuous spatial coverage of aerosol property over the pan-Eurasian area for PEEX program. The AATSR data can be used to retrieve aerosol optical depth (AOD). The Aerosol_cci project provides users with three AOD retrieval algorithms for AATSR data. Because China is vast in territory and has great differences in terms of land surfaces, the combination of the AERONET and CARSNET data can validate the Level 2 AOD products from AATSR data more comprehensively.