Technical note: Intercomparison of three AATSR Level 2 (L2) AOD products over China

One of four main focus areas of the PEEX initiative is to establish and sustain long-term, continuous, and comprehensive ground-based, airborne, and seaborne observation infrastructure together with satellite data. The Advanced Along-Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) aboard ENVISAT is used to observe the Earth in dual view. The AATSR data can be used to retrieve aerosol optical depth (AOD) over both land and ocean, which is an important parameter in the characterization of aerosol properties. In recent years, aerosol retrieval algorithms have been developed both over land and ocean, taking advantage of the features of dual view, which can help eliminate the contribution of Earth's surface to top-of-atmosphere (TOA) reflectance. The Aerosol_cci project, as a part of the Climate Change Initiative (CCI), provides users with three AOD retrieval algorithms for AATSR data, including the Swansea algorithm (SU), the ATSR-2ATSR dual-view aerosol retrieval algorithm (ADV), and the Oxford-RAL Retrieval of Aerosol and Cloud algorithm (ORAC). The validation team of the Aerosol-CCI project has validated AOD (both Level 2 and Level 3 products) and AE (Ångström Exponent) (Level 2 product only) against the AERONET data in a round-robin evaluation using the validation tool of the AeroCOM (Aerosol Comparison between Observations and Models) project. For the purpose of evaluating different performances of these three algorithms in calculating AODs over mainland China, we introduce ground-based data from CARSNET (China Aerosol Remote Sensing Network), which was designed for aerosol observations in China. 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 L2 AOD products more comprehensively. The validation results show different performances of these products in 2007, 2008, and 2010. The SU algorithm performs very well over sites with different surface conditions in mainland China from March to October, but it slightly underestimates AOD over barren or sparsely vegetated surfaces in western China, with mean bias error (MBE) ranging from 0.05 to 0.10. The ADV product has the same precision with a low root mean square error (RMSE) smaller than 0.2 over most sites and the same error distribution as the SU product. The main limits of the ADV algorithm are underestimation and applicability; underestimation is particularly obvious over the sites of Datong, Lanzhou, and Urumchi, where the dominant land cover is grassland, with an MBE larger than 0.2, and the main aerosol sources are coal combustion and dust. The ORAC algorithm has the ability to retrieve AOD at different ranges, including high AOD (larger than 1.0); however, the stability deceases significantly with increasing AOD, especially when AOD > 1.0. In addition, the ORAC product is consistent with the CARSNET product in winter (December, January, and February), whereas other validation results lack matches during winter

Dust aerosol optical depth retrieval and dust storm detection for Xinjiang Region using Indian National Satellite Observations

The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (Xinjiang) is located near the western border of China. Xinjiang has a high frequency of dust storms, especially in late winter and early spring. Geostationary satellite remote sensing offers an ideal way to monitor the regional distribution and intensity of dust storms, which can impact the regional climate. In this study observations from the Indian National Satellite (INSAT) 3D are used for dust storm detection in Xinjiang because of the frequent 30-min observations with six bands. An analysis of the optical properties of dust and its quantitative relationship with dust storms in Xinjiang is presented for dust events in April 2014. The Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) derived using six predefined aerosol types shows great potential to identify dust events. Cross validation between INSAT-3D retrieved AOD and MODIS AOD shows a high coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.92). Ground validation using AERONET (Aerosol Robotic Network) AOD also shows a good correlation with R2 of 0.77. We combined the apparent reflectance (top-of-atmospheric reflectance) of visible and shortwave infrared bands, brightness temperature of infrared bands and retrieved AOD into a new Enhanced Dust Index (EDI). EDI reveals not only dust extent but also the intensity. EDI performed very well in measuring the intensity of dust storms between 22 and 24 April 2014. A visual comparison between EDI and Feng Yun-2E (FY-2E) Infrared Difference Dust Index (IDDI) also shows a high level of similarity. A good linear correlation (R2 of 0.78) between EDI and visibility on the ground demonstrates good performance of EDI in estimating dust intensity. A simple threshold method was found to have a good performance in delineating the extent of the dust plumes but inadequate for providing information on dust plume intensity

Long-time series aerosol optical depth retrieval from AVHRR data over land in North China and Central Europe

An algorithm for the retrieval of the aerosol optical depth over land (ADL) using radiances at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) measured by the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) is proposed. AVHRR is the only satellite sensor providing nearly continuous global coverage since June 1979, which could generate the longest aerosol climate data records currently available from operational satellites. In the implementation of the ADL algorithm, an analytical model is used which couples an atmospheric radiative transfer model and a land surface reflectance parameterization. The radiation field can be separated into three parts: direct radiance, single-scattered radiance, and multiple-scattered. Each of these parts is individually parameterized. To obtain the surface reflectance in an automatic retrieval procedure over land for AVHRR, the aerosol scattering effect at 3.75 μm was assumed to be negligible and relationships between the surface reflectances at 0.64 μm and 3.75 μm were evaluated for different surface types and the authors propose to use these to obtain the surface reflectance at the shorter wavelength. The 0.64 μm surface reflectance was then used in a radiative transfer model to compute AOD at that wavelength using six different aerosol types, where optimal estimation (OE) theory is applied to minimize the difference between modeled and measured radiances. The ADL algorithm is applied to re-calibrated Level 1B radiances from the AVHRRs on-board the TIROS-N and the Metop-B satellites to retrieve the AOD over North China and Central Europe. The results show that the AOD retrieved from these two instruments are in agreement with co-located AOD values from ground-based reference networks. Over North China, using AERONET sites, 58% of the ADL AOD values are within an expected error (EE) range of ±(0.05 + 20%) and 53% are within the EE range of ±(0.05 + 15%). For GAW-PFR (World Meteorological Organization, WMO, Global Atmosphere Watch, GAW) sites, part of the European ACTRIS (Aerosols, Clouds, and Trace gases Research InfraStructure) sites, 79% of the ADL AOD values are within the EE range of ±(0.05 + 20%) and 75% are within the EE range of ±(0.05 + 15%). Not surprisingly, the agreement is better over Europe with generally lower AOD values. An additional cross comparison of the AOD results with MODIS (MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) DeepBlue aerosol products shows that the spatial distributions of the two AOD datasets are similar, but with generally lower values for ADL and lower coverage. The temporal variation of the annual mean AOD over selected AERONET sites shows that ADL values are generally between 0.2 and 0.5 over North-Eastern China and trace the MODIS and AERONET data for the overlapping years quite well.N/

Synoptic Weather Patterns and Atmospheric Circulation Types of PM_2.5 Pollution Periods in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region

The variation of PM2.5 concentration in the atmosphere is closely related to the variation in weather patterns. The change in weather pattern is accompanied by the corresponding change in atmospheric circulation characteristics. It is necessary to explore the relationship between PM2.5 concentration changes and atmospheric circulation characteristics during pollution periods. In this paper, Lamb-Jenkinson objective classification method is applied to classify daily atmospheric circulation. The pollution periods are calculated and the atmospheric circulation variation rule is obtained. Combined with the physical parameter field (humidity, potential temperature, and potential height), a typical pollution period is analyzed. Additionally, the influence of atmospheric circulation type variation on PM2.5 concentration and transport channel during the pollution period was obtained. The results show that atmospheric circulation types in the study period are dominated by A-type (anticyclonic), N-type (north), and NE-type (northeast), indicating obvious seasonal differences, and the proportion of C-type (cyclonic) circulation was increased significantly in summer. During the pollution period analysis from 2 to 4 January 2019, atmospheric circulation type changed from N-type to NE-type (northeast), the wind direction changed from southeast wind, and the change of pressure gradient was consistent with the trend of the wind field. Moreover, the physical parameter field assisted in verifying the process of the pollution period from the conducive to the accumulation of PM2.5 to conducive to the deposition of pollutants and external transport. The research results would provide theoretical support for PM2.5 prediction during the pollution period and also supply a theoretical and technical basis for the establishment of ecological compensation standards for air pollution and atmospheric environmental control