Intercomparison
of Aerosol Optical Thickness Derived
from MODIS and <i>in Situ</i> Ground Datasets over Jaipur,
a Semi-arid Zone in India
- Publication date
- Publisher
Abstract
The first detailed seasonal validation
has been carried out for
the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Terra and
Aqua satellites Level 2.0 Collection Version 5.1 AOT (τ<sub>MODIS</sub>) with Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) Level 2.0 AOT
(τ<sub>AERONET</sub>) for the years 2009–2012 over semi-arid
region Jaipur, northwestern India. The correlation between τ<sub>MODIS</sub> versus τ<sub>AERONET</sub> at 550 nm is determined
with different spatial and temporal size windows. The τ<sub>MODIS</sub> overestimates τ<sub>AERONET</sub> within a range
of +0.06 ± 0.24 during the pre-monsoon (April–June) season,
while it underestimates the τ<sub>AERONET</sub> with −0.04
± 0.12 and −0.05 ± 0.18 during dry (December–March)
and post-monsoon (October–November) seasons, respectively.
Correlation without (with) error envelope has been found for pre-monsoon
at 0.71 (0.89), post-monsoon at 0.76 (0.94), and dry season at 0.78
(0.95). τ<sub>MODIS</sub> is compared to τ<sub>AERONET</sub> at three more ground AERONET stations in India, i.e., Kanpur, Gual
Pahari, and Pune. Furthermore, the performance of MODIS Deep Blue
and Aqua AOT<sub>550 nm</sub> (τ<sub>DB550 nm</sub> and τ<sub>Aqua550 nm</sub>) with τ<sub>AERONET</sub> is also evaluated for all considered sites over India along with
a U.S. desert site at White Sand, Tularosa Basin, NM. The statistical
results reveal that τ<sub>Aqua550 nm</sub> performs better
over Kanpur and Pune, whereas τ<sub>DB550 nm</sub> performs
better over Jaipur, Gual Pahari, and White Sand High Energy Laser
Systems Test Facility (HELSTF) (U.S. site)