Research Results
Correlation of Aerosol Optical Depth with Weather Variables
Title | Introduction | Methods | Results | Discussion
Results
Figure 1: Changes in Aerosol Optical Thicknes (TAU) and Visibility for 15 months.
This graph indicates an inverse relationship between the visibility data and the aerosol depth. The reason for this is because there if are many particles in the air, then visibility decreases. The optical depht measures how many aerosol particles are in the air, therefore, if the aerosol optical thickness decreases, the visibility should increase. This is precisely what the graph shows.
Figure 2: Daily differences between mean air temperature and due point, plotted with Tau
This graph suggests that when the dew point depression increases, the optical thickness decreases. However, since this figure shows only about one year of data, it may be dominated by seasonal variability.
Figure 3: Tau and Standard Air Pressure for 15 months
The graph above demonstrates that not all weather variables have an effect on the aerosol optical depth. This graph shows no apparent relationship between the standard air pressure and the aerosol optical depth. TAU is shown in the green curve and aerosol optical depth in the red curve.
Figure 4: Tau and Wind Speed plotted over time
This graph shows an inverse relationship between the two variables. When the optical depth decreases, the wind speed increases. The reason for this may be because in the winter time, the increase in wind speed transports the aerosols that are present in the atmosphere away.
Title | Introduction | Methods | Results | Discussion
