National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Publication Abstracts

Alexandrov et al. 1999

Alexandrov, M.D., A.A. Lacis, M.E. Carlson, and B. Cairns, 1999: Remote sensing of atmospheric aerosols, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone by means of the Multifilter Rotating Shadow-band Radiometer. In Satellite Remote Sensing of Clouds and the Atmosphere IV, 20 Sep. 1999, Florence, Italy, Proc. SPIE, vol. 3867, p. 156, doi:10.1117/12.373069.

The Multi-Filter Rotating Shadow-band Radiometer (MFRSR) makes precise simultaneous measurements of the direct solar beam extinction, and horizontal diffuse flux, at six wavelengths (nominally 415, 500, 615, 670, 870, and 940 nm) at one minute intervals throughout the day. MFRSR data obtained at tens of sites throughout the U.S. has been available for several years. This is a potentially very important but as yet underutilized data set. We describe and validate a retrieval algorithm for processing of MFRSR data from clear and partially cloudy days. This method uses consistency between direct normal and diffuse horizontal measurements together with a special regression technique to retrieve daily time series of column mean aerosol particle size, aerosol optical depth, NO₂ and ozone amounts together with the instrument's calibration constants. Our validation studies demonstrate two advantages of our approach compared to the traditional Langley calibration method: less calibration variability and less sensitivity of retrievals to calibration accuracy. This method is currently used for processing data from a growing number of MFRSRs spread throughout the U.S. determining both time and geographic variability of aerosol properties and gaseous column amounts. This method makes the relatively inexpensive and automatic MFRSR an important tool in climatological research.

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@inproceedings{al07500i,
  author={Alexandrov, M. D. and Lacis, A. A. and Carlson, M. E. and Cairns, B.},
  title={Remote sensing of atmospheric aerosols, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone by means of the Multifilter Rotating Shadow-band Radiometer},
  booktitle={Satellite Remote Sensing of Clouds and the Atmosphere IV, 20 Sep. 1999, Florence, Italy},
  year={1999},
  volume={3867},
  pages={156},
  series={Proc. SPIE},
  doi={10.1117/12.373069},
}

TY  - CPAPER
ID  - al07500i
AU  - Alexandrov, M. D.
AU  - Lacis, A. A.
AU  - Carlson, M. E.
AU  - Cairns, B.
PY  - 1999
TI  - Remote sensing of atmospheric aerosols, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone by means of the Multifilter Rotating Shadow-band Radiometer
BT  - Satellite Remote Sensing of Clouds and the Atmosphere IV, 20 Sep. 1999, Florence, Italy
T3  - Proc. SPIE
VL  - 3867
SP  - 156
DO  - 10.1117/12.373069
ER  -

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