TARFOX Abstracts
at AGU Special Sessions
Baltimore, MD, 5/29-30, 1997

A41C-03
"Measurement of Atmospheric Optical Parameters on East Coast Sites, Ships and Bermuda"

A Smirnov, (Science Systems and Applications, Inc., Lanham MD 20706; 301-731-9300; email: asmirnov@spamer.gsfc.nasa.gov),
BN Holben, (NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt MD 20771),
LA Remer, I Slutsker (both at Science Systems and Applications, Inc., NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt MD 20771)

The AERONET network of automatic sun/sky radiometers collected data on East coast sites, ships and Bermuda in 1996 during TARFOX. Spatial and temporal analysis of sunphotometry data has been carried out in conjunction with synoptic information on air mass evolution. Spatial distribution of aerosol optical depth within various air mass types is presented. The aerosol size distributions deduced from the sky almucantar measurements at various sites yielded reasonable agreement within same air masses. Measurements in the Atlantic Ocean showed significant variations. The ocean data were sometimes greatly influenced by continental sources. The Bermuda data (mean optical depths and Angstrom parameter values) are in good agreement with previously reported results. The Angstrom parameter, which is indicative of the first order spectral behaviour of aerosol optical depth, displays a significant difference between continental and oceanic regions.