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

P. A. Durkee, B. B. Brown, K. E. Nielsen, P. B. Russell, J. Livingston

Satellite observations provide column estimates of aerosol optical properties on scales ranging from kilometers to global. The TARFOX experiment offers the opportunity to calibrate satellite-based aerosol retrieval techniques. This paper describes a new retrieval method using the new GOES satellite imagers. Previously, aerosol optical depth retrieval has been largely performed with the NOAA AVHRR sensor. The AVHRR has two solar channels that provide information about the aerosol size distribution. The GOES has one channel with a spectral response similar to one of the AVHRR solar channels. The technique described here uses time-coincident AVHRR/GOES data to derive aerosol optical depth estimates. The two-wavelength AVHRR data is used to parameterize the aerosol scattering phase function. The aerosol optical depth is derived from the AVHRR and GOES measurements. The phase function parameterization is applied to GOES images that preceed and follow the AVHRR observation within about 1-2 hours. Satellite observations are presented in comparison with the NASA Ames Suntracking Sunphotometer on the Universtiy of Washington C131 aircraft. The angular variation in the GOES images from changing sun angle is also used to test the phase function parameterization.