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STAR / SMCD / EMB Aerosol Remote Sensing

Aerosol Research

This site provides an overview of aerosol research conducted at the Environmental Monitoring Branch (EMB) of the Satellite Meteorology and Climatology Division (SMCD) of STAR. The EMB Aerosol research targets algorithm development and evaluation, and scientific analysis of satellite-derived aerosol data.

Algorithm Development and Evaluation

STAR scientists are engaded in developing and testing algorithms for aerosol retrieval from the observations of the Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Joint Polar Satellite System ( formerly the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS)) and the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) satellites, and from the measurements of the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) onboard the future Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series (GOES-R).

  • SNPP/JPSS VIIRS. This research is part of a coordinated strategy for the calibration and validation of the NPP/JPSS VIIRS atmospheric environmental data records (EDR), specifically the aerosol record. The goal is to establish the bounds of accuracy and precision for the EDRs, characterizing performance as a function of scene characteristics. The foundation of this effort is comparison of satellite retrieved aerosol data to independent correlative data, so-called truth data. (Read more...)
  • GOES-R ABI. A team of scientists from NOAA/NESDIS/STAR and the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) is developing an algorithm for the retrieval of aerosol properties from the radiance measurements of ABI onboard GOES-R. The algorithm utilizes the multi-channel measurements of ABI and is based on the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS)  Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the JPSS/VIIRS aerosol algorithms. (Read more ...)

Aerosol Data Analysis

The goal of this research is to detect temporal and spatial changes in aerosol amount caused by human activity, as well as natural causes. The data set used in this research is the aerosol optical depth retrieved over ocean from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) onborad the  NOAA  polar orbiting operational satellites. (Read more ...)