Abstract. Aerosols affect the Earth's energy budget directly by scattering and absorbing radiation and indirectly by acting as cloud condensation nuclei and, thereby, affecting cloud properties. However, large uncertainties exist in current estimates of aerosol forcing because of incomplete knowledge concerning the distribution and the physical and chemical properties of aerosols as well as aerosol-cloud interactions. In recent years, a great deal of effort has gone into improving measurements and datasets. It is thus feasible to shift the estimates of aerosol forcing from largely model-based to increasingly measurement-based. Our goal is to assess current observational capabilities and identify uncertainties in the aerosol direct forcing through comparisons of different methods with independent sources of uncertainties. Here we assess the aerosol optical depth (τ ), direct radiative effect (DRE) by natural and anthropogenic aerosols, and direct climate forcing (DCF) by anthropogenic aerosols, focusing on satellite and ground-based measurements supplemented by global chemical transport modelCorrespondence to: H. Yu (hyu@climate.gsfc.nasa.gov) (CTM) simulations. The multi-spectral MODIS measures global distributions of aerosol optical depth (τ ) on a daily scale, with a high accuracy of ±0.03±0.05τ over ocean. The annual average τ is about 0.14 over global ocean, of which about 21%±7% is contributed by human activities, as estimated by MODIS fine-mode fraction. The multiangle MISR derives an annual average AOD of 0.23 over global land with an uncertainty of ∼20% or ±0.05. These high-accuracy aerosol products and broadband flux measurements from CERES make it feasible to obtain observational constraints for the aerosol direct effect, especially over global the ocean. A number of measurement-based approaches estimate the clear-sky DRE (on solar radiation) at the top-of-atmosphere (TOA) to be about −5.5±0.2 Wm −2 (median ± standard error from various methods) over the global ocean. Accounting for thin cirrus contamination of the satellite derived aerosol field will reduce the TOA DRE to −5.0 Wm −2 . Because of a lack of measurements of aerosol absorption and difficulty in characterizing land surface reflection, estimates of DRE over land and at the ocean surface are currently realized through a combination of satellite Published by Copernicus GmbH on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. 614H. Yu et al.: Measurement-based aerosol direct forcing retrievals, surface measurements, and model simulations, and are less constrained. Over the oceans the surface DRE is estimated to be −8.8±0.7 Wm −2 . Over land, an integration of satellite retrievals and model simulations derives a DRE of −4.9±0.7 Wm −2 and −11.8±1.9 Wm −2 at the TOA and surface, respectively. CTM simulations derive a wide range of DRE estimates that on average are smaller than the measurement-based DRE by about 30-40%, even after accounting for thin cirrus and cloud contamination.A number of issues remain. Current estimates of the aerosol direct effect ...

Abstract. Because of its wide coverage over much of the globe, biomass burning has been widely studied in the context of direct radiative forcing. Such study is warranted as smoke particles scatter and at times absorb solar radiation efficiently. Further, as much of what is known about smoke transport and impacts is based on remote sensing measurements, the optical properties of smoke particles have far reaching effects into numerous aspects of biomass burning studies. Global estimates of direct forcing have been widely varying, ranging from near zero to −1 W m −2 . A significant part of this difference can be traced to varying assumptions on the optical properties of smoke. This manuscript is the third part of four examining biomass-burning emissions. Here we review and discuss the literature concerning measurement and modeling of optical properties of biomassburning particles. These include available data from published sensitivity studies, field campaigns, and inversions from the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) of Sun photometer sites. As a whole, optical properties reported in the literature are varied, reflecting both the dynamic nature of fires, variations in smoke aging processes and differences in measurement technique. We find that forward modeling or "internal closure" studies ultimately are of little help in resolving outstanding measurement issues due to the high degree of degeneracy in solutions when using "reasonable" input parameters. This is particularly notable with respect to index of refraction and the treatment of black carbon. Consequently, previous claims of column closure may in fact be more ambiguous. Differences between in situ and retrieved ω o values have implications for estimates of mass scattering and mass absorption efficiencies. In this manuscript we Correspondence to: J. S. Reid (reidj@nrlmry.navy.mil) review and discuss this community dataset. Strengths and lapses are pointed out, future research topics are prioritized, and best estimates and uncertainties of key smoke particle parameters are provided.

[1] We explore the relationship between column aerosol optical thickness (AOT) derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MODIS) on the Terra/Aqua satellites and hourly fine particulate mass (PM 2.5 ) measured at the surface at seven locations in Jefferson county, Alabama for 2002. Results indicate that there is a good correlation between the satellite-derived AOT and PM 2.5 (linear correlation coefficient, R = 0.7) indicating that most of the aerosols are in the well-mixed lower boundary layer during the satellite overpass times. There is excellent agreement between the monthly mean PM 2.5 and MODIS AOT (R > 0.9), with maximum values during the summer months due to enhanced photolysis. The PM 2.5 has a distinct diurnal signature with maxima in the early morning (6:00 $ 8:00AM) due to increased traffic flow and restricted mixing depths during these hours. Using simple empirical linear relationships derived between the MODIS AOT and 24hr mean PM 2.5 we show that the MODIS AOT can be used quantitatively to estimate air quality categories as defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with an accuracy of more than 90% in cloud-free conditions. We discuss the factors that affect the correlation between satellite-derived AOT and PM 2.5 mass, and emphasize that more research is needed before applying these methods and results over other areas.

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The recent literature on satellite remote sensing of air quality is reviewed. 2009 is the 50th anniversary of the first satellite atmospheric observations. For the first 40 of those years, atmospheric composition measurements, meteorology, and atmospheric structure and dynamics dominated the missions launched. Since 1995, 42 instruments relevant to air quality measurements have been put into orbit. Trace gases such as ozone, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, water, oxygen/tetraoxygen, bromine oxide, sulfur dioxide, formaldehyde, glyoxal, chlorine dioxide, chlorine monoxide, and nitrate radical have been measured in the stratosphere and troposphere in column measurements. Aerosol optical depth (AOD) is a focus of this review and a significant body of literature exists that shows that ground-level fine particulate matter (PM2.5) can be estimated from columnar AOD. Precision of the measurement of AOD is +/-20% and the prediction of PM2.5 from AOD is order +/-30% in the most careful studies. The air quality needs that can use such predictions are examined. Satellite measurements are important to event detection, transport and model prediction, and emission estimation. It is suggested that ground-based measurements, models, and satellite measurements should be viewed as a system, each component of which is necessary to better understand air quality.