The successive scattering in radiative transfer theory and its application for aerosol retrieval

Abstract

Retrieval of atmospheric aerosol characteristics from satellite data, i.e. aerosol remote sensing, is based on the light scattering theory. The aerosol properties are estimated by comparing satellite measurements with the numerical values of radiation simulations in the Earth atmosphere model. This study was designed to develop an efficient algorithm to retrieve aerosol characteristics in aerosol events, which are associated with extreme concentrations of aerosols in the atmosphere such as a yellow-sand storm. It is known that the large increase in the optical thickness of the atmosphere during aerosol events prevents the use of sun/sky photometry from the surface level. However, space-based observations are possible for monitoring the atmospheric aerosols during such events. This study focuses on new algorithms being used to detect the event core with a high optical thickness and a simulation scheme for radiative transfer in the dense radiation field being employed. Finally, the practical application of our algorithms was tested using Aqua/MODIS data for a yellow-sand storm.