Aerosol Remote Sensing over Ocean in Glint Contaminated Regions Using Aatsr and Meris

The Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer MERIS and the Advanced Along-Track Scanning Radiometer AATSR instruments, both onboard ESA’s Environmental Satellite ENVISAT, provide similar spatial resolution and swath, but complementary information, encompassing different spectral domains and viewing geometries. Recent geophysical algorithms do not take advantage of a synergetic use of the measurements of both instruments, although the benefits in cloud and aerosol retrieval are obvious. This paper presents one example for a synergistic use of MERIS and AATSR imagery: The retrieval of aerosol optical thickness and Angstroem coefficient over the ocean, in particular in sun glint contaminated regions. Later we will extend the focus on the potential of the estimation of aerosol absorption by means of its single scattering albedo.