In this paper we present an aerosol retrieval over land algorithm specifically designed for the ENVISAT MERIS sensor, with the aim of the atmospheric correction of the data. The fundamental basis lies on a multiple parameter inversion for spectrally heterogeneous sets of five pixels in a window inside the image, considering invariant the atmosphere in this window. In the modellization of the To...

Atmospheric and climatic data measured at Thala site (Tunisia) for a long-time period (1977-2001) are used to analyse the monthly, seasonal, and annual variations of the aerosol optical depth at 1 μm wavelength. We have shown that aerosol and microphysical properties and the dominating aerosol types depend on seasons. A comparison of the seasonal cycle of aerosol optical characteristics at Thal...

Atmospheric aerosol Atmospheric aerosol is a variable, yet critical component of the climate system and has substantial impact on climate change. [1-3] Aerosols affect climate directly, by scattering and absorbing solar radiation, and indirectly, by acting as cloud condensation nuclei, CCN. Clouds may reduce the incident radiation on the surface, increase or decrease temperatures, and suppress ...

As widely accepted, the atmospheric aerosol strongly contributes to the formation of the earth’s radiation balance through the absorption and scattering of solar radiation. In addition to this direct influence on the radiation balance, aerosols, being active condensation nuclei, also have a role in the cloud formation processes. Consequently, we pay special attention to the block of aerosol stu...

Aerosol Retrieval Using Remote-sensed Observations by Yueqing Wang Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics with the Designated Emphasis in Communication, Computation, and Statistics University of California, Berkeley Professor Bin Yu, Chair Atmospheric aerosols are solid particles and liquid droplets that are usually smaller than the diameter of a human hair. They can be found drifting in the air in...

Sensitivity analysis and error of reflectance based vicarious calibration with estimated aerosol refractive index and size distribution derived from measured solar direct and diffuse irradiance as well as measured surface reflectance is conducted for solar reflective channels of mission instruments onboard remote sensing satellites. Through these error analyses, it is found that the most influe...

An original atmospheric correction algorithm, so-called multi-directionality and POLarization-based Atmospheric Correction (POLAC), is described. This algorithm is based on the characteristics of the multidirectional and polarimetric data of the satellite PARASOL (CNES). POLAC algorithm is used to assess the influence of the polarimetric information in the visible bands on the retrieval of the ...

Aerosols act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) for cloud water droplets, and changes in aerosol concentrations have significant microphysical impacts on the corresponding cloud properties. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aerosol and cloud properties are combined with NCEP Reanalysis data for six different regions around the globe between March 2000 and December 2005 to st...

The quality of satellite images propagating through the atmosphere is affected by phenomena such as scattering and absorption of light, and turbulence, which degrade the image by blurring it and reducing its contrast. The atmospheric Wiener filter, which corrects for turbulence blur, aerosol blur, and path radiance simultaneously, is implemented in the digital restoration of Landsat Thematic Ma...