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Reconciling satellite aerosol optical thickness and surface fine particle mass through aerosol liquid water
Author(s) -
Nguyen Thien Khoi V.,
Ghate Virendra P.,
Carlton Annmarie G.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2016gl070994
Subject(s) - aerosol , satellite , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , particle (ecology) , lidar , mass concentration (chemistry) , meteorology , remote sensing , geology , physics , oceanography , astronomy , thermodynamics
Summertime aerosol optical thickness (AOT) over the southeast U.S. is sharply enhanced over wintertime values. This seasonal pattern is unique and of particular interest because temperatures there have not warmed over the past 100 years. Patterns in surface fine particle mass are inconsistent with satellite reported AOT. In this work, we attempt to reconcile the spatial and temporal distribution of AOT over the U.S. with particle mass measurements at the surface by examining trends in aerosol liquid water (ALW), a particle constituent that scatters radiation and affects satellite AOT but is removed in mass measurements at routine surface monitoring sites. We employ the thermodynamic model ISORROPIAv2.1 to estimate ALW mass concentrations at Interagency Monitoring of PROtected Visual Environments sites using measured ion mass concentrations and North American Regional Reanalysis meteorological data. Excellent agreement between Cloud‐Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations AOT and estimated ALW provides a plausible explanation for the discrepancies in the geographical patterns of AOT and aerosol mass measurements.