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Satellite retrieval of aerosol absorption over the oceans using sunglint
Author(s) -
Kaufman Y. J.,
Martins J. V.,
Remer L. A.,
Schoeberl M. R.,
Yamasoe M. A.
Publication year - 2002
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 - 10.1029/2002gl015403
Subject(s) - aerosol , environmental science , single scattering albedo , absorption (acoustics) , albedo (alchemy) , radiative forcing , satellite , soot , remote sensing , atmospheric sciences , optical depth , carbon black , forcing (mathematics) , meteorology , combustion , geology , materials science , optics , physics , chemistry , art , natural rubber , organic chemistry , astronomy , performance art , composite material , art history
Aerosol absorption of sunlight, in particular by black carbon ‐ soot and dark organic material produced from incomplete combustion of fossil fuel and from vegetation fires, is emerging as a key component of climate forcing. However, global characterization of black carbon emissions, distribution and absorption of sunlight cannot be determined within a factor of 5. Here we propose that the oceanic sunglint can be used as a bright background against which aerosol absorption can be measured from space. The method can map global ocean glint every 4–10 days and determine the distribution of aerosol absorption optical thickness with an error of ±25% for aerosol optical thickness of 0.2 to 0.4. 18 % of the ocean observations are for this range of optical thicknesses. The monthly average aerosol absorption is estimated to have an error of ±12% and uncertainty in the single scattering albedo of ±0.02. We outline a satellite design to perform the measurements.