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Assessment of dust size retrievals based on AERONET: A case study of radiative closure from visible-near-infrared to thermal infrared
  • +8
  • Jianyu Zheng,
  • Zhibo Zhang,
  • Sergio Desouza-Machado,
  • Claire L. Ryder,
  • Anne Garnier,
  • Claudia Di Biagio,
  • Ping Yang,
  • Ellsworth J. Welton,
  • Hongbin Yu,
  • Africa Barreto,
  • Margarita Y. Gonzalez
Jianyu Zheng
Department of Physics, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research II, University of Maryland Baltimore County
Author Profile
Zhibo Zhang
Department of Physics, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research II, University of Maryland Baltimore County

Corresponding Author:

Sergio Desouza-Machado
Department of Physics, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research II, University of Maryland Baltimore County
Claire L. Ryder
Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Earley Gate
Anne Garnier
Analytical Mechanics Associates 21 Enterprise Pkwy
Claudia Di Biagio
Université Paris Cité, Univ Paris Est Creteil, CNRS
Ping Yang
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University
Ellsworth J. Welton
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Hongbin Yu
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Africa Barreto
State Meteorological Agency (AEMET), Izaña Atmospheric Research Center (IARC), Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Margarita Y. Gonzalez
Atmospheric Research and Instrumentation Branch, National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA)

Abstract

Super-coarse dust particles (diameters > 10 µm) are evidenced to be more abundant in the atmosphere than model estimates and contribute significantly to the dust climate impacts.  Since super-coarse dust accounts for less dust extinction in the visible-to-near-infrared (VIS-NIR) than in the thermal infrared (TIR) spectral regime, they are suspected to be underestimated by remote sensing instruments operates only in VIS-NIR, including Aerosol Robotic Networks (AERONET), a widely used dataset for dust model validation. In this study, we perform a radiative closure assessment using the AERONET-retrieved size distribution in comparison with the collocated Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) TIR observations with comprehensive uncertainty analysis. The consistently warm bias in the comparisons suggests a potential underestimation of super-coarse dust in the AERONET retrievals due to the limited VIS-NIR sensitivity. An extra super-coarse mode included in the AERONET-retrieved size distribution helps improve the TIR closure without deteriorating the retrieval accuracy in the VIS-NIR.
24 Dec 2023Submitted to ESS Open Archive
26 Dec 2023Published in ESS Open Archive