A recently developed method for monitoring biomass burning smoke from space
has been applied to measurements over Brazil. Long-term measurements of ae
rosol index measured from space by a series of satellites show the interann
ual variability of smoke-covered areas over Brazil. Using a newly developed
algorithm, the aerosol index has been inverted into aerosol optical depth
values. Coincident ground-based Sun photometer aerosol optical thickness me
asurements are used to validate this inversion. The interannual variability
of the area covered by smoke of varying intensity is described over the pe
riod 1978 to 1995. The results show that 1995, the year of the Smoke, Cloud
s, and Radiation-Brazil (SCAR-B) mission, was similar to recent years for o
verall smoke area, but the area covered by heavier smoke was larger than ot
her years in the data record.