A recently developed technique of using satellite UV radiance measurements
to detect absorbing tropospheric aerosols is found to be effective over sno
w/ice surfaces. This method takes advantage of the wavelength dependent red
uction in the backscattered radiance due to the presence of absorbing aeros
ols over snow/ice surfaces. An example of the aerosol distribution derived
from Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) data is shown for an August 19
98 event in which smoke generated by Canadian forest fires drifts over and
across Greenland. During this event, the TOMS observed 360 nm reflectivity
over the snow/ice surface dropped drastically from 90-100% down to 30-40%.
We investigated the history of smoke events over snow/ice and found that th
ere is a large interannual variability in the amount of smoke aerosols obse
rved over Greenland.