Retrieval of aerosol profile variations from reflected radiation in the oxygen absorption A band

Through a Fredholm integral equation of the first kind, aerosol kernel func tions relate the variations in radiance measured by satellites to the varia tions in the aerosol extinction profile and thus permit profile retrieval f rom radiance measurements by inversion of the set of radiative transfer equ ations for various spectral intervals. Previously [Appl. Opt. 36, 1328 (199 7)] the kernel functions were evaluated for the red and near-infrared spect ral regions outside molecular absorption bands. Here they are computed with in the oxygen A band with 20-cm(-1) spectral resolution. It is shown that, even with such a relatively low spectral resolution, the new set of kernels is able to provide better information on and improved accuracy of the retr ieved profile. (C) 1999 Optical Society of America.