D. Tanre et al., Climatology of dust aerosol size distribution and optical properties derived from remotely sensed data in the solar spectrum, J GEO RES-A, 106(D16), 2001, pp. 18205-18217
Simultaneous spectral remote observations of dust properties from space and
from the ground create a powerful tool for the determination of ambient du
st properties integrated on the entire atmospheric column. The two measurem
ent methods have a complementary sensitivity to variety of dust properties.
The methodology is demonstrated using spectral measurements (0.47-2.21 mum
) from Landsat (TM) over the bright Senegalian coast and dark ocean, and Ae
rosol Robotic Network (AERONET) radiances measured in several locations. We
derive (1) the dust size distribution, showing a dominant coarse mode at 1
-5 mum and a secondary mode around 0.5 mum effective radius; (2) dust absor
ption, which is found to be substantially smaller than reported from previo
us measurements; (3) the real part of the refractive index which varies wit
hin the range 1.53-1.46; and we show that (4) the effect of the dust nonsph
erical shape on its optical properties is not significant for scattering an
gles < 120 degrees.