Developing a Physical Basis for an Aerosol Climatology of the Pacific Ocean

Abstract

NOAA-7 AVHRR data from April 1982 are used to demonstrate a method for building an aerosol climatology for the North and South Pacific Ocean. Sunlight removed by deleting an area determined from visual inspection of many images. Red-visible (0.63 micrometers), near-infrared (0.86 micrometers) and infrared (11 micrometers) channels, and the ratio of visible albedo to near- infrared albedo are used to eliminate areas of cloudiness. The ratio values are also used to indicate whether small (continental) or large (marine) aerosol particles predominate. Once a 'clean' image of radiances due primarily to scattering by aerosols is obtained, satellite pixel values are averaged over one degree boxes from 50 N to 50 S, 110 E to 70 W. The mean visible and near- infrared albedos, mean ratio and standard deviations are computed and displayed as contoured fields over the North and South Pacific Ocean. These charts and individual examples are used to estimate spatial and temporal changes in aerosol concentration.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1986
Accession Number
ADA178667

Entities

People

  • Frederick R. Pfeil

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Artificial Satellites
  • Chemistry
  • Electromagnetic Spectra
  • Equations
  • Measurement
  • Meteorology
  • Near Infrared Radiation
  • North America
  • Oceanography
  • Optical Properties
  • Optics
  • Pacific Ocean
  • Particles
  • Radiative Transfer
  • Refractive Index
  • Scattering
  • South Pacific Ocean

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Atmospheric Remote Sensing.
  • Atmospheric Science/Meteorology

Technology Areas

  • Space