Validation of satellite overland retrievals of AOD at northern high latitudes with coincident measurements from airborne sunphotometer, lidar, and in situ sensors during ARCTAS

The 2008 Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS) field campaign presented a unique opportunity for validation of satellite retrievals of aerosol optical depth (AOD) over a variety of surfaces at northern high latitudes. In particular, the 14-channel NASA Ames Airborne Tracking Sunphotometer (AATS-14) was operated together with a variety of in-situ and other remote sensors aboard the NASA P-3B research aircraft during both the spring and summer phases of ARCTAS. Among the in-situ sensors were a nephelometer and particle soot absorption photometer (PSAP) operated by University of Hawaii Group for Environmental Aerosol Research (HIGEAR). P-3B science missions included several coincident underflights of the Terra and A-Train satellites during a variety of aerosol loading conditions, including Arctic haze and smoke plumes from boreal forest fires. In this presentation, we will compare AATS-14 AOD spectra, adjusted for the contribution from the layer below the aircraft using the HiGEAR scattering and absorption measurements, with full column AOD retrievals from coincident measurements by satellite sensors such as MISR, MODIS, OMI, and POLDER. We also intend to show comparisons of aerosol extinction derived from AATS-14 measurements during P-3B vertical profiles with coincident measurements from CALIOP aboard the CALIPSO satellite and from the high spectral resolution lidar (HSRL) flown aboard the NASA B-200 aircraft.