Aerosol Single Scattering Albedo Product from OMI near UV Observations

Near-UV satellite observations by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on the Aura satellite are used in an inversion algorithm (OMAERUV) to simultaneously retrieve aerosol optical depth (AOD) and single scattering albedo (SSA). The new version of the OMAERUV algorithm makes use of a climatology of aerosol layer height from CALIOP observations, and real-time CO columnar amounts from the Aqua-AIRS sensor to differentiate between desert dust and carbonaceous aerosols. As a result of the improved characterization of aerosol type and layer height, the retrieved parameters are more accurate than obtained with the previous version of the algorithm as demonstrated by comparison to ground-based observations. A brief description of the improved algorithm will be presented followed by a discussion of the global and regional SSA distributions based on the OMAERUV six-year (2005-2010) record.