Relationship between column aerosol optical properties and surface aerosol gravimetric concentrations during the Distributed Regional Aerosol Gridded Observation Network - Northeast ASIA 2012 campaign

One of the main objectives of Distributed Regional Aerosol Gridded Observation Network (DRAGON) campaign in Deriving Information on Surface conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality (DISCOVER-AQ) mission is to understand the relationship between the column optical properties of the atmosphere and the surface level air quality in terms of aerosols and gases. This study aims to identify the important parameters that affecting the relationship between those variables during the DRAGON - northeast Asia 2012 campaign. Column aerosol optical properties from ten Cimel sun photometers at DRAGON sites in Seoul, MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer), and GOCI (Geostationary Ocean Color Imager) and particulate matter (PM10) sampling from 40 NIER (National Institute of Environmental Research of South Korea) measurement sites in Seoul during the period of 1st March - 31th May 2012 were employed in this study. The key parameters in relationship between aerosol optical depth (AOD) and PM are reported to be aerosol vertical profile and hygroscopicity of the aerosols. The meteorological conditions including relative humidity, surface temperature, and wind speed that could affect those parameters were investigated.