Assessment of 10-Year Global Record of Aerosol Products from the OMI Near-UV Algorithm

Global observations of aerosol properties from space are critical for understanding climate change and air quality applications. The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) onboard the EOS-Aura satellite provides information on aerosol optical properties by making use of the large sensitivity to aerosol absorption and dark surface albedo in the UV spectral region. These unique features enable us to retrieve both aerosol extinction optical depth (AOD) and single scattering albedo (SSA) successfully from radiance measurements at 354 and 388 nm by the OMI near UV aerosol algorithm (OMAERUV). Recent improvements to algorithms in conjunction with the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) and Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) carbon monoxide data also reduce uncertainties due to aerosol layer heights and types significantly in retrieved products. We present validation results of OMI AOD against space and time collocated Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) measured AOD values over multiple stations representing major aerosol episodes and regimes. We also compare the OMI SSA against the inversion made by AERONET as well as an independent network of ground-based radiometer called SKYNET in Japan, China, South-East Asia, India, and Europe. The outcome of the evaluation analysis indicates that in spite of the "row anomaly" problem, affecting the sensor since mid-2007, the long-term aerosol record shows remarkable sensor stability. The OMAERUV 10-year global aerosol record is publicly available at the NASA data service center web site (http://disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/Aura/data-holdings/OMI/omaeruv_v003.shtml).