Aerosol plume height climatology from synergistic use of VIIRS, OMPS, and CALIOP

The Aerosol Single-scattering albedo and Height Estimation (ASHE) algorithm provides the height of UV-absorbing aerosols, such as biomass burning smoke and mineral dust, over much broader areas than ground-based or spaceborne lidar measurements, which have been major sources of data for studies on aerosol height. This can be done by synergistically using visible and ultra violet measurements made by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) and the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS), respectively, or similar type of sensors, with a constraint on aerosol height over certain portion of the plume by the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP). With an increased length of data record of ASHE, this study presents a statistical analysis of the aerosol plume height over various source regions as well as where influenced by long-range transport. Characteristics of the height of smoke plumes over various source regions, relationship between smoke aerosols and surface particulate matter (PM) as a function of the height, and spatiotemporal patterns of Saharan dust layer height during transport will be discussed.