AOD Trends over Megacities Based on Space Monitoring Using MODIS and MISR

Space monitoring of aerosol optical depth (AOD) trends over megacities can serve as a potential space indicator of global anthropogenic air-pollution changes. Three space aerosol sensors, MODIS-Terra, MODIS-Aqua and MISR, were used in order to study recent decadal trends of AOD over megacities around the world. Space monitoring of AOD trends has the advantage of global coverage and applies the same approach to detecting AOD trends over different sites. In spite of instrumental and time differences among the three sensors investigated, their global pictures of AOD trends over the 189 largest cities in the world are quite similar. The increasing AOD trends over the largest cities in the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and North China can be clearly seen. By contrast, megacities in Europe, the north-east of US, and South-East Asia show mainly declining AOD trends. In the cases where all three sensors show similar signs of AOD trends, the results can be considered as reliable. This is supported by the observed trends in surface solar radiation, obtained by using network pyranometer measurements in North and South China, India, and Europe. In the cases where the three sensors show differing signs of AOD trends (e.g. South America), additional research is required in order to verify the obtained AOD trends.

[1]  P. Alpert,et al.  Quantification of the effect of urbanization on solar dimming , 2008 .

[2]  Bernard Pinty,et al.  Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument description and experiment overview , 1998, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[3]  Anup K. Prasad,et al.  Comparison of MISR-MODIS aerosol optical depth over the Indo-Gangetic basin during the winter and summer seasons (2000-2005) , 2007 .

[4]  Y. Kaufman,et al.  Global dimming or local dimming?: Effect of urbanization on sunlight availability , 2005 .

[5]  O. Kalashnikova,et al.  Aerosol optical thickness trends and population growth in the Indian subcontinent , 2011 .

[6]  Xiangao Xia,et al.  A closer looking at dimming and brightening in China during 1961-2005 , 2010 .

[7]  Glenn E. Shaw,et al.  Indian Ocean Experiment: An integrated analysis of the climate forcing and effects of the great Indo-Asian haze , 2001 .

[8]  Jeffrey S. Reid,et al.  A decadal regional and global trend analysis of the aerosol optical depth using a data-assimilation grade over-water MODIS and Level 2 MISR aerosol products , 2010 .

[9]  M. Wild,et al.  Decadal variations in estimated surface solar radiation over Switzerland since the late 19th century , 2012 .

[10]  Brent N. Holben,et al.  An analysis of potential cloud artifacts in MODIS over ocean aerosol optical thickness products , 2005 .

[11]  Yang Liu,et al.  Validation of Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) aerosol optical thickness measurements using Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) observations over the contiguous United States , 2004 .

[12]  Martin Wild,et al.  Global dimming and brightening: A review , 2009 .

[13]  Yan Feng,et al.  Air Pollution, Greenhouse Gases and Climate Change: Global and Regional Perspectives , 2009 .

[14]  Ramesh P. Singh,et al.  Comparison of MODIS and AERONET derived aerosol optical depth over the Ganga Basin, India , 2005 .

[15]  Yoram J. Kaufman,et al.  An Emerging Global Aerosol Climatology from the MODIS Satellite Sensors , 2008 .

[16]  Gerald Stanhill,et al.  Global dimming: a review of the evidence for a widespread and significant reduction in global radiation with discussion of its probable causes and possible agricultural consequences , 2001 .

[17]  V. Ramanathan,et al.  Aerosols, Climate, and the Hydrological Cycle , 2001, Science.

[18]  M. Molina,et al.  Megacities and Atmospheric Pollution , 2004, Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association.

[19]  R. Burnett,et al.  Lung cancer, cardiopulmonary mortality, and long-term exposure to fine particulate air pollution. , 2002, JAMA.

[20]  Joel Schwartz,et al.  Estimating the Exposure–Response Relationships between Particulate Matter and Mortality within the APHEA Multicity Project , 2004, Environmental health perspectives.

[21]  Olga V. Kalashnikova,et al.  Mineral dust plume evolution over the Atlantic from MISR and MODIS aerosol retrievals , 2008 .

[22]  Tony Fletcher,et al.  A retrospective assessment of mortality from the London smog episode of 1952: the role of influenza and pollution. , 2003, Environmental health perspectives.

[23]  Yoram J. Kaufman,et al.  On the twilight zone between clouds and aerosols , 2007 .

[24]  J. Kristjánsson,et al.  Global dimming and global brightening—an analysis of surface radiation and cloud cover data in northern Europe , 2009 .

[25]  Scott Elliott,et al.  ENERGY AND MATERIAL FLOW THROUGH THE URBAN ECOSYSTEM , 2000 .

[26]  B. Goswami,et al.  Seminal role of clouds on solar dimming over the Indian monsoon region , 2010 .

[27]  Fred Moshary,et al.  Improved MODIS Aerosol Retrieval Using Modified VIS/SWIR Surface Albedo Ratio Over Urban Scenes , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[28]  T. Eck,et al.  Global evaluation of the Collection 5 MODIS dark-target aerosol products over land , 2010 .

[29]  E. Vermote,et al.  The MODIS Aerosol Algorithm, Products, and Validation , 2005 .

[30]  Martin Wild,et al.  Trends in aerosol radiative effects over Europe inferred from observed cloud cover, solar “dimming,” and solar “brightening” , 2007 .

[31]  Martin Wild,et al.  On the relationship between diurnal temperature range and surface solar radiation in Europe , 2009 .

[32]  O. Boucher,et al.  A satellite view of aerosols in the climate system , 2002, Nature.

[33]  John P. Allen Urban Air Pollution in Megacities of the World , 1993 .