A Long-Term Historical Aerosol Optical Depth Data Record (1982–2011) Over China From AVHRR

A long-term historical aerosol optical depth (AOD) data set from 1982 to 2011 over China (15–45° N; 75–135° E) with 0.1 spatial resolution has been produced from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) Pathfinder Atmospheres—Extended level-2B data. The spatial distribution pattern shows that high AOD values are found in central and eastern China over the entire period with AODs larger in summer and spring than in autumn and winter. As the high-quality products from AERONET were absent for this period over mainland China, AOD data obtained using the broadband extinction method from solar radiation stations have been used to verify the quality of the AVHRR AOD data set over China. The intercomparison results show that the interannual variation of AOD has been well captured in the variation curve of the AOD monthly mean and the variation trend is also consistent over the whole period. The correlation coefficient of the monthly mean is mostly larger than 0.55, the agreement index is larger than 0.57, and the relative error is less than 21%. Both AVHRR and visibility data sets show high values in regions with rapid economic development. Using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer AOD data as references, it is found that AVHRR AOD from this paper has better accuracy in general than that from Deep Blue (DB) algorithm over China, especially over eastern and southern China, while DB provides more coverage especially over bright surface such as northwest China. This long-term historic AOD data set can be used together with other AOD data sets to study the climate and environmental changes, especially in the 1980s and 1990s.

[1]  E. Vermote,et al.  Operational remote sensing of tropospheric aerosol over land from EOS moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer , 1997 .

[2]  Corinne Le Quéré,et al.  Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis , 2013 .

[3]  Jianping Guo,et al.  Long term variation trends of aerosol optical depth in China from MODIS and toms , 2012, 2012 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium.

[4]  Alexander Smirnov,et al.  Comparisons of the TOMS aerosol index with Sun‐photometer aerosol optical thickness: Results and applications , 1999 .

[5]  Jin Huang,et al.  Enhanced Deep Blue aerosol retrieval algorithm: The second generation , 2013 .

[6]  Andrew A. Lacis,et al.  Sun and dust versus greenhouse gases: an assessment of their relative roles in global climate change , 1990, Nature.

[7]  Christian A. Gueymard,et al.  Turbidity Determination from Broadband Irradiance Measurements: A Detailed Multicoefficient Approach , 1998 .

[8]  Pinhas Alpert,et al.  AOD Trends over Megacities Based on Space Monitoring Using MODIS and MISR , 2012 .

[9]  E. Vermote,et al.  Second‐generation operational algorithm: Retrieval of aerosol properties over land from inversion of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer spectral reflectance , 2007 .

[10]  E. Vermote,et al.  Aerosol retrieval over land from AVHRR data-application for atmospheric correction , 1992, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[11]  Yong Xue,et al.  Retrieval of aerosol optical depth and surface reflectance over land from NOAA AVHRR data , 2013 .

[12]  D. Tanré,et al.  Remote Sensing of Tropospheric Aerosols from Space: Past, Present, and Future. , 1999 .

[13]  A. Hauser,et al.  NOAA AVHRR derived aerosol optical depth over land , 2005 .

[14]  David J. Diner,et al.  Sensitivity of multiangle imaging to aerosol optical depth and to pure‐particle size distribution and composition over ocean , 1998 .

[15]  Changyong Cao,et al.  Study of long‐term trend in aerosol optical thickness observed from operational AVHRR satellite instrument , 2008 .

[16]  V. Ramanathan,et al.  Global and regional climate changes due to black carbon , 2008 .

[17]  Jietai Mao,et al.  Characteristics of distribution and seasonal variation of aerosol optical depth in eastern China with MODIS products , 2003, Science Bulletin.

[18]  M. Fily,et al.  Surface characterisation of the Dome Concordia area (Antarctica) as a potential satellite calibration site, using Spot 4/Vegetation instrument , 2004 .

[19]  L. Elterman,et al.  Relationships between vertical attenuation and surface meteorological range. , 1970, Applied optics.

[20]  A. Heidinger,et al.  Deriving an inter-sensor consistent calibration for the AVHRR solar reflectance data record , 2010 .

[21]  Jinhuan Qiu.  Broadband Extinction Method to Determine Aerosol Optical Depth from Accumulated Direct Solar Radiation , 2003 .

[22]  Yong Xue,et al.  Retrieval of aerosol optical depth over land surfaces from AVHRR data , 2013 .

[23]  Andi Walther,et al.  The Pathfinder Atmospheres–Extended AVHRR Climate Dataset , 2014 .

[24]  Hu Xiuqing,et al.  [Study on Orbit Radiometric Calibration for FY-2 Visible Band based on Deep Convective Cloud]. , 2016 .

[25]  X. Xia,et al.  Characteristics of atmospheric aerosol optical depth variation in China during 1993-2012 , 2014 .

[26]  B. Holben,et al.  Validation of MODIS aerosol optical depth retrieval over land , 2002 .

[27]  Patrick Minnis,et al.  On the use of deep convective clouds to calibrate AVHRR data , 2004, SPIE Optics + Photonics.

[28]  Brian Cairns,et al.  Global Two-Channel AVHRR Retrievals of Aerosol Properties over the Ocean for the Period of NOAA-9 Observations and Preliminary Retrievals Using NOAA-7 and NOAA-11 Data , 2002 .

[29]  P. Bhartia,et al.  Global distribution of UV-absorbing aerosols from Nimbus 7/TOMS data , 1997 .

[30]  Andrew K. Heidinger,et al.  Long-term trends of zonally averaged aerosol optical thickness observed from operational satellite AVHRR instrument† , 2011 .

[31]  H. Kieffer,et al.  The Spectral Irradiance of the Moon , 2005 .

[32]  Alexander Ignatov,et al.  Operational Aerosol Observations (AEROBS) from AVHRR/3 On Board NOAA-KLM Satellites , 2004 .

[33]  Jinhuan Qiu.  Broadband extinction method to determine atmospheric aerosol optical properties , 2001 .

[34]  Yang Li,et al.  Horizontal visibility trends in China 1981–2005 , 2007 .

[35]  Didier Tanré,et al.  Validation of the first algorithm applied for deriving the aerosol properties over the ocean using the POLDER/ADEOS measurements , 1999, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

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

[37]  Brent N. Holben,et al.  Retrieving near‐global aerosol loading over land and ocean from AVHRR , 2017 .

[38]  R. W. Fenn,et al.  Optical Properties of the Atmosphere (Revised) , 1971 .

[39]  Simulation study of the aerosol information content in OMI spectral reflectance measurements , 2020 .

[40]  Zhengqiang Li,et al.  Aerosol physical and chemical properties retrieved from ground-based remote sensing measurements during heavy haze days in Beijing winter , 2013 .

[41]  Ping Yang,et al.  Application of deep convective cloud albedo observation to satellite-based study of the terrestrial atmosphere: monitoring the stability of spaceborne measurements and assessing absorption anomaly , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[42]  M. S. Moran,et al.  Reflectance- and radiance-based methods for the in-flight absolute calibration of multispectral sensors , 1987 .

[43]  N. C. Hsu,et al.  Evaluation of NASA Deep Blue/SOAR aerosol retrieval algorithms applied to AVHRR measurements , 2017, Journal of geophysical research. Atmospheres : JGR.

[44]  David R. Doelling,et al.  The Characterization of Deep Convective Clouds as an Invariant Calibration Target and as a Visible Calibration Technique , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[45]  Lin Chen,et al.  The Application of Deep Convective Clouds in the Calibration and Response Monitoring of the Reflective Solar Bands of FY-3A/MERSI (Medium Resolution Spectral Imager) , 2013, Remote. Sens..

[46]  Y. Qian,et al.  Decreasing trends in sunshine duration over China for 1954–1998: Indication of increased haze pollution? , 2002 .

[47]  K. E. Taylor,et al.  Response of the climate system to atmospheric aerosols and greenhouse gases , 1994, Nature.

[48]  G. Brasseur,et al.  Lung cancer mortality and exposure to atmospheric aerosol particles in Guangzhou, China , 2009 .

[49]  Yoshiyuki Kawata,et al.  Retrieval of aerosol optical thickness over land using NOAA/AVHRR data , 2006 .

[50]  Qiu Jinhuan,et al.  Variation characteristics of atmospheric aerosol optical depths and visibility in North China during 1980–1994 , 2000 .

[51]  Lin Chen,et al.  Retrieval and Validation of Atmospheric Aerosol Optical Depth From AVHRR Over China , 2016, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[52]  Xiangqian Wu,et al.  An integrated method to improve the GOES Imager visible radiometric calibration accuracy , 2015 .

[53]  A. Heidinger,et al.  Using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) to calibrate advanced very high resolution radiometer reflectance channels , 2002 .