Aerosol

Overview

The MODIS Aerosol Product monitors the ambient aerosol optical thickness over the oceans globally and over the continents. Furthermore, the aerosol size distribution is derived over the oceans, and the aerosol type is derived over the continents. "Fine" aerosols (anthropogenic/pollution) and "coarse" aerosols (natural particles; e.g., dust) are also derived. Daily Level-2 (MOD_04) data are produced at the spatial resolution of a 10 x 10 1-km (at nadir) pixel array. The aerosol product includes the "deep-blue" algorithm recently developed to get aerosol optical thickness over bright land areas.

Product Information

Product Details

Product Name Terra Aqua
Aerosol 5-Min L2 Swath 10km
Aerosol 5-Min L2 Swath 3km

Overview

This page provides a gateway to both the Deep Blue (DB) Aerosol and Dark Target (DT) Aerosol products derived from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instruments. The DB aerosol products originate from observations from both the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) series (NOAA-20) platforms. The DT aerosol products include those from the SNPP VIIRS source.

The DB aerosol algorithm was first developed to fill in gaps over bright surfaces, such as deserts, in the DT Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) algorithm. Such gaps are deemed important given their role as key sources for aerosols like wind-blown mineral dust. The DB algorithm has not only evolved to incorporate darker land surfaces (vegetation) besides the brighter surfaces, its AOD measurements have become more accurate and precise with well-quantified error characteristics. The VIIRS v2.0 DB aerosol global aerosol suite has now expanded to include the following products from both the NOAA20 VIIRS and SNPP VIIRS sources: a Level-2 6-minute/6-km swath product, a Level-3 daily/1-degree, and a Level-3 monthly/1-degree aggregated products.

The DT Aerosol product provides satellite-derived measurements of Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT )and their properties over land and ocean, and spectral AOT and their size parameters over oceans, globally. Based on the same MODIS heritage, two distinct DT algorithms help retrieve aerosol information over ocean, and over vegetated/dark-soiled land surfaces. The SNPP VIIRS DT aerosol includes a single Level-2 6-minute/6-km swath product.

Product Information

Product Details

Product Name SNPP VIIRS NOAA20 VIIRS
Deep Blue Aerosol L2 6-Min Swath 6 km
Deep Blue Level 3 daily aerosol data, 1x1 degree grid
Deep Blue Level 3 monthly aerosol data, 1x1 degree grid
Dark Target Aerosol L2 6-Min Swath 6 km