Aerosol

Overview

The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) aerosol suite include two product sets: Deep Blue (DB) Aerosol and Dark Target (DT) Aerosol.

The DB Aerosol comprises remotely sensed measurements that help derive aerosols in the atmosphere and their properties. The DB algorithm was first developed to fill in gaps over bright surfaces, such as deserts, in the DT Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT) 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 AOT measurements have become more accurate and precise with well-quantified error characteristics. The SNPP VIIRS DB global aerosol suite includes the following: a 6-minute/6-km swath product, a daily/1-degree, and a monthly/1-degree aggregated product.

The DT Aerosol product provides satellite-derived measurements of 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 L2 6-minute/6-km swath product.

Product Information

• Deep Blue Product Principal Investigator: Christina Hsu
• Dark Target Product Principal Investigator: Robert Levy
• Deep Blue Project Web Page
• Deep Blue User Guide
• Deep Blue ATBD
• Deep Blue Validation
• Dark Target Project Web Page
• Aerosol Dark Target User Guide
• Dark Target ATBD
• DOI:
  • Refer to individual product pages (below) for the appropriate DOI, citation text, and file spec for that product

Product Details