Estimation of surface-level PM2.5 concentration based on MODIS aerosol optical depth over Jeju, Korea

In this study, correlations between Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) derived Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) values and surface-level PM2.5 concentrations at Gosan, Korea have been investigated. For this purpose, data from various instruments, such as satellite, sunphotometer, Optical Particle Counter (OPC), and Micro Pulse Lidar (MPL) on 14-24 October 2009 were used. Direct comparison between sunphotometer measured AOD and surface-level PM2.5 concentrations showed a R-2 = 0.48. Since the AERONET L2.0 data has significant number of observations with high AOD values paired to low surface-level PM2.5 values, which were believed to be the effect of thin cloud or Asian dust. Correlations between MODIS AOD and PM2.5 concentration were increased by screening thin clouds and Asian dust cases by use of aerosol profile data on Micro-Pulse Lidar Network (MPLNet) as R-2 > 0.60. Our study clearly demonstrates that satellite derived AOD is a good surrogate for monitoring atmospheric PM concentration.