Assessment of Dust Aerosol Optical Depth and Shortwave Radiative Forcing over the Northwest Pacific Ocean in Spring Based on Satellite Observations

Dust aerosol optical depth (AOD) and its ac-companying shortwave radiative forcing (RF) are usually simulated by numerical models.Here,by using 9 months of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aerosol product data in combination with Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System Single Scanner Footprint (CERES/SSF) data,dust AOD and its shortwave RF were estimated over the cloud-free north-west (NW) Pacific Ocean in the springs of 2004,2005,and 2006.The results showed that in this region,the mean dust AOD and its shortwave RF were 0.10 and 5.51 W m 2,respectively.In order to validate the dust AOD de-rived by MODIS,results from the Goddard Global Ozone Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport (GOCART) model were also used here.The correlation coefficient between the monthly averaged dust AOD derived by MODIS measurements and the model simulation results was approximately 0.53.Since the estimates of the dust AOD and its shortwave RF obtained in this study are based mainly on satellite data,they offer a good reference for numerical models.