Retrieval of Aerosol Optical Depth over East Asia from a Geostationary Satellite, MTSAT-1R

Using 30 days of hourly visible channel data and DIScrete Ordinate Radiative Transfer (DISORT) model (6S), we retrieved aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 0.55 mu m over the East Asia. In contrast to the aerosol optical depth retrieval using low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites such as MODIS (Moderate-Resolution Spectroradiometer) or MISR (Multiangle Imaging Spectro Radiometer), this algorithm for geostationary orbit (GEO) satellite can improve the monitoring of aerosol to overcome the limitation of temporal resolution in LEO satellites. There has been limitation in the number of imager channels onboard the GEO satellites. Thus, it is worthwhile to introduce an AOD algorithm utilizing a single visible channel in the conventional meteorological imager onboard geostationary satellites. This single channel algorithm has relatively larger retrieval error of AOD than other multiple-channel algorithm due to the limitation in characterizing surface reflectance and aerosol property. In this study, the effects of atmospheric and surface properties are investigated on the retrieval of AOD from the geostationary satellite, and the retrieved results are compared with the AOD of AERONET and MODIS.