An analysis of seasonal and decadal-long variations of aerosols over the Asian Pacific region using NOAA/AVHRR data

Seasonal and decadal-long variations of aerosols in the Asia Pacific region, over the seas east off the Asian continent, have been analyzed using AVHRR data from NOAA-11 and NOAA-14 satellites. The aerosol optical thickness at wavelength 0.5 mum and Angstrom exponent were retrieved by means of the so-called two-channel algorithm for the period of about 12 years, between November 1988 and January 2001. Evident seasonal variation was found in the geographical distributions of aerosols over the region. Excepting the interval of strong influence by the Pinatubo volcanic eruptions, the aerosol optical thickness has gradually increased almost all over the region during the analyzed period. The present results verified the fact that the Asian Pacific region is under significant influence of natural and anthropogenic aerosols from the Asian continent.