Spatial boundaries of Aerosol Robotic Network observations over the Mediterranean basin

Accurate knowledge of aerosol variability on a relatively high spatiotemporal scale is needed for better assessment of aerosol radiative effects and aerosol-climate interactions. We investigated the spatial boundaries of the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) observations over the Mediterranean basin using a statistical approach. We used 13years (2002-2014) of aerosol optical depth (AOD) measurements from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and 15 AERONET sites around the Mediterranean basin. The gridded correlation maps show moderate to high correlations (R>0.5) around each AERONET site up to similar to 200-500km radius depending on location. Such analyses provide information on the spatial domain in which the AERONET measurements can be reliably used per site. The statistical model provides a better daytime AOD product on finer temporal resolution with higher spatial coverage as compared to using AERONET/MODIS observations separately. The findings from this study can be useful for the assimilation-based model forecasting of aerosol properties.