RETRIEVING AEROSOL AMOUNT FROM GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITE

Using 30 days of hourly visible channel data and DIScrete Ordinate Radiative Transfer (DISORT) model (6S), Aerosol optical depth (AOD) at $0.55{\mu}m$ was retrieved over the East Asia. In contrast with the AOD retrieval using low-earth-orbit satellites such as MODIS (Moderate-Res olution Spectroradiometer) or MISR (Multiangle Imaging SpectroRadiometer), this algorithm with geostationary satellite can improve the monitoring of AOD without the limitation of temporal resolution. Due to the limited number of channels in the conventional meteorological imager onboard the geostationary satellite, an AOD retrieval algorithm utilizing a single visible channel has been introduced. This single channel algorithm has larger retrieval error of AOD than other multiple-channel algorithm due to errors in surface reflectance and atmospheric property. In this study, the effects of manifold atmospheric and surface properties on the retrieval of AOD from the geostationary satellite, are investigated and compared with the AODs from AERONET and MODIS. To improve the accuracy of retrieved AOD, efforts were put together to minimize uncertainties through extensive sensitivity tests. This algorithm can be utilized to retrieve aerosol information from previous geostationary satellite for long-term climate studies.