Global detection of absorbing aerosols over the ocean in the red and near-infrared spectral region

摘要

The spatial and temporal variability of the aerosol single scattering albedo (SSA at 865 nm) has been estimated over clear-sky ocean for 2006 by using measurements acquired by POLDER (Polarization and Directionality of Earth Reflectances). Our estimates are correlated with Sun photometer retrievals (R = 0.63). Differences in SSA are generally around 0.05 and systematically fall below 0.055 for optical thicknesses ≥0.3 (at 865 nm) and modeling errors ≤3.0. Fine absorbing aerosols (radius ≤ 0.16 μm) are detected in many coastal regions. The lowest SSAs are retrieved over the southeast Atlantic during summer (0.80), whereas nonabsorbing fine particles (≥0.98) are observed over the North Pacific. During winter, fine absorbing aerosols are detected together with mineral dust near the coasts of western Africa (0.90), over the tropical Atlantic (0.88), and around India (0.88). Long-range transport of absorbing species is also detected, as for instance over the Arctic. This study could help to constrain aerosol absorption and radiative forcing in models.