Articles | Volume 17, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1931-2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1931-2017
Research article
 | 
09 Feb 2017
Research article |  | 09 Feb 2017

Assessment of the aerosol optical depths measured by satellite-based passive remote sensors in the Alberta oil sands region

Christopher E. Sioris, Chris A. McLinden, Mark W. Shephard, Vitali E. Fioletov, and Ihab Abboud

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Cited articles

Bari, M. and Kindzierski, W. B.: Fifteen-year trends in criteria air pollutants in oil sands communities of Alberta, Canada, Environ. Int., 74, 200–208, 2015.
Bari, M. A. and Kindzierski, W. B.: Evaluation of air quality indicators in Alberta, Canada – An international perspective, Environ. Int., 92–93, 119–129, 2016.
Bergström, P. and Edlund, O.: Robust registration of point sets using iteratively reweighted least squares, Comput. Optim. Appl., 58, 543–561, 2014.
Bevan, S. L., North, P. R. J., Los, S. O., and Grey, W. M. F.: A global dataset of atmospheric aerosol optical depth and surface reflectance from AATSR, Remote Sens. Environ., 116, 199–210, 2012.
Bilal, M., Nichol, J. E., and Nazeer, M.: Validation of Aqua-MODIS C051 and C006 operational aerosol products using AERONET measurements over Pakistan, IEEE J. Selected Topics Appl. Earth Observations Remote Sens., 9, 2074–2080, 2016.
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Short summary
The contribution of the oil sands region to the local aerosol optical depth (AOD) is sought. Satellite data are used since they provide spatial coverage over many years. Satellites measure AOD with high correlation and small biases relative to coincident AERONET AODs. Trends are determined using annual mean AODs, and an increasing trend is found near the Shell mines. Spatially variable and high surface albedo is challenging for some sensors. Measuring polarization appears to be an asset.
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