Comparing multiple model-derived aerosol optical properties to spatially collocated ground-based and satellite measurements

Ocko, Ilissa B.; Ginoux, Paul A.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4451-2017

Articles | Volume 17, issue 7

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4451-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4451-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 17, issue 7

Research article

|

03 Apr 2017

Research article |

| 03 Apr 2017

Comparing multiple model-derived aerosol optical properties to spatially collocated ground-based and satellite measurements

Ilissa B. Ocko and Paul A. Ginoux

Data sets

Aerosol Robotic Network, Version 2 Direct Sun Algorithm NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center https://aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/webtool_opera_v2_new

Cloud-Aerosol LIdar with Orthogonal Polarization, CAL_LID_L3_APro_AllSky-Standard-V3-00 NASA, Atmospheric Science Data Center https://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/project/calipso/cal_lid_l3_apro_allsky-standard-v3-00

MISR, MIL3MAE NASA, Atmospheric Science Data Center https://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/project/misr/mil3mae_table

MODIS Atmosphere L3 Monthly Product S. Platnick et al. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD08_M3.006

GFDL Data Portal NOAA, Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory http://data1.gfdl.noaa.gov/

Short summary

Human-made liquid and solid particles (aerosols) are abundant in the atmosphere and play a central role in climate change. Computer models are essential tools for understanding how aerosols impact the climate, but it is critical to evaluate a model's performance by comparing with observations. Here we analyze aerosol properties in two world-renowned models by comparing with ground-based and satellite instrument data. We find that comparisons with all available data is valuable and essential.