Articles | Volume 22, issue 6 
            
                
                    
            
            
            https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3713-2022
                    © Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under 
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
                the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3713-2022
                    © Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under 
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
                the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Identifying chemical aerosol signatures using optical suborbital observations: how much can optical properties tell us about aerosol composition?
Meloë S. F. Kacenelenbogen
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
                                            
                                    
                                            NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
                                        
                                    Qian Tan
                                            NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
                                        
                                    
                                            Bay Area Environmental Research Institute (BAERI), Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
                                        
                                    Sharon P. Burton
                                            NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23666, USA
                                        
                                    Otto P. Hasekamp
                                            SRON, Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Utrecht, 3584, Netherlands
                                        
                                    Karl D. Froyd
                                            Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO, 80309 USA
                                        
                                    Yohei Shinozuka
                                            NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
                                        
                                    
                                            Bay Area Environmental Research Institute (BAERI), Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
                                        
                                    Andreas J. Beyersdorf
                                            Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB), San Bernardino, CA 92407, USA
                                        
                                    Luke Ziemba
                                            NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23666, USA
                                        
                                    Kenneth L. Thornhill
                                            NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23666, USA
                                        
                                    Jack E. Dibb
                                            Department of Geochemistry, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA
                                        
                                    Taylor Shingler
                                            Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
                                        
                                    Armin Sorooshian
                                            Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
                                        
                                    Reed W. Espinosa
                                            NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
                                        
                                    
                                            Department of Physics, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), Baltimore, MD 21250, USA
                                        
                                    Vanderlei Martins
                                            Department of Physics, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), Baltimore, MD 21250, USA
                                        
                                    Jose L. Jimenez
                                            Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO, 80309 USA
                                        
                                    Pedro Campuzano-Jost
                                            Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO, 80309 USA
                                        
                                    Joshua P. Schwarz
                                            Chemical Sciences Division, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory,
Boulder, CO 80305, USA
                                        
                                    Matthew S. Johnson
                                            NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
                                        
                                    Jens Redemann
                                            School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA
                                        
                                    Gregory L. Schuster
                                            NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23666, USA
                                        
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                            Cited
6 citations as recorded by crossref.
- Airborne observations during KORUS-AQ show that aerosol optical depths are more spatially self-consistent than aerosol intensive properties S. LeBlanc et al. 10.5194/acp-22-11275-2022
- Remote sensing of aerosol water fraction, dry size distribution and soluble fraction using multi-angle, multi-spectral polarimetry B. van Diedenhoven et al. 10.5194/amt-15-7411-2022
- Aerosol composition retrieval from a combination of three different spaceborne instruments: information content analysis U. Stöffelmair et al. 10.5194/amt-18-2005-2025
- Application of DIAL/HSRL and CATCH algorithm-based methodologies for surface PM2.5 concentrations during the KORUS-AQ campaign B. Sutherland et al. 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2023.119719
- Opinion: Aerosol remote sensing over the next 20 years L. Remer et al. 10.5194/acp-24-2113-2024
- Sea salt reactivity over the northwest Atlantic: an in-depth look using the airborne ACTIVATE dataset E. Edwards et al. 10.5194/acp-24-3349-2024
6 citations as recorded by crossref.
- Airborne observations during KORUS-AQ show that aerosol optical depths are more spatially self-consistent than aerosol intensive properties S. LeBlanc et al. 10.5194/acp-22-11275-2022
- Remote sensing of aerosol water fraction, dry size distribution and soluble fraction using multi-angle, multi-spectral polarimetry B. van Diedenhoven et al. 10.5194/amt-15-7411-2022
- Aerosol composition retrieval from a combination of three different spaceborne instruments: information content analysis U. Stöffelmair et al. 10.5194/amt-18-2005-2025
- Application of DIAL/HSRL and CATCH algorithm-based methodologies for surface PM2.5 concentrations during the KORUS-AQ campaign B. Sutherland et al. 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2023.119719
- Opinion: Aerosol remote sensing over the next 20 years L. Remer et al. 10.5194/acp-24-2113-2024
- Sea salt reactivity over the northwest Atlantic: an in-depth look using the airborne ACTIVATE dataset E. Edwards et al. 10.5194/acp-24-3349-2024
Latest update: 30 Oct 2025
Short summary
                    The impact of aerosols on Earth's radiation budget and human health is important and strongly depends on their composition. One desire of our scientific community is to derive the composition of the aerosol from satellite sensors. However, satellites observe aerosol optical properties (and not aerosol composition) based on remote sensing instrumentation. This study assesses how much aerosol optical properties can tell us about aerosol composition.
                    The impact of aerosols on Earth's radiation budget and human health is important and strongly...
                    
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