Articles | Volume 26, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-1809-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-1809-2026
Research article
 | 
05 Feb 2026
Research article |  | 05 Feb 2026

Recent advances in aerosol optical depth measurements in polar regions: insights from the Polar-AOD Program

Simone Pulimeno, Angelo Lupi, Vito Vitale, Claudia Frangipani, Carlos Toledano, Stelios Kazadzis, Natalia Kouremeti, Christoph Ritter, Sandra Graßl, Kerstin Stebel, Vitali Fioletov, Ihab Abboud, Sandra Blindheim, Lynn Ma, Norm O'Neill, Piotr Sobolewski, Pawan Gupta, Elena Lind, Thomas F. Eck, Antti Hyvärinen, Veijo Aaltonen, Rigel Kivi, Janae Csavina, Dmitry Kabanov, Sergey M. Sakerin, Olga R. Sidorova, Robert S. Stone, Hagen Telg, Laura Riihimaki, Raul R. Cordero, Martin Radenz, Ronny Engelmann, Michel Van Roozendal, Anatoli Chaikovsky, Philippe Goloub, Junji Hisamitsu, and Mauro Mazzola

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Cited articles

AboEl-Fetouh, Y., O'Neill, N. T., Ranjbar, K., Hesaraki, S., Abboud, I., and Sobolewski, P. S.: Climatological-Scale Analysis of Intensive and Semi-intensive Aerosol Parameters Derived From AERONET Retrievals Over the Arctic, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 125, e2019JD031569, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JD031569, 2020. a
Alexandrov, M. D., Marshak, A., Cairns, B., Lacis, A. A., and Carlson, B. E.: Automated cloud screening algorithm for MFRSR data, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003GL019105, 2004. a
Asmi, E., Kimmo, N., Kimmo, T., Edith, R., Aki, V., John, B., Matthew, B., Jesse, J., Heikki, L., Gerrit, D. L., Jussi, P., Veijo, A., Miguel, M., Gonzalo, G., Gustavo, C., Marco, A., Germán Pérez, F., Jonathan, F., María Elena, B., and Sánchez, R.: Primary sources control the variability of aerosol optical properties in the Antarctic Peninsula, Tellus B, 70, 1–16, https://doi.org/10.1080/16000889.2017.1414571, 2018. a
Barreto, A., Cuevas, E., Damiri, B., Guirado, C., Berkoff, T., Berjón, A. J., Hernández, Y., Almansa, F., and Gil, M.: A new method for nocturnal aerosol measurements with a lunar photometer prototype, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 585–598, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-585-2013, 2013. a
Copernicus: 2023: A year of intense global wildfire activity, https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/2023-year-intense-global-wildfire-activity (last access: 5 January 2026), 2023. a
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Short summary
This study analyzed aerosols optical properties over the Arctic and Antarctic to measure them even during long periods of darkness. It found that pollution in the Arctic is decreasing, likely due to European emission regulations, while wildfires are becoming a more important source of particles. In Antarctica, particle levels are higher near the coast than inland, and vary by season. These results help us better understand how air pollution and climate are changing at the Earth’s poles.
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