An Empirical Characterization of the Aerosol Angstrom Exponent Interpolation Bias using SAGE III/ISS Data

• Published in: Atmospheric measurement techniques Vol. 17; no. 12; pp. 3669 - 3678
• Main Authors: Damadeo, Robert P., Sofieva, Viktoria F., Rozanov, Alexei, Thomason, Larry W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Langley Research Center European Geosciences Union 18.06.2024; Copernicus GmbH; Copernicus Publications
• Subjects: Aerosol extinction; Aerosols; Algorithms; Analysis; Bias; Earth Resources and Remote Sensing; Extinction; Infrared imaging systems; International Space Station; Interpolation; Measurement techniques; Nitrogen dioxide; Particle size; SAGE satellite; Satellites; Space stations; Stratosphere; Wavelength; Wavelengths; Tonga; Aerosol; Sage
• ISSN: 1867-1381; 1867-8548; 1867-8548
• DOI: 10.5194/amt-17-3669-2024

This work uses multispectral measurements of vertically resolved aerosol extinction coefficients from the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) III on the International Space Station (ISS) to demonstrate how the use of the Ångström exponent for interpolation of aerosol data between two different wavelengths creates a bias. An empirical relationship is derived between the magnitude of this bias and the Ångström exponent at several different SAGE wavelengths. This relationship can thus be used as a correction factor for other studies, such as multi-instrument intercomparisons or merging, that wish to convert aerosol data from one wavelength to another using the Ångström exponent and is applicable to all stratospheric non-cloud aerosol except highly aged particles that are evaporating at altitudes above the Junge layer.