Comparison of satellite derived aerosol optical depth with AERONET data from the Manila Observatory
Abstract
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) are instruments onboard the satellite Terra which provide aerosol optical depth (AOD) measurements over a wide spatial coverage. The Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) is a network of ground-based sun photometers which measure AOD several times a day. In this paper, satellite retrievals of AOD for January 2009 to May 2010 were validated through the AERONET site at the Manila Observatory. Correlation of MODIS and AERONET yielded an R² = 0.77 while MISR and AERONET had an R² = 0.88. Excluded data sets were attributed to cloud contamination. Improvements in the cloud-screening algorithms of the satellite retrievals are recommended.