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Jones & Christopher 2007
Jones, T.A. and Christopher, S.A. (2007). Is the top of atmosphere dust net radiative effect different between Terra and Aqua?. Geophysical Research Letters 34: doi: 10.1029/2006GL028262. issn: 0094-8276.

We assess the difference in Top of Atmosphere (TOA) cloud-free Net Radiative Effect (NRE) of dust aerosols between the Terra and Aqua satellites using three years of collocated Moderate Resolution Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MODIS) and the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) data over the Atlantic Ocean <0--30¿N, 10--60¿W>. The dust aerosol optical thickness at 0.55 ¿m (τ dust) was first separated from the total aerosol column aerosol optical thickness (τ) and our results indicate that the Terra minus Aqua difference for both τ and τ dust is approximately 10%, with Terra values generally being slightly higher. The resulting difference in TOA NRE from dust aerosols is less than 1 Wm-2. The difference between Terra and Aqua NRE lies well within previously reported uncertainties indicating that data from either satellite can be used interchangeably if independent adjustments for diurnal effects and clear-sky sample biases are made.

BACKGROUND DATA FILES

Abstract

Keywords
Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801, 4906), Oceanography, Biological and Chemical, Aerosols (0305, 4906), Atmospheric Processes, Radiative processes, Atmospheric Processes, Remote sensing
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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