Retrieval of Black Carbon Absorption from Proposed Satellite Measurements Over the Ocean Glint
- Author:
- Schoeberl, M. R.
- Published:
- [2001].
- Physical Description:
- 1 electronic document
- Additional Creators:
- Remer, L. A.
Yamasoe, M. A.
Matins, J. V.
Lau, William K. M.
Kaufman, Y. J. - Access Online:
- hdl.handle.net
- Restrictions on Access:
- Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available.
- Summary:
- Haze and air pollution includes many chemicals that together form small particles suspended in the air called aerosols. One of the main ingredients found to affect climate and human health is Black Carbon. Black particles emitted from engines that do not burn the fuel completely, e.g. old trucks. Black carbon absorption of sunlight emerges as one of the key components of man-made forcing of climate. However, global characterization of black carbon emissions, distribution and pathways in which it can affect the amount of solar radiation absorbed by the atmosphere is very uncertain. A new method is proposed to measure sunlight absorption by fine aerosol particles containing black carbon over the ocean glint from a satellite mission designed for this purpose. The satellite will scan the same spot over the ocean in the glint plane and a plane 40 degrees off-glint a minute apart, collecting measurements of the reflected light across the solar spectrum. First the dark ocean off the glint is used to derive aerosol properties. Then the black carbon absorption is derived prop the attenuation of the bright glint by the aerosol layer. Such measurements if realized in a proposed future mission - COBRA are expected to produce global monthly climatology of black carbon absorption with high accuracy (110 to 15%) that can show their effect on climate.
- Collection:
- NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) Collection.
- Note:
- Document ID: 20020010578.
- Terms of Use and Reproduction:
- No Copyright.
- Access Online:
- hdl.handle.net
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