ACP Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ACP 1680-7324 Copernicus GmbH Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/acp-11-557-2011 An analysis of the collection 5 MODIS over-ocean aerosol optical depth product for its implication in aerosol assimilation Shi Y. 1 Zhang J. 1 Reid J. S. 2 Holben B. 3 Hyer E. J. 2 Curtis C. 2 Department of Atmospheric Science, University of North Dakota, Grand Folks, ND, USA Marine Meteorology Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Monterey, CA, USA NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA 19 01 2011 11 2 557 565 This is an open-access article ditributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This article is available from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/11/557/2011/acp-11-557-2011.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/11/557/2011/acp-11-557-2011.pdf

As an update to our previous use of the collection 4 Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) over-ocean aerosol optical depth (AOD) data, we examined ten years of Terra and eight years of Aqua collection 5 data for its potential usage in aerosol assimilation. Uncertainties in the over-ocean MODIS AOD were studied as functions of observing conditions, such as surface characteristics, aerosol optical properties, and cloud artifacts. Empirical corrections and quality assurance procedures were developed and compared to collection 4 data. After applying these procedures, the Root-Mean-Square-Error (RMSE) in the MODIS Terra and Aqua AOD are reduced by 30% and 10–20%, respectively, with respect to AERONET data. Ten years of Terra and eight years of Aqua quality-assured level 3 MODIS over-ocean aerosol products were produced. The newly developed MODIS over-ocean aerosol products will be used in operational aerosol assimilation and aerosol climatology studies, as well as other research based on MODIS products.

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