A new approach for characterizing atmospheric aerosols from spectral values of their optical depth. A simulated case study. Una nueva aproximación para caracterizar los aerosoles atmosféricos a partir de los valores espectrales de su espesor óptico. Un caso de estudio

We are developing a new method to determine the spectral contribution to the aerosol optical depth due to each aerosol type. An aerosol type depends directly on the procedence of the particles (marine, continental, artic, etc) and it is formed by some different pure components (mineral, soot, soluble and insoluble particles, sulphate, etc). In order to separate these contributions it is necessary to have the spectral aerosol optical thickness and aerosol size distribution. We use this distribution function to identify the different components of aerosols allowing us to reconstruct the aerosol optical depth taking into account the contribution of each type of aerosol. The validation of the method will be carried out by verifying that the spectral aerosol optical depth corresponds to the sum of the optical depths obtained for each identified aerosol type.