GOES-8 and NOAA-14 AVHRR retrieval of smoke aerosol optical thickness during SCAR-B

Using the NOAA-14 1-km Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-8) imager data, smoke aerosol optical thickness (t) is retrieved over land during the Smoke, Clouds and Radiation-Brazil (SCAR-B) experiment in Brazil during August–September 1995. The satellite-retrievedt values are then compared against ground-based sunphotometer derived t values from the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) program. Both the AVHRR and GOES-8 retrieved t values are in excellent agreement with the AERONET derived t values with linear correlation coeYcients of 0.93. A single scattering albedo of 0.90 (at 0.67mm) provides the best Ž t between the GOES-8 and AERONET t values. The sensitivity of the retrieved t to assumed surface albedo and aerosol single scattering albedo are also examined. A simple multi-spectral thresholding algorithm is used to separate smoke from other features from GOES-8 satellite imagery and regional maps of t are provided. Our results show that the aerosol properties used in this paper are adequate to characterize biomass burning aerosols and can be used in studies that model the role of biomass burning on regional climate.