Aerosol Climatology and Aerosol-cloud Interactions Using Modis: Characterization and Measurement Techniques

Atmospheric aerosols are suspension of small tiny particles in solid or liquid phase dispersed in the atmosphere. The significance of atmospheric aerosols stems from the fact that, besides the environmental health effects, these can perturb the climate directly, by altering the radiation balance of the Earth-Atmosphere system, indirectly by altering the cloud properties and semi-directly by evaporating the clouds. Satellite remote sensing is an essential tool for monitoring the global aerosol budget and their radiative effects on climate. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor provides a unique opportunity in deriving spectral information of aerosol optical properties over land and ocean in the visible wavelength region. The aerosol data derived from the MODIS sensors have been used in variety of topics, such as the investigation of the regional and global aerosol distribution, air pollution monitoring, radiative forcing and climate response, aerosol interactions with clouds.