Measurements of Atmospheric Aerosol Optical Thickness over Water Using ERTS-1 Data

The body of information presented in this paper Is directed to those Interested in the application of satellite techniques for environmental monitoring. The apparent gradual increase of particles in the atmosphere has received considerable attention in recent years due to the possible effect of atmospheric aerosols on the earth’s climate. The ERTS-1 satellite offered the opportunity of determining the feasibility of monitoring the atmospheric aerosol optical thickness on a global basis, as suggested by theoretical studies, which showed a linear relationship between the upwelling earth-atmosphere radiance and the aerosol optical thickness. This relationship was investigated at two test sites, San Diego and the Salton Sea, using the multispectral scanner (MSS) radiance data, with ground-truth observations of the aerosol optical thickness being made with a Volz photometer at the time of the satellite overpasses. Significant results, relating the radiance over water surfaces to the atmospheric aerosol optical thickness, have been obtained. The results indicate that the MSS channels, 4, 5 and 6 centered at 0.55, 0.65 and 0.75 μm have comparable sensitivity, and that the optical thickness can be determined within ±10% with the assumed measurement errors of the MSS.