TROPOMI Aerosol Products: Evaluation and Observations of Synoptic Scale Carbonaceous Aerosol Plumes during 2018–2020
Omar Torres, Hiren Jethva, C. Ahn, Glen Jaross, Diego Loyola
Abstract
Abstract. TROPOMI near UV radiances are used as input to an inversion algorithm that simultaneously retrieves aerosol optical depth (AOD) and single scattering albedo (SSA) as well as the improved qualitative UV Aerosol Index (UVAI) that accurately accounts for the scattering effects of water clouds. We first present the TROPOMI aerosol algorithm (TropOMAER), an adaptation of the currently operational OMI near UV (OMAERUV & OMACA) inversion schemes, that take advantage of TROPOMI’s unprecedented fine near UV spatial resolution and the availability of ancillary aerosol-related information to derive aerosol loading in cloud-free and above-cloud aerosols scenes. An evaluation analysis of TROPOMI retrieved AOD/SSA products using sun-photometer observations shows improved levels of agreement with respect to those obtained with the heritage coarser resolution sensor. We then use TropOMAER aerosol retrieval results to discuss the the US Northwest and British Columbia 2018 wildfire season, the 2019 biomass burning season in the Amazon Basin, and the unprecedented January 2020 fire season in Australia that injected huge amounts of carbonaceous aerosols in the stratosphere.