Constraining aerosol single scattering albedos from multiangle multispectral photo-polarimetric observations over the ocean

Abstract

The extensive set of measurements performed during the Chesapeake Lighthouse and Aircraft Measurements for Satellites (CLAMS) experiment provides a unique opportunity to evaluate aerosol retrievals over the ocean from multiangle, multispectral photometric and polarimetric remote sensing observations by the airborne Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP) instrument. Previous studies have shown the feasibility of retrieving particle size distributions and real refractive indices from such observations for visible wavelengths without prior knowledge of the ocean color. This work evaluates the fidelity of the aerosol retrievals using RSP measurements during the CLAMS experiment against aerosol properties derived from in-situ measurements, sky radiance observations and sunphotometer measurements, and further extends the scope of the RSP retrievals by using a priori information about the ocean color to constrain the aerosol absorption. Satisfying agreement is found for all aerosol products.