This product provides the aerosol optical thickness and the Angström exponent retrieved above cloud at a resolution of 18´18km2.

All variable with the suffix “_18km” in the name belongs to this product.

This product is available for many scenes including : aerosol above clouds over dark ocean, icy ocean, land and snow.

Main related products and associated names :

Aerosol_optical_thickness_over_cloud_18kmMean spectral aerosol optical thickness over cloud at 670nm (first slide) and 865 nm (second slide) at medium resolution (1/6 degrees)
Aerosol_angstrom_coefficient_over_cloud_18kmMean aerosol Angstrom coefficient between 670 and 865 nm at medium resolution (1/6 degrees).
Latitude_18kmGeodetic latitude at medium resolution (1/6 degrees)
Longitude_18kmGeodetic longitude at medium resolution (1/6 degrees)

Recommendations:

1)This is the best product in terms of spatial availability. For instance, it provides unique observation of aerosol above cloud over the north pole (see “global analysis of aerosol above cloud properties”, GRL letter, Waquet et al., 2013b).

2)Aerosol optical thicknesses smaller than 0.05 at 865 nm are still uncertain and should not be considered in quantitative works (see the GRL letter : Waquet et al., 2013b for more details)