High-Resolution Image

"Quality” of MODIS/AERONET comparisons of total and spectral aerosol optical depth (AOD) over land at each AERONET site, for Terra, during all summer seasons (2000-2008). On the map a given color describes how well MODIS AOD matches AERONET in a scatter plot. The green color represents a good overall match, meaning that the retrievals fall within expected uncertainty for all 3 spectral bands. A red color represents the case that MODIS retrievals exceed expected uncertainty in all spectral bands. Cooler colors such as blue and purple indicate the spectral retrieval is off, although retrieval at 550 nm is still good. The warmer colors (orange, yellow) indicate that the primary wavelength (550 nm) itself is not meeting expectations. The scatterplots associated with four sites are plotted, including: GSFC (38N, 76W), Alta Floresta (9S, 56W), Dalanzadgad (43N, 104E) and Jabiru (12S, 132E).

(submitted by Robert Levy (SSAI) and Lorraine Remer)