AEROSOLS AT MAUNA-LOA - OPTICAL-PROPERTIES

The spectral attenuation of sunlight passing through the atmosphere was determined with the Langley method for 110 clear days and at 11 wavelengths to an accuracy of delta r = +- 0.002 (r is the optical thickness) at the Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii. It is deduced that aerosol from North America and Asia occasionally reaches the Hawaiian islands. The explosive eruptions of Augustine Volcano in Alaska (January 1976) caused a perturbation of delta r approximately or equal to 0.01 at lambda = 500 A on the optical extinction and decayed with a time constant of five months. - from Author