INVESTIGATION OF CONTINENTAL AEROSOLS WITH HIGH-SPECTRAL-RESOLUTION SOLAR-EXTINCTION MEASUREMENTS

A modified implementation of the Langley method has been used to measure the atmospheric optical-depth spectrum at 5-nm intervals from 0.36 to 1.10-mu-m. Extensive measurements of the aerosol optical depth at 550 nm and the Junge exponent showed that there was a distinct separation of atmospheric conditions into clear and hazy conditions. A study of the sensitivity of the retrieval of the 550-nm surface reflectance factor from spaceborne observations was carried out, using the above characterization of typical atmospheric conditions in terms of mean and standard-deviation values for the aerosol optical depth and Junge exponent.