Particulate matter concentration in the air: statistical analysis of spatial relations between surface and MODIS data for two weather types in the Madrid region

Remote sensors are monitoring planetary atmospheric pollution and producing considerable information on aerosols - similarly to the MODIS sensor and its Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) indicator. Comparison with common ground measures shows discordances between both data sources. Assuming a hypothetical positive relation between them, this work makes a systematic analysis of data representing two weather types prone to high particulate matter concentration in the Madrid region, explores the strength of AOD-PM10 correlation, and the influence of meteorological variables (temperature, wind, and relative humidity), weather types, and the geographical context. In line with other authors' findings, the results of this investigation generally support the positive relation, although inconsistencies appear, and in many cases the statistical relation frequently decreases, and may become null because of various potential reasons - including abundant missing data.