Aerosol radiative properties in the semiarid Western United States

Characterization of aerosol optical properties, such as aerosol optical depth, Angstrom exponent, and volume size distribution at the semiarid site of Tombstone Arizona (31°23′N, 110°05′W, 1408 m) will be presented for one annual cycle. In this region, extensive observations of selected optical parameters such as aerosol optical depth (AOD) have been made in the past and reported on in the literature. Less is known about other optical characteristics that are important in climate modeling and remote sensing. New observational techniques and inversion methods allow for the expansion of the earlier information. Observations have been taken with a state of the art sun photometer for a 1-year period and their analysis will be presented here. Monthly mean AODs at 500 nm were found to be in the range of 0.03–0.12; the monthly mean Angstrom exponent ranged from 0.9 to 1.6, being higher in spring and summer and lower in late fall and winter. Volume size distributions exhibit clear dominance of smaller particles, with a gradual increase in size from winter to spring and into summer. Annual variation of the radii of the smaller and the larger particles ranged between 0.05–0.4 and 4–8 μm, respectively. Radiance measurements at 940 nm were used to estimate precipitable water. The retrieved values compared within limits of uncertainty with independently derived estimates from the National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) regional weather forecast model. An interesting outcome from this study was the consistency found in aerosol optical depths as observed in this study and those derived about two decades ago.