Impacts of Cross-Platform Vicarious Calibration on the Deep Blue Aerosol Retrievals for Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Aboard Terra

The retrieval of aerosol properties from spaceborne sensors requires highly accurate and precise radiometric measurements, thus placing stringent requirements on sensor calibration and characterization. For the Terra/Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), the characteristics of the detectors of certain bands, particularly band 8 [(B8); 412 nm], have changed significantly over time, leading to increased calibration uncertainty. In this paper, we explore a possibility of utilizing a cross calibration method developed for characterizing the Terra/ MODIS detectors in the ocean bands by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Ocean Biology Processing Group to improve aerosol retrieval over bright land surfaces. We found that the Terra/MODIS B8 reflectance corrected using the cross calibration method resulted in significant improvements for the retrieved aerosol optical thickness when compared with that from the Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer, Aqua/MODIS, and the Aerosol Robotic Network. The method reported in this paper is implemented for the operational processing of the Terra/MODIS Deep Blue aerosol products.