Aerosol profile retrieval algorithm development and validation for Sentinel-4

In the ESA AEROPRO project we develop and validate an oxygen A-band aerosol profile retrieval concept for ESA’s Sentinel-4 mission.
Since the altitude of aerosols is difficult to determine from space using passive sensors, validation of the AEROPRO algorithm is essential. During the ESA CarbonExp air- craft campaign, which took place over Greece and Turkey in August-September 2011, a GOSAT special pointed observation request was executed. This campaign offered a unique opportunity to validate the O2 A-band aerosol profile retrievals from GOSAT, since the aircraft’s actively sensed lidar data give the vertical structure of the atmosphere in an unambiguous way. Additional ground-based lidar data are used to validate the aerosol height retrievals from GOSAT for selected cases of strong aerosol events in between July 2010 and June 2012.
First results from the AEROPRO study will be shown.