Abstract
We present an intercomparison of retrieved dust parameters obtained from analyzing AIRS and MODIS satellite data. Recent papers have highlighted using AIRS data to retrieve dust top (layer) height, loading and particle size. Different methods have been used, such as assuming a fixed particle size and dust top height before fitting radiance data from selected AIRS channels, or using lookup tables to retrieve dust loading, height and particle size. In this paper we use the combination of dust retrievals from MODIS visible and AIRS thermal infrared channels to provide information on dust top height by forcing the error term (or intercept of the linear regression of dust optical depths retrieved from MODIS and AIRS) to zero. When available, GLAS measurements will be used to validate dust top height. Collocated ship based M-AERI observations, obtained in March 2004 during the AEROSE campaign will also be analyzed to verify this approach.
