Spatial boundaries of Aerosol Robotic Network observations over the Mediterranean basin

Abstract

Abstract Accurate knowledge of aerosol variability on a relatively high spatiotemporal scale is needed for better assessment of aerosol radiative effects and aerosol‐climate interactions. We investigated the spatial boundaries of the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) observations over the Mediterranean basin using a statistical approach. We used 13 years (2002–2014) of aerosol optical depth (AOD) measurements from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and 15 AERONET sites around the Mediterranean basin. The gridded correlation maps show moderate to high correlations ( R > 0.5) around each AERONET site up to ~200–500 km radius depending on location. Such analyses provide information on the spatial domain in which the AERONET measurements can be reliably used per site. The statistical model provides a better daytime AOD product on finer temporal resolution with higher spatial coverage as compared to using AERONET/MODIS observations separately. The findings from this study can be useful for the assimilation‐based model forecasting of aerosol properties.