Brian Cairns
Papers
11
Total Citations
504
H-Index
9
About
Brian Cairns is a leading researcher in atmospheric remote sensing, with expertise spanning aerosol characterization, polarimetric measurement techniques, and ocean color retrieval. His most influential contribution, a 2009 paper on polarimetric remote sensing of aerosols over land (187 citations), introduced a groundbreaking retrieval approach leveraging broad spectral and angular measurements to accurately characterize aerosol properties while accounting for complex surface effects. This work laid the foundation for subsequent advances in multi-angle polarimetry that now underpin major satellite missions. Cairns has played a central role in NASA's ACEPOL campaign, helping coordinate airborne polarimetric and lidar measurements that have refined aerosol retrieval algorithms across multiple instrument platforms. His research extends to challenging coastal and open ocean environments, developing joint retrieval algorithms that simultaneously resolve aerosol and water-leaving radiance properties — critical for accurate atmospheric correction in ocean color science. His work directly supports NASA's PACE mission, for which he helped advance hyperspectral atmospheric correction methodologies and multi-angle polarimeter applications. Most recently, his team published first validation results from the SPEXone instrument aboard PACE (2025). Collectively, his body of work, accumulating over 500 citations, has substantially shaped how scientists retrieve aerosol and ocean optical properties from space.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Polarimetric remote sensing of aerosols over land187 citations · 2009
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- 7Information content of aerosol retrievals in the sunglint region31 citations · 2013
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