Snow and Ice Mask for the MODIS Aerosol Products

Abstract

Atmospheric products have been derived operationally from multichannel imaging data collected with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard the Terra and Aqua spacecraft. Preliminary validations of the products were previously reported. Through analysis of more extensive time-series of MODIS aerosol products (Collection 4), we have found that the aerosol products over land areas are slightly contaminated by snow and ice during the springtime snow-melting season. We have developed an empirical technique using MODIS near-infrared channels centered near 0.86 and 1.24 μm and a thermal emission channel near 11 μm to mask out these snow-contaminated pixels over land. Improved aerosol retrievals over land have been obtained. Sample results from application of the technique to MODIS data acquired over North America, northern Europe, and northeastern Asia are presented. The technique has been implemented into the MODIS Collection 5 operational algorithm for retrieving aerosols over land from MODIS data.