A Development of an OMI Assimilation System for Aerosol Analysis and Forecasts over the Saharan Desert and the Arctic Region

While the assimilation of passive and active aerosol optical depth and aerosol extinction profiles improves aerosol analyses and forecasts, such an effort is limited in regions with bright surfaces such as the Arctic region or over the Saharan desert where satellite aerosol retrievals are limited. The OMI aerosol index product provides an excellent indication of the presence of UV absorbing aerosols over such bright surfaces.

In this study, we present a newly developed OMI aerosol index data assimilation system for improving aerosol analyses and forecasts over bright surfaces. Applications of the new system over the Saharan desert and Arctic regions are shown. In addition, we show long-term aerosol trends over the Arctic region using both models and observations. The linkage of smoke aerosols to the melting of Arctic ice sheets is also explored.