Aerosol retrievals over the ocean using polarization

Evaluating the effects of aerosols on the Earth's radiative balance and on cloud properties requires precise knowledge of the aerosol optical thickness, size distribution, and chemical compostition. Obtaining the global distribution of these parameters is best achieved using satellite instruments that monitor the full information content of the scattered solar radiation. In this paper we analyze multispectral and multiangle observations performed with an airborne version of the Earth Observing Scanning Polarimeter over the ocean. Using both the near infrared photometric and polarimetric measurements, we demonstrate their potential to retrieve aerosol properties to a much better accuracy and completeness than from less advanced measurements by current satellite instruments. We also show that the polarized radiance scattered in the visible part of the spectrum is considerably less sensitive to waterleaving radiances. This enables one to not only extend the remote sensing of aerosols to include visible measurements, but to also separate the monitoring of ocean color from atmospheric correction.