SAFARI 2000 TOMS Aerosol Index Data, Southern Africa, Dry Season 2000

Daily Aerosol Index (AI) data from Earth Probe (EP) Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) for the period of August 12-September 25, 2000 were processed and provided by the Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Branch at NASA/GSFC for the SAFARI 2000 Dry Season Aircraft Campaign.The TOMS AI is formed directly from measured TOMS radiances in two channels. It is a measure of how much the wavelength dependence of backscattered UV radiation from an atmosphere containing aerosols (Mie scattering, Rayleigh scattering, and absorption) differs from that of a pure molecular atmosphere (pure Rayleigh scattering).

Quantitatively, the AI is defined at toms.gsfc.nasa.gov/aerosols/AI_definition/ai_ep_definition.pdf. Positive values represent absorbing aerosols (dust and smoke); negative values represent non-absorbing aerosols. The identification is not perfect because of geophysical reasons (e.g., when aerosols are too low to the ground).The data from TOMS records have been used increasingly to understand the behavior of aerosols within the atmosphere.