Identification optical characteristics of dust aerosol by remote sensing methods in the infrared region of the spectrum

Optical characteristics of mineral dust is currently remain uncertain, which proves the need for an analysis of its contribution to the radiation balance and requires a study of the properties of the dust at the regional level. The aim of this work is to determine the optical characteristics of dust aerosol in the long-wavelength spectral region over the Black Sea region, followed by checking the accuracy of the existing algorithms for its identification. AERONET (Aerosol Robotic Network), the international network of ground-based photometers, and CALIOP (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization) remote sensing results were used as a data source. In this paper the following optical parameters aerosol investigated: single scattering albedo (SSA), lidar ratio (Sa), depolarization ratios and aerosol optical thickness (AOT). Based on the value of the dust coefficient (Rd) at 0.53 ≤ Rd ≤ 0.89, the aerosol is mixed dust, at values higher it is pure dust. Depending on the single scattering albedo, absorption is weak when 0.90 ≤ SSA ≤ 0.95; if this indicator is higher, then absorption is strong. Based on many years of statistics, a mixed dust aerosol with weak absorption for the Black Sea region was identified. A comparative analysis of the data from the AERONET and CALIPSO models showed a strong correlation of the results.