High Aerosol Optical Depths Observed From the Ground and Air During the 2024 NASA ASIA-AQ Field Campaign

RICHARD MOORE, Sayantee Roy, Francesca Gallo, Carolyn Jordan, Michael Shook, Elizabeth Wiggins, Edward Winstead, Luke Ziemba, ASIA-AQ Science Team, NASA

     Abstract Number: 491
     Working Group: Urban Aerosols

Abstract
We present an analysis of airborne aerosol extinction profiles measured by the NASA DC8 during the 2024 NASA Airborne and Satellite Investigation of Air Quality (ASIA-AQ) and compare integrated aerosol optical depth (AOD) from the aircraft to ground measurements made by AERONET and PANDORA sensors. ASIA-AQ is a unique dataset that covers multiple major urban areas within Southeast Asia, including: Manila, Philippines; Seoul, South Korea; Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Thailand, and the west coast of Taiwan. Especially high aerosol loadings were observed due to strong biomass burning influences in Chiang Mai, while the organic aerosol optical properties varied significantly between Manila, Seoul, and Bangkok. Measured single scatter albedos (i.e., the ratio of light scattering to extinction) were found to be particularly low in Manila. Additional sources of variability in the observed AOD and aerosol vertical profiles include boundary layer heights and aerosol humidification. The suitability of ground-based and satellite sensors for relating column aerosol parameters (AOD) to surface air quality relevant parameters (PM2.5) will be discussed.