We analyze new aerosol products from NASA satellite retrievals over the western USA during August 2013, with special attention to locally generated wildfire smoke and downwind plume structures. Aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 550 nm from MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) (Terra and Aqua Collections 6 and 6.1) and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Deep Blue (DB) and MODIS (Terra and Aqua) Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) retrievals are evaluated against ground-based AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) observations. We find a significant improvement in correlation with AERONET and other metrics in the latest DB AOD (MODIS C6.1 r² = 0.75, VIIRS r² = 0.79) compared to MODIS C6 (r² = 0.62). In general, MAIAC (r² = 0.84) and DB (MODIS C6.1 and VIIRS) present similar statistical evaluation metrics for the western USA and are useful tools to characterize aerosol loading associated with wildfire smoke. We also evaluate three novel NASA MODIS plume injection height (PIH) products, one from MAIAC and two from the Aerosol Single scattering albedo and layer Height Estimation (ASHE) (MODIS and VIIRS) algorithm. Both Terra and Aqua MAIAC PIHs statistically agree with ground-based and satellite lidar observations near the fire source, as do ASHE, although the latter is sensitive to assumptions about aerosol absorption properties. We introduce a first-order approximation Smoke Height Boundary Layer Ratio (SHBLR) to qualitatively distinguish between aerosol pollution within the planetary boundary layer and the free troposphere. We summarize the scope, limitations, and suggestions for scientific applications of surface level aerosol concentrations specific to wildfire emissions and smoke plumes using these novel NASA MODIS and VIIRS aerosol products.

中文翻译：

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美国西部极端烟雾事件期间新型 NASA 中等分辨率成像光谱仪和可见光红外成像辐射仪套件气溶胶产品的评估和烟雾高度边界层比率的评估

我们在2013年8月分析了美国西部NASA卫星取回的新型气溶胶产品，并特别关注了当地产生的野火烟气和顺风羽流结构。550 nm 处的气溶胶光学深度 (AOD) 来自中等分辨率成像光谱仪 (MODIS)（Terra and Aqua Collections 6 和 6.1）和可见光红外成像辐射计套件 (VIIRS) Deep Blue (DB) 和 MODIS（Terra and Aqua）多角度大气校正 (MAIAC) 反演的实施根据基于地面的气溶胶机器人网络 (AERONET) 观测进行评估。我们发现 与 MODIS C6 相比，最新的 DB AOD（MODIS C6.1 r ²  = 0.75，VIIRS r ² = 0.79）与 AERONET 和其他指标的相关性有显着改善（r²  = 0.62）。一般来说，MAIAC ( r ² = 0.84）和DB（MODIS C6.1和VIIRS）为美国西部地区提供了类似的统计评估指标，并且是表征与野火烟雾相关的气溶胶负荷的有用工具。我们还评估了三种新型 NASA MODIS 羽流注入高度 (PIH) 产品，一种来自 MAIAC，两种来自气溶胶单散射反照率和层高度估计 (ASHE)（MODIS 和 VIIRS）算法。Terra 和 Aqua MAIAC PIH 在统计上与火源附近的地面和卫星激光雷达观测结果一致，ASHE 也是如此，尽管后者对气溶胶吸收特性的假设很敏感。我们引入一阶近似烟雾高度边界层比 (SHBLR) 来定性区分行星边界层和自由对流层内的气溶胶污染。我们总结了范围、限制、