Advantages of Measuring the Q Stokes Parameter in Addition to the Total Radiance / in the Detection of Absorbing Aerosols

A simple but novel study was conducted to investigate whether an imager-type spectroradiometer instrument like MODIS, currently flying on board the Aqua and Terra satellites, or MERIS, which flew on board Envisat, could detect absorbing aerosols if they could measure the Q Stokes parameter in addition to the total radiance I, that is if they could also measure the linear polarization of the light. Accurate radiative transfer calculations were used to train a fast neural network forward model, which together with a simple statistical optimal estimation scheme was used to retrieve three aerosol parameters: aerosol optical depth at 869 nm, optical depth fraction of fine mode (absorbing) aerosols at 869 nm, and aerosol vertical location. The aerosols were assumed to be bimodal, each with a lognormal size distribution, located either between 0 and 2 km or between 2 and 4 km in the Earth's atmosphere. From simulated data with 3% random Gaussian measurement noise added for each Stokes parameter, it was found that by itself the total radiance I at the nine MODIS VIS channels was generally insufficient to accurately retrieve all three aerosol parameters (similar to 15-37% successful), but that together with the Q Stokes component it was possible to retrieve values of aerosol optical depth at 869 nm to +/- 0.03, single-scattering albedo at 869 nm to +/- 0.04, and vertical location in similar to 65% of the cases. This proof-of-concept retrieval algorithm uses neural networks to overcome the computational burdens of using vector radiative transfer to accurately simulate top-of-atmosphere (TOA) total and polarized radiances, enabling optimal estimation techniques to exploit information from multiple channels. Therefore such an algorithm could, in concept, be readily implemented for operational retrieval of aerosol and ocean products from moderate or hyperspectral spectroradiometers.