A comparison of aerosol properties with air pollutants

The aerosol properties obtained from radiometry with AERONET are compared with the particulate mass simultaneously measured with a new instrument (SPM-613D). AERONET sites have been set up at Shirahama since 2000 and at Osaka since 2002 to make measurements to improve the understanding background aerosols and characteristic features of the urban atmosphere over Japan, respectively. It is found that there was a strong correlation between the PM2.5 concentration and aerosol optical thickness. It indicates that aerosol characteristics can be estimated from SPM data, and vice versa. (c) 2006 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.