Comparative study of aerosol optical depth satellite data with earth’s observations

This research seeks to investigate the consistency of satellite data and the information obtained from the ground meteorological stations in Iran. In this study, the Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) data of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) deep blue algorithm of Terra satellite from 2000-2018 was used. The data of 390 meteorological stations during2000-2018 were used to evaluate and validate the satellite data. The aerosol optical depth (AOD) was studied and compared with the current weather codes of meteorological stations (codes 00 to 99). The frequency percentage and spatiotemporal matching methods were further used. Based on the results, the AOD at 550 nm data of the Terra satellite MODIS sensor had a significant relationship with the meteorological codes of 00 to 99 in Iran. This topic is useful in the study of meteorological phenomena. The present study evaluated the large values of aerosol optical depth (AOD) of meteorological phenomena in the boundary layer. The highest frequency percentage of the aerosol optical depth (AOD) between 0 and 3.5 belonged to the present weather codes No. 5 and 6. The amount of aerosol optical depth (AOD) was directly related to meteorological phenomena (short- or long-term) such as natural, industrial, and urban pollution, smoke, humidity changes, lightning, thunderstorms, and heavy rainfall. The amount of aerosol optical depth (AOD) varied depending on the season, place, and meteorological phenomena in Iran.