Distinguishing tropospheric aerosols from thin cirrus clouds for improved aerosol retrievals using the ratio of 1.38‐μm and 1.24‐μm channels

The scattering of solar radiation by cirrus clouds often contaminates aerosol products retrieved from satellite‐based measurements using channels located in the visible and near‐IR spectral region. Previously, it was demonstrated that a narrow satellite channel located near 1.38 μm is very effective in detecting the high level thin cirrus clouds. In this paper, we describe a ratio technique using the 1.38‐μm channel and the 1.24‐μm channel for identifying pixels contaminated by thin cirrus clouds so that improved aerosol and dust products can be obtained. The multi‐channel data acquired with the NASA Moderate Resolution Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MODIS) on the Terra Spacecraft are used to demonstrate this technique.