Relationship between column aerosol optical thickness and in situ ground based dust concentrations over Barbados

Aerosol optical depth measurements over Barbados acquired through the AERONET network are analyzed. Optical depth shows a pronounced seasonal pattern, with a maximum observed during summer. The temporal trends of the sunphotometry data were similar to those of ground‐based dust concentration measurements. A simple linear regression relationship has been established between mean monthly values of aerosol optical depth and dust concentrations (correlation coefficient r=0.93), which allows the estimation of optical depth for any specific time period when dust concentration measurements are available. The robustness of the regression was validated with an independent data set.