Saharan dust storm detection using moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer thermal infrared bands

This paper investigates the approaches of Saharan dust storm detection with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) thermal infrared bands and presents an index, thermal-infrared dust index, through quantitative analysis of MODIS data for major dust events over the Atlantic Ocean during year 2004-2006. It is found that aerosol optical thickness (AOT) at 550nm has close relationships with the brightness temperature of MODIS bands 20, 30, 31, and 32. The proposed thermal-infrared dust index matches MODIS AOT very well with a squared correlation coefficient of 0.7646. Case study and statistical analysis suggest the potential to use 1km thermal-infrared dust index data for detecting dust storms and evaluating the potential impacts of regional weather, such as Atlantic hurricanes, and climate in the near future.