Aerosol Optical Depth Estimation in Doha Using a Multifilter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer

Understanding the effect of atmospheric aerosols on the climate is a very challenging task. These small particles absorb and scatter sunlight and alter the properties of clouds in the atmosphere. They are greatly diverse in nature, size, optical and physical properties, and in their sources of emission and way of elimination. More particularly for solar radiation, aerosols are one of the major components attenuating the sunlight under clear-sky conditions. This is quantified using the aerosol optical depth (AOD) parameter. AOD is monitored on a global scale using satellite data, but a more precise way to measure AOD locally is to use ground-level instruments that measure the direct incident light coming from the sun at a nominal wavelength and derive the AOD parameter through the Lambert–Beer law. This contribution introduced a method to estimate AOD using a multifilter rotating shadowband radiometer (MFRSR), in Doha, Qatar, where the atmosphere is highly loaded with aerosols. Having a reliable and accurate means to continuously quantify the AOD parameter in this region is of great interest for the enhancement of the understanding of the effect and impact of aerosols.