Cancellation of cloud shadow effects in the absorbing aerosol index retrieval algorithm of TROPOMI

Trees, Victor J. H.; Wang, Ping; Stammes, Piet; Tilstra, Lieuwe G.; Donovan, David P.; Siebesma, A. Pier

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-73-2025

Articles | Volume 18, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-73-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-73-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 18, issue 1

Research article

|

08 Jan 2025

Research article |

| 08 Jan 2025

Cancellation of cloud shadow effects in the absorbing aerosol index retrieval algorithm of TROPOMI

Victor J. H. Trees, Ping Wang, Piet Stammes, Lieuwe G. Tilstra, David P. Donovan, and A. Pier Siebesma

Data sets

TROPOMI Level 2 Ultraviolet Aerosol Index products Copernicus Sentinel-5P https://doi.org/10.5270/S5P-3dgz66p

Short summary

Our study investigates the impact of cloud shadows on satellite-based aerosol index measurements over Europe by TROPOMI. Using a cloud shadow detection algorithm and simulations, we found that the overall effect on the aerosol index is minimal. Interestingly, we found that cloud shadows are significantly bluer than their shadow-free surroundings, but the traditional algorithm already (partly) automatically corrects for this increased blueness.