Spatio-temporal variability of aerosols optical depth over Amazon

Abstract

The physical properties of atmospheric aerosols, among them the optical depth (AOD) has importance for the processes of interaction between the surface and the atmosphere. The atmosphere of the Brazilian Amazon suffers significant changes in terms of the physical properties of aerosols due to large quantities of particles emitted by biomass burning, however, lack of studies that assess their spatial and temporal variability. In this sense this study aimed to analyze and quantify the AOD in the range of 550 nm (AOD 550 nm), from the products of remote sensing, MOD04_L2 AND MOD08_D3 for aerosols MODIS sensor for the years 2010 to 2014, on the regions of Manaus, Santarém, Porto Velho, Rio Branco, Ji Parana and Cuiabá. It was noted that in all regions analyzed ODA 550 nm showed seasonal variation with the peaks reached in the dry season. The variability of space-temporal showed that regions of Manaus and district are less impacted by the increase of AOD 550 nm than other regions. In Manaus the averages for the entire period of study were 0.24 ± 0.26 and 0.20 ± 0.16 for the wet and dry seasons respectively, while for Ji Parana the averages for the entire period of study were 0.34 ± 0.43 and 0.14 ± 0.08, reaching an average of 0.75 ± 0.69 for the dry season of 2010. It was noted that the spatial and temporal variabilities are directly related in all regions.