A Glossary Of Aerosol Terms

Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD)

Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT)

- An optical measurements of light extinction used to represent aerosol amount in the entire column of the atmosphere.

Fine AOD

- The fraction of light extinction due to particles in the

fine mode.

Fine Fraction

- A simple ratio of the volume of fine particles to the

total volume of particles.

PM _2.5 - particles of less than 2.5 µm aerodynamic diameter.

CCN (Cloud Condensation Nuclei) Concentration.

These are particles that act as condensation surfaces and

encourage water droplet formation within clouds.

Particle shape - spherical, spheroid, non-spherical

Single Scattering Albedo w_o (Omega Zero) – the ratio of light scattering to extinction. It indicates the relative light scattering or absorbing nature of the particles.

Radiative Transfer - The physics and mathematics of how radiation passes through a medium that may contain any combination of scatterers, absorbers, and emitters.

Aerosol Inversion -

Using the measured optical properties to infer the physical characteristics of the Aerosol