Comparison of satellite-inferred (SAGE II) aerosol optical depths with corresponding airborne sunphotometer optical depths

Solar radiation measurements were made with an airborne multiwavelength autotracking sunphotometer detector off the northeastern coast of Brazil on April 6, 1985. These measurements are used to validate solar radiation measurements from the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE II). The SAGE II data below 17.5 km are dominated by attenuation due to thunderstorm-generated cirrus clouds. When integrated above 17.5 km, however, the aerosol extinction profiles from SAGE II yield aerosol optical depths that are consistent with the corresponding sunphotometer values above 10.1 km.