Use of aerosol microphysical measurements to model IR backscatter in support of GLOBE

Data on the concentration and composition of free tropospheric aerosol over the Pacific Ocean, collected during the GAMETAG program in 1977-1978 (Davis, 1980 and Patterson et al., 1980) are used to model values of aerosol optical extinction coefficients (sigma) at two wavelengths (0.55 and 1 micron) and values of volume backscatter coefficients (beta) at four wavelengths (1 micron, 9.11 microns, 9.25 microns, and 10.6 microns) and to investigate the relationship between these parameters. The mass concentrations inferred from the GAMETAG measurements with optical particle spectrometers agreed with the results of simultaneous chemical measurements. The study of the relationships among the optical parameters indicates that visible and near-visible values of beta and sigma may be useful in predicting 9.11- and 10.6-micron backscatter.