Second‐generation operational algorithm: Retrieval of aerosol properties over land from inversion of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer spectral reflectance

Since first light in early 2000, operational global quantitative retrievals of aerosol properties over land have been made from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) observed spectral reflectance. These products have been continuously evaluated and validated, and opportunities for improvements have been noted. We have replaced the surface reflectance assumptions, the set of aerosol model optical properties, and the aerosol lookup table (LUT). This second‐generation operational algorithm performs a simultaneous inversion of two visible (0.47 and 0.66 μ m) and one shortwave‐IR (2.12 μ m) channel, making use of the coarse aerosol information content contained in the 2.12 μ m channel. Inversion of…