Remote Sensing of Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) over Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract

This paper presents the analysis of Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) level data monitored through the Cimel CE 318A Sun-photometer over the year seasons of 2014. The data was collected at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Department of Defence and Security (D&S) in Pretoria (PTA), South Africa. The Aerosol Robotic Network (Aeronet) instrument was placed at the roof-top of a building and has been recording and providing continuous atmospheric AOD data from 2011 until 2018. The atmospheric aerosols contribute to atmospheric scattering and absorption within the Visible to Near-Infrared (VISNIR) band and can severely affect the performance of remote sensing imaging systems. The AOD measurement data can therefore be used as an input in the performance of the calibration validation process of Earth Observation (EO) sensors and other long-range target detection and recognition systems. The Optronic Sensor Systems (OSS) of the Defence and Security (D&S) cluster focuses on building optical imaging systems for satellites EO, short-range and long-range surveillance applications. The reported data is an extract of measurements obtained over a year when the instrument was in operation at the D&S. This work provides the necessary exposure in building the capability and confidence in the evaluation of the performance of remote sensing systems.