ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Remote Sens.
Sec. Multi- and Hyper-Spectral Imaging
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frsen.2025.1677438
This article is part of the Research TopicEarth Observations from the Deep Space: 10 Years of the DSCOVR MissionView all 10 articles
Simultaneous Retrieval of Aerosol Optical Depth, Spectral Absorption and Layer Height from DSCOVR EPIC Using MAIAC Algorithm
Provisionally accepted
- 1Goddard Space Flight Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, United States
- 2University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, United States
- 3US Naval Research Laboratory Marine Meteorology Division, Monterey, United States
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Abstract. A novel MAIAC algorithm is described for joint retrievals of the aerosol optical depth, spectral absorption and layer height (ALH) from DSCOVR EPIC observations in the UV-Vis-NIR spectral range including atmospheric oxygen A-and B-bands. While the oxygen bands have been used to estimate ALH in several existing algorithms, MAIAC for the first time employs a synergy between the UV and O2 A,B-bands to enhance sensitivity to the height of aerosol layer and retrieves it simultaneously with other major aerosol properties. The ALH retrieval capability is illustrated using several examples for smoke and dust aerosols over different parts of the globe. A global AERONET validation of aerosol properties based on the full EPIC data record (mid-2015 – 2025) shows an accuracy of AOD with correlation coefficient R~0.71-0.73, RMSE~0.4, and expected error EE~20%. While accuracy of AOD is moderate due to the backscattering view geometry of EPIC, achieved agreement of spectral single scattering albedo (SSA) at 443 and 680 nm with AERONET inversion data is very good: the expected error (EE) ±0.03 agrees with AERONET uncertainty, the RMSE is within 0.02-0.03, and bias is within ±0.01. The ALH product was validated globally for the overlapping EPIC-CALIOP CALIPSO period using the CALIPSO total backscatter weighted height. The ALH validation shows a robust performance with global RMSE~1.1 km and 60-77% of retrievals within EE=1km. The retrieved ALH is lower than CALIOP ALHC by 0.45-0.75 km over land and is unbiased over the ocean. This new capability and suite of aerosol products, designed to support both the Earth system modeling and the air quality applications, are part of the version 3 MAIAC EPIC algorithm. The v3 algorithm has recently completed reprocessing of the EPIC record covering the period of 2015-2025.
Keywords: epic, MAIAC, CALIOP, aerosol layer height, biomass burning, mineral dust, Spectral absorption
Received: 31 Jul 2025; Accepted: 30 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lyapustin, Choi, Wang, Korkin, Hyer and Marshak. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Alexei Lyapustin, alexei.i.lyapustin@nasa.gov
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