Relationship between errors in AVHRR-derived sea surface temperature and the TOMS Aerosol Index

We investigate the effects of various types of atmospheric aerosols on satellite-derived sea surface temperature (SST) retrievals. The association between aerosol presence identified by the Earth Probe Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) aerosol index (AI) and systematic errors in Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) Pathfinder SST retrievals is explored. We find a significant increase in systematic PFSST errors in the presence of dust aerosols. Average errors range from 0.34 degreesC for AI values between 0.5 and 1.0 to 1.74 degreesC for AI greater than or equal to1.5. The bias is introduced by the AVHRR channel brightness temperature difference (T-4 - T-5) which is intended to correct for atmospheric absorption normally due primarily to water vapor. Our study shows that (T-4 - T-5) is sensitive to the dust aerosols (i.e., TOMS AI values). In contrast, smoke aerosols do not seem to have a significant effect on PFSST errors.