Analysis of MAIAC dust aerosol retrievals from MODIS over North Africa

An initial comparison of aerosol optical thickness over North Africa for year 2007 was performed between the Deep Blue (DB) and Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) algorithms complimeted with MISR and OMI data. The dust retrievals are performed using the model of spheroids. The new MAIAC algorithm has a better sensitivity to the small dust storms than the DB algorithm, but it also has biases in the brightest desert regions indicating the need for improvement. The quarterly averaged AOT values in the Bodele depression and western downwind transport region show a good agreement among MAIAC, MISR and OMI data, while the DB algorithm shows a somewhat different seasonality.