Aerosol Characteristics in Sydney. Aerosols have significant effects on air pollution, climate, visibility and human health. We are using a multifilter rotating shadowband radiometer to monitor the long-term variability of aerosols in Sydney. The optical thickness measurements are inverted to obtain aerosol size distributions, as well as being correlated with measurements made by organisations such as NSWEPA and ANSTO.

Aerosol optical, chemical and physical properties. The optical properties of aerosols are very important for predicting their effects on climate and visibility. They depend on physical properties such as size distribution, chemical composition, and environmental factors such as relative humidity. We are currently developing models to predict aerosol optical properties from physical and chemical properties, and testing these against data from a number of Australian cities.

Development of Algorithms for Radiometer Data. To extract the maximum amount of information from radiometer measurements efficient algorithms are needed. We have developed a technique for predicting measurements at wavelengths other than those for which measurements are available. This has been used successfully for determining column ozone, and is now being extended to making predictions beyond the measurement range. Work is also being done on improving our size distribution inversion algorithm.

• Effects of smoothing and measurement wavelength range on the accuracy of analytic eigenfunction inversions. Box, G.P. Appl. Opt., 34, 7787-7792 (1995).
• Information content and wavelength selection for multispectral radiometers. Box, G.P., M.A. Box & J. Krücker. J. Geophys. Res. , 101, 19211-19214 (1996).

School of Physics
The University of New South Wales
SYDNEY 2052
Australia

gpb@newt.phys.unsw.edu.au

61 2 9385 4570

61 2 9385 6060