Advances in Astronomy and Space Physics, Volume 5, Issue 1, PP. 11-16 (2015)
doi: 10.17721/2227-1481.5.11-16

Remote sensing of aerosol in the terrestrial atmosphere
from space: new missions

G. Milinevsky1,2, Ya. Yatskiv1, O. Degtyaryov3, I. Syniavskyi1, Yu. Ivanov1,
A. Bovchaliuk1,4, M. Mishchenko5, V. Danylevsky2, M. Sosonkin1, V. Bovchaliuk2,4

1Main Astronomical Observatory of NAS of Ukraine, 27 Akad. Zabolotnoho Str., 03680 Kyiv, Ukraine
2Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, 64/13 Volodymyrska Str., 01601 Kyiv, Ukraine
3Yangel Yuzhnoye State Design Office of State Space Agency of Ukraine, 3 Krivorozhskaya Str., 49008 Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine
4Laboratoire d'Optique Atmosphérique, CNRS - Université de Lille 1, Villeneuve d'Ascq, France
5NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, 2880 Broadway, NY 10025, New York, USA

Abstract
The distribution and properties of atmospheric aerosols on a global scale are not well known in terms of determination of their effects on climate. This mostly is due to extreme variability of aerosol concentrations, properties, sources, and types. Aerosol climate impact is comparable to the effect of greenhouse gases, but its influence is more difficult to measure, especially with respect to aerosol microphysical properties and the evaluation of anthropogenic aerosol effect. There are many satellite missions studying aerosol distribution in the terrestrial atmosphere, such as MISR/Terra, OMI/Aura, AVHHR, MODIS/Terra and Aqua, CALIOP/CALIPSO. To improve the quality of data and climate models, and to reduce aerosol climate forcing uncertainties, several new missions are planned. The gap in orbital instruments for studying aerosol microphysics has arisen after the Glory mission failed during launch in 2011. In this review paper, we describe several planned aerosol space missions, including the Ukrainian project Aerosol-UA that obtains data using a multi-channel scanning polarimeter and wide-angle polarimetric camera. The project is designed for remote sensing of the aerosol microphysics and cloud properties on a global scale.

Keywords:
atmosphere, aerosol, cloud, climate, polarimeter