Assimilation of next generation geostationary aerosol optical depth retrievals to improve air quality simulations

Planned geostationary satellites will provide aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrievals at high temporal and spatial resolution which will be incorporated into current assimilation systems that use low-Earth orbiting (e.g., Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)) AOD. The impacts of such additions are explored in a real case scenario using AOD from the Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) on board of the Communication, Ocean, and Meteorology Satellite, a geostationary satellite observing northeast Asia. The addition of GOCI AOD into the assimilation system generated positive impacts, which were found to be substantial in comparison to only assimilating MODIS AOD. We found that GOCI AOD can help significantly to improve surface air quality simulations in Korea for dust, biomass burning smoke, and anthropogenic pollution episodes when the model represents the extent of the pollution episodes and retrievals are not contaminated by clouds. We anticipate future geostationary missions to considerably contribute to air quality forecasting and provide better reanalyses for health assessments and climate studies. Key Points Geostationary AOD data improves skill of current air quality predictionsImprovements are found for multiple types of pollution events on Northeast AsiaIt serves as a real case scenario support for planned geostationary missions