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Atmospheric aerosols have a large effect on the Earth radiation budget through its direct and indirect effects. A systematic assessment of aerosol effects on Earth’s climate requires global mapping of tropospheric aerosols through satellite remote sensing. However aerosol retrieval over land surface remains a challenging task due to bright background of the land surfaces. Polarized measurements can provide an improved aerosol sensing by providing a means of decoupling the surface and atmospheric contribution. The Indian Space Research Organisation has planned a Multi- Angle Dual-Polarization Instrument (MADPI) onboard a Nano satellite for Earth Monitoring & Observations for Aerosol Monitoring (NEMO-AM). MADPI has three spectral bands in blue, red and near infrared spectral regions with a nominal spatial resolution of 30 m from an altitude of 500 km polar orbit. A study has been taken up with the aim of development of an algorithm for retrieving aerosol optical thickness (AOT) over land surfaces from NEMO-AM polarized measurements. The study has three major components: (1) detailed theoretical modelling exercise for computing the atmospheric and surface polarized contributions, (2) modelling of total satellite-level polarized contribution, and (3) retrieval of aerosol optical thickness (AOT) by comparing the modelled and measured polarized signals. The algorithm has been developed for MADPI/NEMO-AM spectral bands and tested successfully on similar spectral bands of POLDER/PARASOL measurements to retrieve AOT over Indian landmass having diverse atmospheric conditions. POLDER-derived AOT fields were compared with MODIS-AOT products. Results showed a very good match (R2~0.69, RMSE~0.07). Initial results have provided encouraging results, however, comprehensive analysis and testing has to be carried out for establishing the proposed algorithm for retrieving AOT from NEMO-AM measurements.
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