Retrieval of aerosol optical thickness using band correlation method and atmospheric correction for Landsat-7/ETM+ image data

The distribution of aerosol optical thickness τ_a over land from Landsat-7/ETM+ image data was retrieved, using the empirical reflectance correlation between the visible and middle IR. This band correlation method for aerosol retrieval was originally proposed for MODIS data by Kaufman et al. The results of retrieved τ_a from Landsat-7/ETM+ data were compared with the simultaneous sky observation data at our study site. A good agreement between the retrieved and observed values was found. As a by-product, the surface reflectance map was retrieved by applying the atmospheric correction using retrieved aerosol optical thickness.