Assessment of Satellite Aerosol Optical Depth to Estimate Particulate Matter Distribution in Valencia City

Abstract

The estimation of exposure to PM 10 and PM 2.5 requires the knowledge of surface concentration at high temporal and spatial resolutions. In this paper, the relation between PM10 and PM 2.5 ground data and MODIS AOD satellite data has been evaluated to determine the concentration of particulate matter in Valencia, Spain. This was done using data from the Valencian Network of Surveillance and Control of Air Pollution and the scientific data set "Optical Depth Land and Ocean" from MODIS Terra and Aqua with 3km of spatial resolution. The linear regression model for PM 10 provided a regression slope of 25.99 μg.m -3 and an interception of 12.07 μg.m -3 (RMSE = 8.61 μg.m -3 ), while for PM2.5 the slope and interception were 26.87 μg.m -3 and 5.98 μg.m -3 (RMSE = 5.5 μg.m -3 ).