Evaluation of the Himawari-8 Aerosol Products

To accurately analyze the spatiotemporal variation of the aerosol in China, the Himawari-8 Level 3 aerosol optical depth (AOD) products were validated by the AERONET (Aerosol Robotic Network) sunphotometer measurements at 9 observation sites in China. The results showed that: (1) The Himawari-8 AOD agreed well with the ground measurements from the AERONET, with a high correlation coefficient (R) ranging from 0.64–0.91. (2) In winter, the estimates of AOD the Himawari 8 in northern China are relatively worse than that in the southern regions. (3) The annual averaged AOD in eastern China is higher than that in western China; AOD in spring and summer is obviously higher than that in autumn and winter. The results of this study not only provide a new sight for understanding the spatiotemporal variation of atmospheric aerosols in China but also are important for developing air pollution monitoring methods.