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Sciences and Exploration Directorate
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AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET)

The AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) program is a federation of ground-based remote sensing aerosol networks established by NASA and PHOTONS (PHOtométrie pour le Traitement Opérationnel de Normalisation Satellitaire; Univ. of Lille 1, CNES, and CNRS-INSU) and is greatly expanded by networks (e.g., RIMA, AeroSpan, AEROCAN, and CARSNET) and collaborators from national agencies, institutes, universities, individual scientists, and partners. The program provides a long-term, continuous and readily accessible public domain database of aerosol optical, microphysical and radiative properties for aerosol research and characterization, validation of satellite retrievals, and synergism with other databases. The network imposes standardization of instruments, calibration, processing and distribution.

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The AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) program is a federation of ground-based remote sensing aerosol networks established by NASA and PHOTONS (PHOtométrie pour le Traitement Opérationnel de Normalisation Satellitaire; Univ. of Lille 1, CNES, and CNRS-INSU) and is greatly expanded by networks (e.g., RIMA, AeroSpan, AEROCAN, and CARSNET) and collaborators from national agencies, institutes, universities, individual scientists, and partners. The program provides a long-term, continuous and readily accessible public domain database of aerosol optical, microphysical and radiative properties for aerosol research and characterization, validation of satellite retrievals, and synergism with other databases. The network imposes standardization of instruments, calibration, processing and distribution.

Related Publications

2020. "Validation of GRASP algorithm product from POLDER/PARASOL data and assessment of multi-angular polarimetry potential for aerosol monitoring.", Earth System Science Data, 12 (4): 3573-3620 [10.5194/essd-12-3573-2020] [Journal Article/Letter]

2025. "“Godzilla”, the extreme African dust event of June 2020: Origins, Transport, and Impact on Air Quality in the Greater Caribbean Basin.", Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, [10.1175/bams-d-24-0045.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2025. "Smoke absorption retrieval algorithm using critical reflectance method with geostationary satellite over North America.", Remote Sensing of Environment, 328 114837 [10.1016/j.rse.2025.114837] [Journal Article/Letter]

2024. "New top-down estimation of daily mass and number column density of black carbon driven by OMI and AERONET observations.", Remote Sensing of Environment, 315 114436 [10.1016/j.rse.2024.114436] [Journal Article/Letter]

2024. "Aerosol Components Derived from Global AERONET Measurements by GRASP: A New Value-Added Aerosol Component Global Dataset and Its Application.", Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 105 (10): E1822-E1848 [10.1175/bams-d-23-0260.1] [Journal Article/Letter]