Finely and coarsely dispersed components of atmospheric aerosol optical depth in maritime and polar regions
We discuss the results of comparative analysis of finely and coarsely dispersed components of atmospheric aerosol optical depth (AOD), obtained according to data of SP sun photometer measurements in 14 regions of the Atlantic, Southern, and Arctic Oceans, and Far East seas. Average (over regions) values of the coarsely dispersed AOD component vary from 0.007 to 0.24, and average values of the finely dispersed AOD component vary from 0.015 to 0.25. Despite the fact that the two AOD components are independent in their origin and exist in a variety of combinations, the distributions of their average values exhibit joint growth from lowermost values in the Southern Ocean to maximal values in the zone of severe continental outflows (the Sea of Darkness and the Sea of Japan). Taking into account the natural specific features, we grouped the data with respect to a few types of maritime regions; and for each, we determined the most probable values of the coarsely dispersed component and two parameters (analogous to Ångström parameters), which characterize the finely dispersed AOD component.