Synonyms
Airborne particles; Dust; Particles; Particulate matter; PM; Smoke
Definition
Aerosols are solid or liquid particles suspended in the air, typically smaller in size than a twentieth the thickness of a human hair. There is a subtlety: In traditional aerosol science, “aerosol” refers to the particles and the medium in which they are suspended, whereas in remote sensing, the term often refers to just the particles. We use here the latter definition.
Introduction
Aerosols are of interest due to their impact on climate and health, as well as the role they might play in transporting nutrients and even disease vectors on planetary scales. Particles ranging in diameter from about 0.05 to 10 μm are studied most commonly, as they dominate aerosol direct interaction with sunlight, and are also thought to make up the majority of the aerosol mass. The particles are produced naturally by forest and grassland fires, volcanoes, desert winds, breaking waves, and emissions from living...
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Kahn, R. (2014). Aerosols. In: Njoku, E.G. (eds) Encyclopedia of Remote Sensing. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-36699-9_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-36699-9_4
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