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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">EGUsphere</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>EGUsphere</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub"></issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/egusphere-2026-4267</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Optimization of the SKYNET calibration with an iterative Improved Langley method and its validation in the Mediterranean area</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Kumar</surname>
<given-names>Gaurav</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2301-2074</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Momoi</surname>
<given-names>Masahiro</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2551-7834</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Campanelli</surname>
<given-names>Monica</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Garcia-Suñer</surname>
<given-names>Meritxell</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0009-0007-6305-067X</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Kouremeti</surname>
<given-names>Natalia</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8877-3865</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff5">
<sup>5</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Kudo</surname>
<given-names>Rei</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff6">
<sup>6</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Pedrós</surname>
<given-names>Roberto</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Estellés</surname>
<given-names>Víctor</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>Department of Earth Physics and Thermodynamics, Universitat de València, València, 46100, Spain</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>GRASP SAS, 7 Boulevard Louis XIV, Le Louis XIV, 59000, Lille, France</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>University of Warsaw, Faculty of Physics, Institute of Geophysics, ul. Pasteura 5, 02-093, Warsaw, Poland</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff4">
<label>4</label>
<addr-line>Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto Scienze dell’Atmosfera e del Clima, Rome, Italy</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff5">
<label>5</label>
<addr-line>World Optical Depth Research and Calibration Centre (WORCC), Physikalisch-Meteorologisches  Observatorium Davos/World Radiation Center (PMOD/WRC), 7260 Davos Dorf, Switzerland</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff6">
<label>6</label>
<addr-line>Meteorological Research Institute, Japan Meteorological Agency, Tsukuba, 305-0052, Japan</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>23</day>
<month>07</month>
<year>2026</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>2026</volume>
<fpage>1</fpage>
<lpage>25</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2026 Gaurav Kumar et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2026</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-4267/">This article is available from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-4267/</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-4267/egusphere-2026-4267.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-4267/egusphere-2026-4267.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>The Improved Langley plot (ILP) method was developed for on-site calibration of PREDE-POM radiometers within SKYNET. It eliminated the need to ship instruments to remote high-altitude sites as required by the Standard Langley plot (SLP) method, reducing data gaps, transport-related risks, and operational costs while maintaining field instrument uncertainty below 2.4 %. The study aims to update the ILP method by adopting the latest Skyrad MRI v2 and introducing an iterative procedure. Testing with the data from the QUATRAM (QUAlity and TRaceabiliy of Atmospheric aerosol Measurements) campaigns and the Burjassot site in Spain showed an overall improvement of the ILP method. The median differences in direct aerosol optical depth (AOD) relative to GAW-PFR (Precision Filter Radiometers) decreased to approximately &amp;minus;0.01 at the 500 and 870 nm channels. AOD differences within the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) limits increased by 15-fold and 4-fold at 500 and 870 nm channels, respectively. The PREDE-POM and AERONET Level 2 Version 3 direct AODs at the Burjassot site showed good agreement, with median AOD differences within &amp;plusmn;0.01 across all wavelengths, except at 340 nm. However, the fraction of points within WMO limits increases by over 10 % at wavelengths below 500 nm, while remaining nearly unchanged (variations below 6 %) at longer wavelengths. These results confirm the robustness of the ILP currently used in SKYNET and highlight the possibility of an improvement at shorter wavelengths. This limitation is addressed in the present study through the proposed iterative ILP method based on Skyrad MRI v2.</p>
</abstract>
<counts><page-count count="25"/></counts>
<funding-group>
<award-group id="gs1">
<funding-source>Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades</funding-source>
<award-id>PID2022-138730OB-I00</award-id>
</award-group>
<award-group id="gs2">
<funding-source>Generalitat Valenciana</funding-source>
<award-id>CIAICO2023-088</award-id>
</award-group>
<award-group id="gs3">
<funding-source>European Cooperation in Science and Technology</funding-source>
<award-id>CA21119 HARMONIA</award-id>
</award-group>
</funding-group>
</article-meta>
</front>
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<back>
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