| 04 Mar 2026
The Mineral Aerosol Profiling from Infrared Radiances version 5.1 algorithm and its evaluation
Abstract. Mineral (desert) dust aerosols are small sand/dust particles entrained by winds from bare areas and possibly transported over long distances. These aerosols are climate forcers and affect human health and many socio-economic sectors. They are therefore important to monitor both in near-real time and on the long term. In this work, the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) instrument is used to retrieve vertical profiles of mineral dust aerosols concentration, from which a 10 μm aerosol optical depth (AOD) and a mean aerosol altitude are obtained. More specifically, we present here the new version 5.1 of the Mineral Aerosol Profiling from Infrared Radiances (MAPIR) algorithm and its changes with respect to previous versions. MAPIR v5.1 was used to produce a consistent time series of dust profiles since the start of the IASI observations in 2007 and until now, using data from IASI onboard Metop-A and Metop-C. The capabilities of the instrument and retrieval are illustrated, showing good event detection, expected AOD seasonal cycles, good profiling capabilities and reasonable mean aerosol altitude, good time and cross-platform consistency. A true validation exercise is not possible as there exist no reference aerosols data from thermal infrared measurements (around 10 μm). Therefore, the absolute value of the obtained AOD can not be validated, although the best possible evaluation is provided using data obtained in the visible spectral range.
Competing interests: At least one of the (co-)authors serves as editor for the special issue to which this paper belongs.
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