Atmospheric extinction between 055 μm and 106 μm due to soil-derived aerosols

Abstract

We have calculated the extinction expected for soil-derived aerosols for several laser wavelengths and have shown that these aerosols result in approximately neutral extinction between 0.55 microm and 10.6 microm. This result is valid whenever the extinction is due primarily to soil-derived aerosols, and it appears to be independent of whether the aerosols are of local origin. Comparison with visibility data shows that visibility reductions due to these aerosols are of relatively greater importance in arid or semiarid areas. Lower bounds on the frequency of occurrence of such visibility reductions may also be determined from analysis of visibility data.