Effect of Urban Growth on Aerosol Optical Depth—Tucson, Arizona, 35 Years Later

Abstract

ultiwavelength solar irradiance measurements between 400 and 900 nm were made on cloudless days in Tucson, Arizona, over a 30-month period between March 2010 and August 2012. They were analyzed to simultaneously retrieve aerosol optical depth (AOD) and ozone column abundance and to examine their monthly variation. These retrievals were compared with results from a similar study done at the same location between 1975 and 1977. The near tripling of population in Tucson over the past 35 years may have contributed to a 19% increase in the AOD, and the annual-mean ozone column abundance was found to be 11% lower than that inferred during the mid-1970s.