AERONET Direct Sun AOD Dataset — Version 3

The AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) program is a federation of ground-based remote sensing aerosol networks established by NASA and PHOTONS (PHOtométrie pour le Traitement Opérationnel de Normalisation Satellitaire; Univ. of Lille 1, CNES, and CNRS-INSU) and is greatly expanded by networks, calibration centers, and collaborators (e.g., RIMA, AeroSpan, APAC, AEROCAN, AEROSPAIN, NEON, and CARSNET) from national agencies, institutes, universities, individual scientists, and partners. For more than 25 years, the project has provided long-term, continuous, and readily accessible public domain database of aerosol optical, microphysical and radiative properties for aerosol research and characterization, validation of satellite retrievals, and synergism with other databases. The network imposes standardization of instruments, calibration, processing and distribution.