Determination of the concentration of aerosol particles in a vertical atmospheric column from satellite measurements of the spectral optical depth

We propose a method for fast retrieval of the inhalable particle concentration (PM_2.5 and PM₁₀) in a vertical atmospheric column from satellite measurements of the aerosol optical depth (AOD) without using a priori assumptions concerning the refractive index and the aerosol particle size distribution function. The method is based on a polynomial regression between PM_2.5, PM₁₀, and AOD at the wavelengths 466 nm and 644 nm, established from AERONET data. We have studied the sensitivity of the method to errors in the optical measurements and have estimated the errors in retrieval of PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ for different atmospheric situations. We carry out parametrization of the regressions on the value of the integrated air moisture content.