LAUSR

Abstract Over the last two decades, a number of space-borne sensors have been used to retrieve aerosol optical depth (AOD). The reliability of these datasets over East Africa (EA), however, is an important issue in the interpretation of regional aerosol variability. This study provides an intercomparison and validation of AOD retrievals from the MODIS-Terra (DT and DB), MISR and OMI sensors against ground-based measurements from the AERONET over three sites (CRPSM_Malindi, Nairobi, and ICIPE_Mbita) in Kenya, EA during the periods 2008–2013, 2005–2009 and 2006–2015, respectively. The analysis revealed that MISR performed better over the three sites with about 82.5% of paired AOD data falling within the error envelope (EE). MODIS-DT showed good agreement against AERONET with 59.05% of paired AOD falling within the sensor EE over terrestrial surfaces with relatively high vegetation cover. The comparison between MODIS-DB and AERONET revealed an overall lower performance with lower Gfraction (48.93%) and lower correlation r  = 0.58; while AOD retrieved from OMI showed less correspondence with AERONET data with lower Gfraction (68.89%) and lowest correlation r  = 0.31. The monthly evaluation of AODs retrieved from the sensors against AERONET AOD indicates that MODIS-DT has the best performance over the three sites with highest correlation (0.71–0.84), lowest RMSE and spread closer to the AERONET. Regarding seasonal analysis, MISR performed well during most seasons over Nairobi and Mbita; while MODIS-DT performed better than all other sensors during most seasons over Malindi. Furthermore, the best seasonal performance of most sensors relative to AERONET data occurred during June–August (JJA) attributed to modulations induced by a precipitation-vegetation factor to AOD satellite retrieval algorithms. The study revealed the strength and weakness of each of the retrieval algorithm and forms the basis for further research on the validation of satellite retrieved aerosol products over EA.