{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,10]],"date-time":"2026-01-10T23:21:28Z","timestamp":1768087288631,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"22","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,17]],"date-time":"2021-11-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1637107200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002790","name":"Canadian Network for Research and Innovation in Machining Technology, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002790","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Aerosol optical depth is an important indicator of aerosol particle properties and their associated radiative impacts. AOD determination is very important to achieve relevant climate modelling. Most remote sensing techniques to retrieve aerosol optical depth are applicable to daytime given the high level of light available. The night represents half of the time but in such conditions only a few remote sensing methods are available. Among these approaches, the most reliable are moon photometers and star photometers. In this paper, we attempt to fill gaps in the aerosol detection performed with the aforementioned techniques using night sky brightness measurements during moonless nights with the novel CoSQM, a portable, low-cost and open-source multispectral photometer. In this paper, we present an innovative method for estimating the aerosol optical depth using an empirical relationship between the zenith night sky brightness measured at night with the CoSQM and the aerosol optical depth retrieved during daytime from the AErosol Robotic NETwork. Although the proposed method does not measure the AOD directly, an empirical relationship with the CE318-T is shown to give good results at the location of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Such a method is especially suited to light-polluted regions with light pollution sources located within a few kilometres of the observation site. A coherent day-to-night aerosol optical depth and \u00c5ngstr\u00f6m Exponent evolution in a set of 354 days and nights from August 2019 to February 2021 was verified at the location of Santa Cruz de Tenerife on the island of Tenerife, Spain. The preliminary uncertainty of this technique was evaluated using the variance under stable day-to-night conditions, set at 0.02 for aerosol optical depth and 0.75 for the \u00c5ngstr\u00f6m Exponent. These results indicate the set of CoSQM and the proposed methodology appear to be a promising tool, adding new information on the optical properties of aerosols at night, which could be of key importance in improving climate predictions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs13224623","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,17]],"date-time":"2021-11-17T09:16:11Z","timestamp":1637140571000},"page":"4623","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Remote Sensing of Aerosols at Night with the CoSQM Sky Brightness Data"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Charles","family":"Marseille","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"D\u00e9partement de G\u00e9omatique Appliqu\u00e9e, Universit\u00e9 de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1063-2154","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Martin","family":"Aub\u00e9","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"D\u00e9partement de G\u00e9omatique Appliqu\u00e9e, Universit\u00e9 de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada"},{"name":"C\u00e9gep de Sherbrooke, D\u00e9partement de G\u00e9omatique Appliqu\u00e9e, Universit\u00e9 de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC J1E 4K1, Canada"},{"name":"Physics Department, Bishop\u2019s University, Sherbrooke, QC J1M 1Z7, Canada"}]},{"given":"Africa","family":"Barreto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n Atmosf\u00e9rica de Iza\u00f1a, Agencia Estatal de Meteorolog\u00eda, 38001 Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain"}]},{"given":"Alexandre","family":"Simoneau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"D\u00e9partement de G\u00e9omatique Appliqu\u00e9e, Universit\u00e9 de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/S0034-4257(98)00031-5","article-title":"AERONET\u2014A federated instrument network and data archive for aerosol characterization","volume":"66","author":"Holben","year":"1998","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2989","DOI":"10.5194\/amt-6-2989-2013","article-title":"The Collection 6 MODIS aerosol products over land and ocean","volume":"6","author":"Levy","year":"2013","journal-title":"Atmos. Meas. Tech."},{"key":"ref_3","first-page":"1","article-title":"Accuracy in starphotometry","volume":"2021","author":"Baibakov","year":"2021","journal-title":"Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss."},{"key":"ref_4","first-page":"589012","article-title":"Light pollution modelling and detection in a heterogeneous environment: Toward a night-time aerosol optical depth retreival method","volume":"Volume 5890","author":"Houle","year":"2005","journal-title":"Atmospheric and Environmental Remote Sensing Data Processing and Utilization: Numerical Atmospheric Prediction and Environmental Monitoring"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"951","DOI":"10.1093\/mnras\/stab681","article-title":"Point spread functions for mapping artificial night sky luminance over large territories","volume":"504","author":"Simoneau","year":"2021","journal-title":"Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2966","DOI":"10.1093\/mnras\/stx145","article-title":"Sky Quality Meter measurements in a colour-changing world","volume":"467","author":"Zamorano","year":"2017","journal-title":"Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc."},{"key":"ref_7","unstructured":"Aub\u00e9, Martin (2021, January 08). CoSQM Webpage. Available online: https:\/\/lx02.cegepsherbrooke.qc.ca\/~aubema\/index.php\/Prof\/CoSQMEn."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"585","DOI":"10.5194\/amt-6-585-2013","article-title":"A new method for nocturnal aerosol measurements with a lunar photometer prototype","volume":"6","author":"Barreto","year":"2013","journal-title":"Atmos. Meas. Tech."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"631","DOI":"10.5194\/amt-9-631-2016","article-title":"The new sun-sky-lunar Cimel CE318-T multiband photometer\u2014A comprehensive performance evaluation","volume":"9","author":"Barreto","year":"2016","journal-title":"Atmos. Meas. Tech."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"169","DOI":"10.5194\/amt-12-169-2019","article-title":"Advancements in the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) Version 3 database\u2014Automated near-real-time quality control algorithm with improved cloud screening for Sun photometer aerosol optical depth (AOD) measurements","volume":"12","author":"Giles","year":"2019","journal-title":"Atmos. Meas. Tech."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1297","DOI":"10.1175\/JTECH-D-10-05036.1","article-title":"Nocturnal aerosol optical depth measurements with a small-aperture automated photometer using the moon as a light source","volume":"28","author":"Berkoff","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Atmos. Ocean. Technol."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7624","DOI":"10.1364\/AO.55.007624","article-title":"Simple transfer calibration method for a Cimel Sun\u2013MOON photometer: Calculating lunar calibration coefficients from Sun calibration constants","volume":"55","author":"Li","year":"2016","journal-title":"Appl. Opt."},{"key":"ref_13","unstructured":"Aeronet Technical Document (2021, January 08). Lunar Aerosol Optical Depth Computation, Available online: https:\/\/aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov\/new_web\/Documents\/Lunar_Algorithm_Draft_2019.pdf."},{"key":"ref_14","unstructured":"IARC (2021, January 08). IARC Webpage. Available online: http:\/\/izana.aemet.es."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"311","DOI":"10.1007\/s10546-015-0081-1","article-title":"Characterization of the Marine Boundary Layer and the Trade-Wind Inversion over the Sub-tropical North Atlantic","volume":"158","author":"Carrillo","year":"2016","journal-title":"Bound.-Layer Meteorol."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6663","DOI":"10.5194\/acp-11-6663-2011","article-title":"Transport of desert dust mixed with North African industrial pollutants in the subtropical Saharan Air Layer","volume":"11","author":"Alastuey","year":"2011","journal-title":"Atmos. Chem. Phys."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7471","DOI":"10.5194\/acp-15-7471-2015","article-title":"Modulation of Saharan dust export by the North African dipole","volume":"15","author":"Cuevas","year":"2015","journal-title":"Atmos. Chem. Phys."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4309","DOI":"10.5194\/amt-12-4309-2019","article-title":"Aerosol optical depth comparison between GAW-PFR and AERONET-Cimel radiometers from long-term (2005\u20132015) 1 min synchronous measurements","volume":"12","author":"Cuevas","year":"2019","journal-title":"Atmos. Meas. Tech."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3991","DOI":"10.5194\/acp-15-3991-2015","article-title":"The MACC-II 2007\u20132008 reanalysis: Atmospheric dust evaluation and characterization over northern Africa and the Middle East","volume":"15","author":"Cuevas","year":"2015","journal-title":"Atmos. Chem. Phys."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4907","DOI":"10.1016\/j.atmosenv.2011.06.002","article-title":"Ultrafine particles pollution in urban coastal air due to ship emissions","volume":"45","author":"Trujillo","year":"2011","journal-title":"Atmos. Environ."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8265","DOI":"10.5194\/acp-9-8265-2009","article-title":"Aerosol characterization in Northern Africa, Northeastern Atlantic, Mediterranean Basin and Middle East from direct-sun AERONET observations","volume":"9","author":"Basart","year":"2009","journal-title":"Atmos. Chem. Phys."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Milford, C., Cuevas, E., Marrero, C.L., Bustos, J., Gallo, V., Rodr\u00edguez, S., Romero-Campos, P.M., and Torres, C. (2020). Impacts of Desert Dust Outbreaks on Air Quality in Urban Areas. Atmosphere, 11.","DOI":"10.3390\/atmos11010023"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6523","DOI":"10.1016\/j.atmosenv.2008.04.022","article-title":"Influence of sea breeze circulation and road traffic emissions on the relationship between particle number, black carbon, PM1, PM2.5 and PM2.5\u201310 concentrations in a coastal city","volume":"42","author":"Cuevas","year":"2008","journal-title":"Atmos. Environ."},{"key":"ref_24","unstructured":"Guirado-Fuentes, C. (2015). Caracterizaci\u00f3n de las Propiedades de los Aerosoles en Columna en la Regi\u00f3n Subtropical. [Ph.D. Thesis, Universidad de Valladolid]."},{"key":"ref_25","unstructured":"WMO (2014). Commission for Instruments and Methods of Observation, Sixteenth Session WMO no.1138, Secretariat of the World Meteorological Organization."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2501","DOI":"10.1093\/mnras\/staa2113","article-title":"Restoring the night sky darkness at Observatorio del Teide: First application of the model Illumina version 2","volume":"497","author":"Simoneau","year":"2020","journal-title":"Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e1600377","DOI":"10.1126\/sciadv.1600377","article-title":"The new world atlas of artificial night sky brightness","volume":"2","author":"Falchi","year":"2016","journal-title":"Sci. Adv."},{"key":"ref_28","unstructured":"Rhodes, B. (2021, January 08). Skyfield: High Precision Research-Grade Positions for Planets and Earth Satellites Generator, Available online: http:\/\/xxx.lanl.gov\/abs\/1907.024."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4398","DOI":"10.1093\/mnras\/stz3406","article-title":"Multispectral analysis of the night sky brightness and its origin for the Asiago Observatory, Italy","volume":"491","author":"Simoneau","year":"2019","journal-title":"Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"701","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2966.2012.21559.x","article-title":"Red is the new black: How the colour of urban skyglow varies with cloud cover","volume":"425","author":"Kyba","year":"2012","journal-title":"Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4328","DOI":"10.1016\/j.atmosenv.2006.03.036","article-title":"Influences of relative humidity on aerosol optical properties and aerosol radiative forcing during ACE-Asia","volume":"40","author":"Yoon","year":"2006","journal-title":"Atmos. Environ."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lolli, S., Vivone, G., Lewis, J., Sicard, M., Welton, E., Campbell, J., Comeron, A., D\u2019Adderio, L., Tokay, A., and Giunta, A. (2019). Overview of the New Version 3 NASA Micro-Pulse Lidar Network (MPLNET) Automatic Precipitation Detection Algorithm. Remote Sens., 12.","DOI":"10.3390\/rs12010071"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"481","DOI":"10.5194\/acp-8-481-2008","article-title":"Some considerations about \u00c5ngstr\u00f6m exponent distributions","volume":"8","author":"Wagner","year":"2008","journal-title":"Atmos. Chem. Phys."},{"key":"ref_34","first-page":"1","article-title":"Long-term characterisation of the vertical structure of Saharan dust outbreaks over the Canary Islands using lidar and radiosondes profiles: Implications for radiative and cloud processes over the subtropical Atlantic Ocean","volume":"2021","author":"Barreto","year":"2021","journal-title":"Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"25","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jqsrt.2018.02.033","article-title":"New features to the night sky radiance model illumina: Hyperspectral support, improved obstacles and cloud reflection","volume":"211","author":"Simoneau","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Transf."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6293","DOI":"10.5194\/amt-13-6293-2020","article-title":"Correction of a lunar-irradiance model for aerosol optical depth retrieval and comparison with a star photometer","volume":"13","author":"Toledano","year":"2020","journal-title":"Atmos. Meas. Tech."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Tscharntke, T., Hochberg, M.E., Rand, T.A., Resh, V.H., and Krauss, J. (2007). Author sequence and credit for contributions in multiauthored publications. PLoS Biol., 5.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pbio.0050018"}],"container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/13\/22\/4623\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T07:31:29Z","timestamp":1760167889000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/13\/22\/4623"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,17]]},"references-count":37,"journal-issue":{"issue":"22","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,11]]}},"alternative-id":["rs13224623"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/rs13224623","relation":{},"ISSN":["2072-4292"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2072-4292","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,17]]}}}