Figure 3. a) MODIS Aqua RGB composite image at approximately 1450 UTC on 19 August 2006 with the CALIPSO transect in black. The flight track of the DC-8 aircraft on this day is shown in red with the blue section indicating an ascent leg of the track that we use to evaluate the satellite data constraint technique. NCEP Reanalysis wind vectors at 700 hPa are shown by the white arrows. b) 532 nm attenuated backscatter measurements from CALIOP taken along the transect in panel (a) which took measurements at about the same time as MODIS. Clouds generally have higher backscatter values and are depicted in blue while dust generally has lower backscatter values and are depicted in orange and red colors. c) CALIPSO vertical feature mask (VFM) that classifies the features the CALIOP lidar detects in panel (b) where clouds are colored in light blue, aerosols are colored in orange, and the color black means the lidar signal is completely attenuated.
