AERONET Project with the collaboration of NASA

Project Description: NUST takes another giant leap in environmental monitoring, becoming home to Pakistan’s third AERONET (Aerosol Robotic Network) instrument. This cutting-edge network uses a network of sun/sky radiometers to track tiny particles called aerosols that can significantly impact air quality and climate. Professor Dr Fahim Khokhar from the Institute of Environmental Science & Engineering (IESE) of NUST School of Civil and Environmental Engineering (SCEE) is the leading country scientist engaged by NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 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 (e.g., RIMA, AeroSpan, AEROCAN, AEROSPAIN, NEON, and CARSNET) and collaborators from national agencies, institutes, universities, individual scientists, and partners. It continuously monitors Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD), a measure of the amount of light absorbed and scattered by aerosols in the atmosphere. This data is used for analyzing trends in AOD, characterizing the optical properties of aerosols, and validating retrievals of aerosol properties from satellites.
Principal Investigator: Prof. Dr. Fahim Khokhar
Funding Source: NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Contact Information for further inquiries: [email protected]