Dear Jethro,

A Google search of the Web for "aerosol particle size distribution and wavelength dependence of aerosol optical depth" led to 326,000 publications on that topic... So there is no lack of literature on that topic.

If the problem is information overload, then you may want to sift those materials by looking first at reputable web sites specializing on these aerosol properties. Here are some leads:

- The NASA-led AERONET project (http://aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov) is arguably the best source of information on aerosol measurement obtained from surface stations.

- The NASA JPL-based MISR project (http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov) describes an instrument that has been operational since late February 2000 on the Terra platform, which is dedicated to atmospheric aerosols and clouds.

- NASA Goddard operates two MODIS instruments (http://modis-atmos.gsfc.nasa.gov/MOD04_L2/), hosted on Terra and Aqua, that generate aerosols products (in addition to many other products).

- The ESA Climate Change Initiative (CCI: http://www.esa-aerosol-cci.org) coordinates a number of activities linked to aerosols.

These sites all have dedicated "Publications" web pages (or anyway provide access to numerous contributions), where you'll find what you need.

Good luck with your explorations. Michel.

Hi Jethro

I would suggest to read this article 

http://aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov/new_web/PDF/1999JD900923.pdf

@ Michel: Of course I did several internet and literature seaches before asking the question. But it is indeed difficult to see the forest through the trees when you are not from the field.

Hi Jethro,

Ok, understood. There are a few introductory documents on this matter, including

http://aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov/new_web/Documents/Aerosol_Optical_Depth.pdf

which points to the 1999 paper by Eck mentioned earlier by Levan. Here is a rather more recent article that may be of interest:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1875963713000736

And here are two other contributions you may want to check out:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1256/qj.05.183/asset/200613262006_ftp.pdf;jsessionid=20F87C8991BFF903EE05AD65979EDD31.f02t03?v=1&t=ius7mw49&s=96eebe22f0407afb1a3800b0f7bd4e81a4633ea1

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02786826.2011.601774

Good luck. Michel.

Hi Jethro,

I found some other papers of relevance to your question:

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20080015843.pdf

(this is a draft, I don't know whether it has been published in final form), and

http://modis-atmos.gsfc.nasa.gov/_docs/Dubovik%20et%20al.%20(2000).pdf

The following paper is available as a "discussion" draft, but may also be useful:

http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/7/7347/2007/acpd-7-7347-2007-print.pdf

while the next paper looks specifically at multiple aerosol sources (in India):

http://www.atmos.umd.edu/~russ/giles_etal_India_2012.pdf

Best regards, Michel.

Hi Michel, Thanks for the work you did for me. I actually know some of the papers you suggested, but there are also some new ones that look promising.  However, I had hoped that there would be some overview article or textbook that would bind all the fragments together. But I guess I will have to put in some more time and do the defragmentation myself. ;-)