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Sea basing operations in coastal environments require a rapid and accurate description of the physical conditions in
the region. Battlespace characterization and sensor performance assist in optimizing the efficiency and safety of
operations, of which the detection of targets at low level above the sea surface is all-important. The environmental
conditions of the marine boundary layer (MBL) - due to weather and atmospheric effects - change continuously in
space and time, which certainly holds for the aerosol make-up. Models have been developed to describe the electro-optical
propagation in the boundary layer as a function of meteorological parameters. EOSTAR is such an end-to-end
model suite for EO sensor performance in which the Advanced Navy Aerosol Model (ANAM) is embedded for
computing the aerosol extinction. While ANAM provides favourable results in open ocean conditions, in coastal
zones the model lacks accuracy due to the presence of aerosols from a variety of sources that need to be assessed. In
offshore wind conditions continental aerosols of anthropogenic and natural origin mix with marine aerosols
produced in the surf zone and by wave breaking further offshore. Radiometers on satellites can be used to retrieve
the spatial variation over an extended area determined by the swath width, with a resolution determined by the
radiometer pixel size. In this contribution we explore the potential of satellite measurements to provide information
on the aerosol properties over the range of interest in order to correctly handle their influence on transmission
characteristics in the coastal zone. Results from measurements of the multidisciplinary Maritime REA/Battlespace
Preparation 2007 trial, held during 20 April and 5 May 2007 near the vicinity of the island Elba along the west coast
of Italy, are presented in this analysis. For one particular day, the satellite retrieved aerosol optical thickness (AOT)
is to be compared with hand-held sun photometer measurements for quality assessment. The AOT values are
converted into aerosol extinction coefficients for a pre-defined path. For one visible wavelength channel the
transmission loss is computed with these coefficients and is compared with the computed transmission loss for the
path in case of a) a single extinction coefficient obtained from measurements and b) a modeled extinction coefficient
obtained from ANAM.
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