Recently, Professor Yang Dazhi of our school and his collaborator Dr. Christian A. Gueymard, former senior consultant of the National New Energy Laboratory of the United States, jointly completed the paper Worldwide validation of CAMS and MERRA-2 reanalysis aerosol optical depth products using 15 years of AERONET observations. It won the 2025 Haagen-Smit Award, the only award-winning paper in the world that year.
This paper focuses on the global verification of aerosol optical thickness (AOD), which provides a reliable data source for areas lacking ground observation data. In view of the pain point of the lack of ground measured data in the global challenge of air pollution, Professor Yang Dazhi's team carried out detailed quality assessment and altitude correction on two reanalysis models: CAMS of the European Medium-term Weather Forecast Center (ECMWF) and MERRA-2 of NASA. Relying on 793 AERONET sites and about 1.8 million valid data points around the world, the research has obtained detailed regional and global comparison results, which provides a reliable basis for global scholars and policymakers to choose the best data sources at different scales.
Anthony S. Wexler, chairman of the jury of the award and distinguished professor at the University of California, Davis, emphasized the significance of this paper in his award speech. The jury pointed out that this highly cited paper not only has great global application value for areas lacking ground observations, but also its strict control of data quality is impressive. It is particularly worth mentioning that this paper greatly facilitates the use of its data and code by researchers around the world to conduct further research.
Surface Datum Radiation Observation Station and Automatic Aerosol Station in Wuying Town, Yichun City, Heilongjiang Province
It is understood that the Haagen-Smit Award is named after Professor Arie Jan Haagen-Smit, a pioneer of air pollution research. It is specially awarded to papers published in Atmospheric Environment in the past ten years and having a profound impact on related fields. Only one or two papers are selected worldwide every year, which is the top international award in the field of Atmospheric and environmental science.
Preliminary examination: Liu Yi
Review: Ye Xuerong
Final judgment: Nie Qiuyue
