Articles | Volume 16, issue 15
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-10111-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-10111-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
11 Aug 2016
Research article |
| 11 Aug 2016
Atmospheric CH4 and CO2 enhancements and biomass burning emission ratios derived from satellite observations of the 2015 Indonesian fire plumes
Earth Observation Science, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
NERC National Centre for Earth Observation, UK
Hartmut Boesch
Earth Observation Science, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
NERC National Centre for Earth Observation, UK
Martin J. Wooster
King's College London, Department of Geography, London, UK
NERC National Centre for Earth Observation, UK
David P. Moore
Earth Observation Science, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
NERC National Centre for Earth Observation, UK
Alex J. Webb
Earth Observation Science, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
David Gaveau
Center for International Forestry Research, P.O. Box 0113 BOCBD, Bogor, Indonesia
Daniel Murdiyarso
Center for International Forestry Research, P.O. Box 0113 BOCBD, Bogor, Indonesia
Department of Geophysics and Meteorology, Bogor Agricultural University, Bogor, Indonesia
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Using data from the GOSAT satellite between 2010 and 2016 and a Bayesian inversion approach, we estimate monthly emissions of methane from tropical Africa. We find an increase in methane emissions during this period, driven in part by rising emissions from South Sudan. Using ancillary data we attribute this short-term emissions rise to an increase in the extent of the Sudd wetlands driven by increased outflow from the East African lakes.
Bo Zheng, Frederic Chevallier, Yi Yin, Philippe Ciais, Audrey Fortems-Cheiney, Merritt N. Deeter, Robert J. Parker, Yilong Wang, Helen M. Worden, and Yuanhong Zhao
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 1411–1436, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-1411-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-1411-2019, 2019
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We use a multi-species atmospheric Bayesian inversion approach to attribute satellite-observed atmospheric carbon monoxide (CO) variations to its sources and sinks in order to achieve a full closure of the global CO budget during 2000–2017. We identify a declining trend in the global CO budget since 2000, driven by reduced anthropogenic emissions in the US, Europe, and China, as well as by reduced biomass burning emissions globally, especially in equatorial Africa.
Joannes D. Maasakkers, Daniel J. Jacob, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Tia R. Scarpelli, Hannah Nesser, Jian-Xiong Sheng, Yuzhong Zhang, Monica Hersher, A. Anthony Bloom, Kevin W. Bowman, John R. Worden, Greet Janssens-Maenhout, and Robert J. Parker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 7859–7881, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7859-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7859-2019, 2019
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We use 2010–2015 satellite observations of atmospheric methane to improve estimates of methane emissions and their trends, as well as the concentration and trend of tropospheric OH (hydroxyl radical, methane's main sink). We find overestimates of Chinese coal and Middle East oil/gas emissions in the prior estimate. The 2010–2015 growth in methane is attributed to an increase in emissions from India, China, and areas with large tropical wetlands. The contribution from OH is small in comparison.
Joe McNorton, Chris Wilson, Manuel Gloor, Rob J. Parker, Hartmut Boesch, Wuhu Feng, Ryan Hossaini, and Martyn P. Chipperfield
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 18149–18168, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-18149-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-18149-2018, 2018
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Since 2007 atmospheric methane (CH4) has been unexpectedly increasing following a 6-year hiatus. We have used an atmospheric model to attribute regional sources and global sinks of CH4 using observations for the 2003–2015 period. Model results show the renewed growth is best explained by decreased atmospheric removal, decreased biomass burning emissions, and an increased energy sector (mainly from Africa–Middle East and Southern Asia–Oceania) and wetland emissions (mainly from northern Eurasia).
Michael Buchwitz, Maximilian Reuter, Oliver Schneising, Stefan Noël, Bettina Gier, Heinrich Bovensmann, John P. Burrows, Hartmut Boesch, Jasdeep Anand, Robert J. Parker, Peter Somkuti, Rob G. Detmers, Otto P. Hasekamp, Ilse Aben, André Butz, Akihiko Kuze, Hiroshi Suto, Yukio Yoshida, David Crisp, and Christopher O'Dell
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 17355–17370, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-17355-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-17355-2018, 2018
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We present a new satellite data set of column-averaged mixing ratios of carbon dioxide (CO2), which covers the time period 2003 to 2016. We used this data set to compute annual mean atmospheric CO2 growth rates. We show that the growth rate is highest during 2015 and 2016 despite nearly constant CO2 emissions from fossil fuel burning in recent years. The high growth rates are attributed to year 2015-2016 El Nino episodes. We present correlations with fossil fuel emissions and ENSO indices.
Jian-Xiong Sheng, Daniel J. Jacob, Alexander J. Turner, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Joshua Benmergui, A. Anthony Bloom, Claudia Arndt, Ritesh Gautam, Daniel Zavala-Araiza, Hartmut Boesch, and Robert J. Parker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 12257–12267, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-12257-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-12257-2018, 2018
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Analysis of 7 years (2010–2016) of GOSAT methane trends over Canada, the contiguous US, and Mexico suggests that US methane emissions increased by 2.5 ± 1.4 % a−1 over the 7-year period, with contributions from both oil–gas systems and livestock in the Midwest. Mexican emissions show a decrease that can be attributed to a decreasing cattle population. Canadian emissions show year-to-year variability driven by wetland emissions and correlated with wetland areal extent.
Paul I. Palmer, Simon O'Doherty, Grant Allen, Keith Bower, Hartmut Bösch, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Sarah Connors, Sandip Dhomse, Liang Feng, Douglas P. Finch, Martin W. Gallagher, Emanuel Gloor, Siegfried Gonzi, Neil R. P. Harris, Carole Helfter, Neil Humpage, Brian Kerridge, Diane Knappett, Roderic L. Jones, Michael Le Breton, Mark F. Lunt, Alistair J. Manning, Stephan Matthiesen, Jennifer B. A. Muller, Neil Mullinger, Eiko Nemitz, Sebastian O'Shea, Robert J. Parker, Carl J. Percival, Joseph Pitt, Stuart N. Riddick, Matthew Rigby, Harjinder Sembhi, Richard Siddans, Robert L. Skelton, Paul Smith, Hannah Sonderfeld, Kieran Stanley, Ann R. Stavert, Angelina Wenger, Emily White, Christopher Wilson, and Dickon Young
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 11753–11777, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11753-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11753-2018, 2018
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This paper provides an overview of the Greenhouse gAs Uk and Global Emissions (GAUGE) experiment. GAUGE was designed to quantify nationwide GHG emissions of the UK, bringing together measurements and atmospheric transport models. This novel experiment is the first of its kind. We anticipate it will inform the blueprint for countries that are building a measurement infrastructure in preparation for global stocktakes, which are a key part of the Paris Agreement.
Richard Siddans, Diane Knappett, Brian Kerridge, Alison Waterfall, Jane Hurley, Barry Latter, Hartmut Boesch, and Robert Parker
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 4135–4164, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4135-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4135-2017, 2017
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This paper describes an algorithm to infer the global atmospheric distribution of the greenhouse gas methane, from measurements made by the infrared, nadir-viewing spectrometer IASI, on board the MetOp polar orbiting satellites. The algorithm has been applied to 9 years of data. Results are presented and validated by comparison to independent measurements.
Michael Buchwitz, Oliver Schneising, Maximilian Reuter, Jens Heymann, Sven Krautwurst, Heinrich Bovensmann, John P. Burrows, Hartmut Boesch, Robert J. Parker, Peter Somkuti, Rob G. Detmers, Otto P. Hasekamp, Ilse Aben, André Butz, Christian Frankenberg, and Alexander J. Turner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 5751–5774, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5751-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5751-2017, 2017
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Methane is an important greenhouse gas and increasing atmospheric concentrations result in global warming. We present a simple method to derive annual methane emission estimates of methane hotspot areas from satellite data. We present results for four source areas. We found that our estimates are in good agreement with other studies/data sets for the Four Corners region in the USA and for Azerbaijan but we also found higher emissions for parts of California and Turkmenistan.
Liang Feng, Paul I. Palmer, Hartmut Bösch, Robert J. Parker, Alex J. Webb, Caio S. C. Correia, Nicholas M. Deutscher, Lucas G. Domingues, Dietrich G. Feist, Luciana V. Gatti, Emanuel Gloor, Frank Hase, Rigel Kivi, Yi Liu, John B. Miller, Isamu Morino, Ralf Sussmann, Kimberly Strong, Osamu Uchino, Jing Wang, and Andreas Zahn
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 4781–4797, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4781-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4781-2017, 2017
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We use the GEOS-Chem global 3-D model of atmospheric chemistry and transport and an ensemble Kalman filter to simultaneously infer regional fluxes of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from GOSAT retrievals of XCH4:XCO2, using sparse ground-based CH4 and CO2 mole fraction data to anchor the ratio. Our results show that assimilation of GOSAT data significantly reduced the posterior uncertainty and changed the a priori spatial distribution of CH4 emissions.
Dmitry A. Belikov, Shamil Maksyutov, Alexander Ganshin, Ruslan Zhuravlev, Nicholas M. Deutscher, Debra Wunch, Dietrich G. Feist, Isamu Morino, Robert J. Parker, Kimberly Strong, Yukio Yoshida, Andrey Bril, Sergey Oshchepkov, Hartmut Boesch, Manvendra K. Dubey, David Griffith, Will Hewson, Rigel Kivi, Joseph Mendonca, Justus Notholt, Matthias Schneider, Ralf Sussmann, Voltaire A. Velazco, and Shuji Aoki
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 143–157, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-143-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-143-2017, 2017
L. Feng, P. I. Palmer, R. J. Parker, N. M. Deutscher, D. G. Feist, R. Kivi, I. Morino, and R. Sussmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 1289–1302, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-1289-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-1289-2016, 2016
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There is an on-going debate on the larger European biospheric uptake inferred from GOSAT XCO2 retrievals than those inferred from in situ data. Using a set of 15 experiments, we found that the elevated uptake over Europe could largely be explained by mis-fitting data due to regional XCO2 biases: 50–80 % of the elevated European uptake is due to retrievals outside the immediate European; and a varying monthly bias of up to 0.5 ppm for XCO2 retrievals over Europe could explain most of the remainder.
H. Lindqvist, C. W. O'Dell, S. Basu, H. Boesch, F. Chevallier, N. Deutscher, L. Feng, B. Fisher, F. Hase, M. Inoue, R. Kivi, I. Morino, P. I. Palmer, R. Parker, M. Schneider, R. Sussmann, and Y. Yoshida
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 13023–13040, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-13023-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-13023-2015, 2015
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Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration varies seasonally mainly due to plant photosynthesis in the Northern Hemisphere. We found that the satellite GOSAT can capture this variability from space to within 1ppm. We also found that models can differ by more than 1ppm. This implies that the satellite measurements could be useful in evaluating models and their prior estimates of carbon dioxide sources and sinks.
R. J. Parker, H. Boesch, K. Byckling, A. J. Webb, P. I. Palmer, L. Feng, P. Bergamaschi, F. Chevallier, J. Notholt, N. Deutscher, T. Warneke, F. Hase, R. Sussmann, S. Kawakami, R. Kivi, D. W. T. Griffith, and V. Velazco
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 4785–4801, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4785-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4785-2015, 2015
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Atmospheric CH4 is an important greenhouse gas. Long-term global observations are necessary to understand its behaviour, with satellite observations playing a key role. The "proxy" retrieval method is one of the most successful but relies on the contribution from atmospheric CO2 models. This work assesses the significance of the uncertainty from the model CO2 within the retrieval and determines that despite this uncertainty the data are still valuable for determining sources and sinks of CH4.
A. Berchet, I. Pison, F. Chevallier, J.-D. Paris, P. Bousquet, J.-L. Bonne, M. Y. Arshinov, B. D. Belan, C. Cressot, D. K. Davydov, E. J. Dlugokencky, A. V. Fofonov, A. Galanin, J. Lavrič, T. Machida, R. Parker, M. Sasakawa, R. Spahni, B. D. Stocker, and J. Winderlich
Biogeosciences, 12, 5393–5414, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-5393-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-5393-2015, 2015
J. R. Worden, A. J. Turner, A. Bloom, S. S. Kulawik, J. Liu, M. Lee, R. Weidner, K. Bowman, C. Frankenberg, R. Parker, and V. H. Payne
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 3433–3445, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-3433-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-3433-2015, 2015
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Here we demonstrate the potential for estimating lower tropospheric CH4 concentrations through the combination of free-tropospheric methane measurements from the Aura Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) and XCH4 (dry-mole air fraction of methane) from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite - Thermal And Near-infrared for carbon Observation (GOSAT TANSO).
A. J. Turner, D. J. Jacob, K. J. Wecht, J. D. Maasakkers, E. Lundgren, A. E. Andrews, S. C. Biraud, H. Boesch, K. W. Bowman, N. M. Deutscher, M. K. Dubey, D. W. T. Griffith, F. Hase, A. Kuze, J. Notholt, H. Ohyama, R. Parker, V. H. Payne, R. Sussmann, C. Sweeney, V. A. Velazco, T. Warneke, P. O. Wennberg, and D. Wunch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 7049–7069, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-7049-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-7049-2015, 2015
M. Alexe, P. Bergamaschi, A. Segers, R. Detmers, A. Butz, O. Hasekamp, S. Guerlet, R. Parker, H. Boesch, C. Frankenberg, R. A. Scheepmaker, E. Dlugokencky, C. Sweeney, S. C. Wofsy, and E. A. Kort
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 113–133, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-113-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-113-2015, 2015
M. Reuter, M. Buchwitz, M. Hilker, J. Heymann, O. Schneising, D. Pillai, H. Bovensmann, J. P. Burrows, H. Bösch, R. Parker, A. Butz, O. Hasekamp, C. W. O'Dell, Y. Yoshida, C. Gerbig, T. Nehrkorn, N. M. Deutscher, T. Warneke, J. Notholt, F. Hase, R. Kivi, R. Sussmann, T. Machida, H. Matsueda, and Y. Sawa
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 13739–13753, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-13739-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-13739-2014, 2014
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Current knowledge about the European terrestrial biospheric carbon sink relies upon bottom-up and global surface flux inverse model estimates using in situ measurements. Our analysis of five satellite data sets comprises a regional inversion designed to be insensitive to potential retrieval biases and transport errors. We show that the satellite-derived sink is larger (1.0±0.3GtC/a) than previous estimates (0.4±0.4GtC/a).
A. Fraser, P. I. Palmer, L. Feng, H. Bösch, R. Parker, E. J. Dlugokencky, P. B. Krummel, and R. L. Langenfelds
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 12883–12895, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-12883-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-12883-2014, 2014
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Satellite measurements of CO2 and CH4 can be subject to regional systematic errors that can consequently compromise their ability to infer robust flux estimates of these two gases. We develop a method to use retrieved ratios of CH4 and CO2 that are less affected by systematic error. We show that additional in situ data are needed to anchor these observed ratios so they can simultaneously infer fluxes of CO2 and CH4. We argue the ratio data will provide a more faithful description of true fluxes.
K. J. Wecht, D. J. Jacob, M. P. Sulprizio, G. W. Santoni, S. C. Wofsy, R. Parker, H. Bösch, and J. Worden
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 8173–8184, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-8173-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-8173-2014, 2014
B. Dils, M. Buchwitz, M. Reuter, O. Schneising, H. Boesch, R. Parker, S. Guerlet, I. Aben, T. Blumenstock, J. P. Burrows, A. Butz, N. M. Deutscher, C. Frankenberg, F. Hase, O. P. Hasekamp, J. Heymann, M. De Mazière, J. Notholt, R. Sussmann, T. Warneke, D. Griffith, V. Sherlock, and D. Wunch
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 1723–1744, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1723-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1723-2014, 2014
Haolin Wang, William Maslanka, Paul I. Palmer, Martin J. Wooster, Haofan Wang, Fei Yao, Liang Feng, Kai Wu, Xiao Lu, and Shaojia Fan
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2594, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2594, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
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We examine the impact of diurnally varying African biomass burning (BB) emissions on tropospheric ozone using GEOS-Chem simulations with a high-resolution satellite-derived emission inventory. Compared to coarser temporal resolutions, incorporating diurnal variations leads to significant changes in surface ozone and atmospheric oxidation capacity. Our findings highlight the importance of accurately representing BB emission timing in chemical transport models to improve ozone predictions.
Marielle Saunois, Adrien Martinez, Benjamin Poulter, Zhen Zhang, Peter A. Raymond, Pierre Regnier, Josep G. Canadell, Robert B. Jackson, Prabir K. Patra, Philippe Bousquet, Philippe Ciais, Edward J. Dlugokencky, Xin Lan, George H. Allen, David Bastviken, David J. Beerling, Dmitry A. Belikov, Donald R. Blake, Simona Castaldi, Monica Crippa, Bridget R. Deemer, Fraser Dennison, Giuseppe Etiope, Nicola Gedney, Lena Höglund-Isaksson, Meredith A. Holgerson, Peter O. Hopcroft, Gustaf Hugelius, Akihiko Ito, Atul K. Jain, Rajesh Janardanan, Matthew S. Johnson, Thomas Kleinen, Paul B. Krummel, Ronny Lauerwald, Tingting Li, Xiangyu Liu, Kyle C. McDonald, Joe R. Melton, Jens Mühle, Jurek Müller, Fabiola Murguia-Flores, Yosuke Niwa, Sergio Noce, Shufen Pan, Robert J. Parker, Changhui Peng, Michel Ramonet, William J. Riley, Gerard Rocher-Ros, Judith A. Rosentreter, Motoki Sasakawa, Arjo Segers, Steven J. Smith, Emily H. Stanley, Joël Thanwerdas, Hanqin Tian, Aki Tsuruta, Francesco N. Tubiello, Thomas S. Weber, Guido R. van der Werf, Douglas E. J. Worthy, Yi Xi, Yukio Yoshida, Wenxin Zhang, Bo Zheng, Qing Zhu, Qiuan Zhu, and Qianlai Zhuang
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 1873–1958, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-1873-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-1873-2025, 2025
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Methane (CH4) is the second most important human-influenced greenhouse gas in terms of climate forcing after carbon dioxide (CO2). A consortium of multi-disciplinary scientists synthesise and update the budget of the sources and sinks of CH4. This edition benefits from important progress in estimating emissions from lakes and ponds, reservoirs, and streams and rivers. For the 2010s decade, global CH4 emissions are estimated at 575 Tg CH4 yr-1, including ~65 % from anthropogenic sources.
Sarah E. Hancock, Daniel J. Jacob, Zichong Chen, Hannah Nesser, Aaron Davitt, Daniel J. Varon, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Nicholas Balasus, Lucas A. Estrada, María Cazorla, Laura Dawidowski, Sebastián Diez, James D. East, Elise Penn, Cynthia A. Randles, John Worden, Ilse Aben, Robert J. Parker, and Joannes D. Maasakkers
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 797–817, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-797-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-797-2025, 2025
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We quantify 2021 methane emissions in South America at up to 25 km × 25 km resolution using satellite methane observations. We find a 55 % upward adjustment to anthropogenic emission inventories, including those reported to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change under the Paris Agreement. Our estimates match inventories for Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay but are much higher for other countries. Livestock emissions (65 % of anthropogenic emissions) show the largest discrepancies.
Farrer Owsley-Brown, Martin J. Wooster, Mark J. Grosvenor, and Yanan Liu
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6247–6264, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6247-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6247-2024, 2024
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Landscape fires produce vast amounts of smoke, affecting the atmosphere locally and globally. Whether a fire is flaming or smouldering strongly impacts the rate at which smoke is produced as well as its composition. This study tested two methods to determine these combustion phases in laboratory fires and compared them to the smoke emitted. One of these methods improved estimates of smoke emission significantly. This suggests potential for improvement in global emission estimates.
Brian Nathan, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Stijn Naus, Ritesh Gautam, Mark Omara, Daniel J. Varon, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Lucas A. Estrada, Alba Lorente, Tobias Borsdorff, Robert J. Parker, and Ilse Aben
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6845–6863, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6845-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6845-2024, 2024
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Venezuela's Lake Maracaibo region is notoriously hard to observe from space and features intensive oil exploitation, although production has strongly decreased in recent years. We estimate methane emissions using 2018–2020 TROPOMI satellite observations with national and regional transport models. Despite the production decrease, we find relatively constant emissions from Lake Maracaibo between 2018 and 2020, indicating that there could be large emissions from abandoned infrastructure.
Lee de Mora, Ranjini Swaminathan, Richard P. Allan, Jerry C. Blackford, Douglas I. Kelley, Phil Harris, Chris D. Jones, Colin G. Jones, Spencer Liddicoat, Robert J. Parker, Tristan Quaife, Jeremy Walton, and Andrew Yool
Earth Syst. Dynam., 14, 1295–1315, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-1295-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-1295-2023, 2023
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We investigate the flux of carbon from the atmosphere into the land surface and ocean for multiple models and over a range of future scenarios. We did this by comparing simulations after the same change in the global-mean near-surface temperature. Using this method, we show that the choice of scenario can impact the carbon allocation to the land, ocean, and atmosphere. Scenarios with higher emissions reach the same warming levels sooner, but also with relatively more carbon in the atmosphere.
Roland Vernooij, Tom Eames, Jeremy Russell-Smith, Cameron Yates, Robin Beatty, Jay Evans, Andrew Edwards, Natasha Ribeiro, Martin Wooster, Tercia Strydom, Marcos Vinicius Giongo, Marco Assis Borges, Máximo Menezes Costa, Ana Carolina Sena Barradas, Dave van Wees, and Guido R. Van der Werf
Earth Syst. Dynam., 14, 1039–1064, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-1039-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-1039-2023, 2023
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Savannas account for over half of global landscape fire emissions. Although environmental and fuel conditions affect the ratio of species the fire emits, these dynamics have not been implemented in global models. We measured CO2, CO, CH4, and N2O emission factors (EFs), fuel parameters, and fire severity proxies during 129 individual fires. We identified EF patterns and trained models to estimate EFs of these species based on satellite observations, reducing the estimation error by 60–85 %.
Nicholas Balasus, Daniel J. Jacob, Alba Lorente, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Robert J. Parker, Hartmut Boesch, Zichong Chen, Makoto M. Kelp, Hannah Nesser, and Daniel J. Varon
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3787–3807, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3787-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3787-2023, 2023
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We use machine learning to remove biases in TROPOMI satellite observations of atmospheric methane, with GOSAT observations serving as a reference. We find that the TROPOMI biases relative to GOSAT are related to the presence of aerosols and clouds, the surface brightness, and the specific detector that makes the observation aboard TROPOMI. The resulting blended TROPOMI+GOSAT product is more reliable for quantifying methane emissions.
Alice Drinkwater, Paul I. Palmer, Liang Feng, Tim Arnold, Xin Lan, Sylvia E. Michel, Robert Parker, and Hartmut Boesch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8429–8452, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8429-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8429-2023, 2023
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Changes in atmospheric methane over the last few decades are largely unexplained. Previous studies have proposed different hypotheses to explain short-term changes in atmospheric methane. We interpret observed changes in atmospheric methane and stable isotope source signatures (2004–2020). We argue that changes over this period are part of a large-scale shift from high-northern-latitude thermogenic energy emissions to tropical biogenic emissions, particularly from North Africa and South America.
Ruosi Liang, Yuzhong Zhang, Wei Chen, Peixuan Zhang, Jingran Liu, Cuihong Chen, Huiqin Mao, Guofeng Shen, Zhen Qu, Zichong Chen, Minqiang Zhou, Pucai Wang, Robert J. Parker, Hartmut Boesch, Alba Lorente, Joannes D. Maasakkers, and Ilse Aben
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8039–8057, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8039-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8039-2023, 2023
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We compare and evaluate East Asian methane emissions inferred from different satellite observations (GOSAT and TROPOMI). The results show discrepancies over northern India and eastern China. Independent ground-based observations are more consistent with TROPOMI-derived emissions in northern India and GOSAT-derived emissions in eastern China.
Liang Feng, Paul I. Palmer, Robert J. Parker, Mark F. Lunt, and Hartmut Bösch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 4863–4880, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4863-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4863-2023, 2023
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Our understanding of recent changes in atmospheric methane has defied explanation. Since 2007, the atmospheric growth of methane has accelerated to record-breaking values in 2020 and 2021. We use satellite observations of methane to show that (1) increasing emissions over the tropics are mostly responsible for these recent atmospheric changes, and (2) changes in the OH sink during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown can explain up to 34% of changes in atmospheric methane for that year.
Hannah M. Nguyen, Jiangping He, and Martin J. Wooster
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 2089–2118, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2089-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2089-2023, 2023
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This work presents novel advances in the estimation of open biomass burning emissions via the first fully "top-down" approach to exploit satellite-derived observations of fire radiative power and carbon monoxide over Africa. We produce a 16-year record of fire-generated CO emissions and dry matter consumed per unit area for Africa and evaluate these emissions estimates through their use in an atmospheric model, whose simulation output is then compared to independent satellite observations of CO.
Robert J. Parker, Chris Wilson, Edward Comyn-Platt, Garry Hayman, Toby R. Marthews, A. Anthony Bloom, Mark F. Lunt, Nicola Gedney, Simon J. Dadson, Joe McNorton, Neil Humpage, Hartmut Boesch, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Paul I. Palmer, and Dai Yamazaki
Biogeosciences, 19, 5779–5805, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5779-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5779-2022, 2022
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Wetlands are the largest natural source of methane, one of the most important climate gases. The JULES land surface model simulates these emissions. We use satellite data to evaluate how well JULES reproduces the methane seasonal cycle over different tropical wetlands. It performs well for most regions; however, it struggles for some African wetlands influenced heavily by river flooding. We explain the reasons for these deficiencies and highlight how future development will improve these areas.
Roland Vernooij, Patrik Winiger, Martin Wooster, Tercia Strydom, Laurent Poulain, Ulrike Dusek, Mark Grosvenor, Gareth J. Roberts, Nick Schutgens, and Guido R. van der Werf
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4271–4294, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4271-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4271-2022, 2022
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Landscape fires are a substantial emitter of greenhouse gases and aerosols. Previous studies have indicated savanna emission factors to be highly variable. Improving fire emission estimates, and understanding future climate- and human-induced changes in fire regimes, requires in situ measurements. We present a drone-based method that enables the collection of a large amount of high-quality emission factor measurements that do not have the biases of aircraft or surface measurements.
Stefan Noël, Maximilian Reuter, Michael Buchwitz, Jakob Borchardt, Michael Hilker, Oliver Schneising, Heinrich Bovensmann, John P. Burrows, Antonio Di Noia, Robert J. Parker, Hiroshi Suto, Yukio Yoshida, Matthias Buschmann, Nicholas M. Deutscher, Dietrich G. Feist, David W. T. Griffith, Frank Hase, Rigel Kivi, Cheng Liu, Isamu Morino, Justus Notholt, Young-Suk Oh, Hirofumi Ohyama, Christof Petri, David F. Pollard, Markus Rettinger, Coleen Roehl, Constantina Rousogenous, Mahesh Kumar Sha, Kei Shiomi, Kimberly Strong, Ralf Sussmann, Yao Té, Voltaire A. Velazco, Mihalis Vrekoussis, and Thorsten Warneke
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3401–3437, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3401-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3401-2022, 2022
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We present a new version (v3) of the GOSAT and GOSAT-2 FOCAL products.
In addition to an increased number of XCO2 data, v3 also includes products for XCH4 (full-physics and proxy), XH2O and the relative ratio of HDO to H2O (δD). For GOSAT-2, we also present first XCO and XN2O results. All FOCAL data products show reasonable spatial distribution and temporal variations and agree well with TCCON. Global XN2O maps show a gradient from the tropics to higher latitudes on the order of 15 ppb.
Haiyue Tan, Lin Zhang, Xiao Lu, Yuanhong Zhao, Bo Yao, Robert J. Parker, and Hartmut Boesch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 1229–1249, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1229-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1229-2022, 2022
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Methane is the second most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas. Understanding methane emissions and concentration growth over China in the past decade is important to support its mitigation. This study analyzes the contributions of methane emissions from different regions and sources over the globe to methane changes over China in 2007–2018. Our results show strong international transport influences and emphasize the need of intensive methane measurements covering eastern China.
Xiao Lu, Daniel J. Jacob, Haolin Wang, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Yuzhong Zhang, Tia R. Scarpelli, Lu Shen, Zhen Qu, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Hannah Nesser, A. Anthony Bloom, Shuang Ma, John R. Worden, Shaojia Fan, Robert J. Parker, Hartmut Boesch, Ritesh Gautam, Deborah Gordon, Michael D. Moran, Frances Reuland, Claudia A. Octaviano Villasana, and Arlyn Andrews
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 395–418, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-395-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-395-2022, 2022
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We evaluate methane emissions and trends for 2010–2017 in the gridded national emission inventories for the United States, Canada, and Mexico by inversion of in situ and satellite methane observations. We find that anthropogenic methane emissions for all three countries are underestimated in the national inventories, largely driven by oil emissions. Anthropogenic methane emissions in the US peak in 2014, in contrast to the report of a steadily decreasing trend over 2010–2017 from the US EPA.
Zhen Qu, Daniel J. Jacob, Lu Shen, Xiao Lu, Yuzhong Zhang, Tia R. Scarpelli, Hannah Nesser, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Joannes D. Maasakkers, A. Anthony Bloom, John R. Worden, Robert J. Parker, and Alba L. Delgado
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 14159–14175, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14159-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14159-2021, 2021
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The recent launch of TROPOMI offers an unprecedented opportunity to quantify the methane budget from a top-down perspective. We use TROPOMI and the more mature GOSAT methane observations to estimate methane emissions and get consistent global budgets. However, TROPOMI shows biases over regions where surface albedo is small and provides less information for the coarse-resolution inversion due to the larger error correlations and spatial variations in the number of observations.
Yi Yin, Frederic Chevallier, Philippe Ciais, Philippe Bousquet, Marielle Saunois, Bo Zheng, John Worden, A. Anthony Bloom, Robert J. Parker, Daniel J. Jacob, Edward J. Dlugokencky, and Christian Frankenberg
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 12631–12647, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12631-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12631-2021, 2021
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The growth of methane, the second-most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide, has been accelerating in recent years. Using an ensemble of multi-tracer atmospheric inversions constrained by surface or satellite observations, we show that global methane emissions increased by nearly 1 % per year from 2010–2017, with leading contributions from the tropics and East Asia.
Chris Wilson, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Manuel Gloor, Robert J. Parker, Hartmut Boesch, Joey McNorton, Luciana V. Gatti, John B. Miller, Luana S. Basso, and Sarah A. Monks
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 10643–10669, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10643-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10643-2021, 2021
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Methane (CH4) is an important greenhouse gas emitted from wetlands like those found in the basin of the Amazon River. Using an atmospheric model and observations from GOSAT, we quantified CH4 emissions from Amazonia during the previous decade. We found that the largest emissions came from a region in the eastern basin and that emissions there were rising faster than in other areas of South America. This finding was supported by CH4 observations made on aircraft within the basin.
Ilya Stanevich, Dylan B. A. Jones, Kimberly Strong, Martin Keller, Daven K. Henze, Robert J. Parker, Hartmut Boesch, Debra Wunch, Justus Notholt, Christof Petri, Thorsten Warneke, Ralf Sussmann, Matthias Schneider, Frank Hase, Rigel Kivi, Nicholas M. Deutscher, Voltaire A. Velazco, Kaley A. Walker, and Feng Deng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 9545–9572, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9545-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9545-2021, 2021
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We explore the utility of a weak-constraint (WC) four-dimensional variational (4D-Var) data assimilation scheme for mitigating systematic errors in methane simulation in the GEOS-Chem model. We use data from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) and show that, compared to the traditional 4D-Var approach, the WC scheme improves the agreement between the model and independent observations. We find that the WC corrections to the model provide insight into the source of the errors.
Jasdeep Singh Anand, Alessandro Anav, Marcello Vitale, Daniele Peano, Nadine Unger, Xu Yue, Robert J. Parker, and Hartmut Boesch
Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2021-125, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2021-125, 2021
Publication in BG not foreseen
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Ozone damages plants, which prevents them from absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere. This poses a potential threat to preventing dangerous climate change. In this work, satellite observations of forest cover, ozone, climate, and growing season are combined with an empirical model to estimate the carbon lost due to ozone exposure over Europe. The estimated carbon losses agree well with prior modelled estimates, showing for the first time that satellites can be used to better understand this effect.
Xiao Lu, Daniel J. Jacob, Yuzhong Zhang, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Lu Shen, Zhen Qu, Tia R. Scarpelli, Hannah Nesser, Robert M. Yantosca, Jianxiong Sheng, Arlyn Andrews, Robert J. Parker, Hartmut Boesch, A. Anthony Bloom, and Shuang Ma
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 4637–4657, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4637-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4637-2021, 2021
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We use an analytical solution to the Bayesian inverse problem to quantitatively compare and combine the information from satellite and in situ observations, and to estimate global methane budget and their trends over the 2010–2017 period. We find that satellite and in situ observations are to a large extent complementary in the inversion for estimating global methane budget, and reveal consistent corrections of regional anthropogenic and wetland methane emissions relative to the prior inventory.
Adrià Descals, Serge Wich, Erik Meijaard, David L. A. Gaveau, Stephen Peedell, and Zoltan Szantoi
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 1211–1231, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-1211-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-1211-2021, 2021
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Decision-making for sustainable vegetable oil production requires accurate global oil crop maps. We used high-resolution satellite data to train a deep learning model that accurately classified industrial and smallholder oil palm, the main oil-producing crop. Our results outperformed previous studies and proved the suitability of deep learning for land use mapping. The global oil palm area was 21±0.42 Mha for 2019; however, young and sparse plantations were not included in this estimate.
Joannes D. Maasakkers, Daniel J. Jacob, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Tia R. Scarpelli, Hannah Nesser, Jianxiong Sheng, Yuzhong Zhang, Xiao Lu, A. Anthony Bloom, Kevin W. Bowman, John R. Worden, and Robert J. Parker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 4339–4356, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4339-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4339-2021, 2021
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We use 2010–2015 GOSAT satellite observations of atmospheric methane over North America in a high-resolution inversion to estimate methane emissions. We find general consistency with the gridded EPA inventory but higher oil and gas production emissions, with oil production emissions twice as large as in the latest EPA Greenhouse Gas Inventory. We find lower wetland emissions than predicted by WetCHARTs and a small increasing trend in the eastern US, apparently related to unconventional oil/gas.
Yuzhong Zhang, Daniel J. Jacob, Xiao Lu, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Tia R. Scarpelli, Jian-Xiong Sheng, Lu Shen, Zhen Qu, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Jinfeng Chang, A. Anthony Bloom, Shuang Ma, John Worden, Robert J. Parker, and Hartmut Boesch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 3643–3666, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3643-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3643-2021, 2021
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We use 2010–2018 satellite observations of atmospheric methane to interpret the factors controlling atmospheric methane and its accelerating increase during the period. The 2010–2018 increase in global methane emissions is driven by tropical and boreal wetlands and tropical livestock (South Asia, Africa, Brazil), with an insignificant positive trend in emissions from the fossil fuel sector. The peak methane growth rates in 2014–2015 are also contributed by low OH and high fire emissions.
Robert J. Parker, Alex Webb, Hartmut Boesch, Peter Somkuti, Rocio Barrio Guillo, Antonio Di Noia, Nikoleta Kalaitzi, Jasdeep S. Anand, Peter Bergamaschi, Frederic Chevallier, Paul I. Palmer, Liang Feng, Nicholas M. Deutscher, Dietrich G. Feist, David W. T. Griffith, Frank Hase, Rigel Kivi, Isamu Morino, Justus Notholt, Young-Suk Oh, Hirofumi Ohyama, Christof Petri, David F. Pollard, Coleen Roehl, Mahesh K. Sha, Kei Shiomi, Kimberly Strong, Ralf Sussmann, Yao Té, Voltaire A. Velazco, Thorsten Warneke, Paul O. Wennberg, and Debra Wunch
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 3383–3412, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-3383-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-3383-2020, 2020
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This work presents the latest release of the University of Leicester GOSAT methane data and acts as the definitive description of this dataset. We detail the processing, validation and evaluation involved in producing these data and highlight its many applications. With now over a decade of global atmospheric methane observations, this dataset has helped, and will continue to help, us better understand the global methane budget and investigate how it may respond to a future changing climate.
Robert J. Parker, Chris Wilson, A. Anthony Bloom, Edward Comyn-Platt, Garry Hayman, Joe McNorton, Hartmut Boesch, and Martyn P. Chipperfield
Biogeosciences, 17, 5669–5691, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-5669-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-5669-2020, 2020
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Wetlands contribute the largest uncertainty to the atmospheric methane budget. WetCHARTs is a simple, data-driven model that estimates wetland emissions using observations of precipitation and temperature. We perform the first detailed evaluation of WetCHARTs against satellite data and find it performs well in reproducing the observed wetland methane seasonal cycle for the majority of wetland regions. In regions where it performs poorly, we highlight incorrect wetland extent as a key reason.
Rachel L. Tunnicliffe, Anita L. Ganesan, Robert J. Parker, Hartmut Boesch, Nicola Gedney, Benjamin Poulter, Zhen Zhang, Jošt V. Lavrič, David Walter, Matthew Rigby, Stephan Henne, Dickon Young, and Simon O'Doherty
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 13041–13067, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-13041-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-13041-2020, 2020
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This study quantifies Brazil’s emissions of a potent atmospheric greenhouse gas, methane. This is in the field of atmospheric modelling and uses remotely sensed data and surface measurements of methane concentrations as well as an atmospheric transport model to interpret the data. Because of Brazil’s large emissions from wetlands, agriculture and biomass burning, these emissions affect global methane concentrations and thus are of global significance.
Tianran Zhang, Mark C. de Jong, Martin J. Wooster, Weidong Xu, and Lili Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 10687–10705, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-10687-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-10687-2020, 2020
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With strong public concern regarding air pollution problems in eastern China, where megacities like Beijing and Shanghai are located, smoke from agricultural fires burning during the post-harvest season has been blamed as one of the major causes. This research uses advanced satellite remote sensing data and methods to estimate the smoke emissions from agricultural fires in eastern China. Up to a 22 % contribution to PM2.5 was found during extreme cases.
Lee de Mora, Alistair A. Sellar, Andrew Yool, Julien Palmieri, Robin S. Smith, Till Kuhlbrodt, Robert J. Parker, Jeremy Walton, Jeremy C. Blackford, and Colin G. Jones
Geosci. Commun., 3, 263–278, https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-3-263-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-3-263-2020, 2020
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We use time series data from the first United Kingdom Earth System Model (UKESM1) to create six procedurally generated musical pieces for piano. Each of the six pieces help to explain either a scientific principle or a practical aspect of Earth system modelling. We describe the methods that were used to create these pieces, discuss the limitations of this pilot study and list several approaches to extend and expand upon this work.
Ilya Stanevich, Dylan B. A. Jones, Kimberly Strong, Robert J. Parker, Hartmut Boesch, Debra Wunch, Justus Notholt, Christof Petri, Thorsten Warneke, Ralf Sussmann, Matthias Schneider, Frank Hase, Rigel Kivi, Nicholas M. Deutscher, Voltaire A. Velazco, Kaley A. Walker, and Feng Deng
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 3839–3862, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-3839-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-3839-2020, 2020
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Systematic errors in atmospheric models pose a challenge for inverse modeling studies of methane (CH4) emissions. We evaluated the CH4 simulation in the GEOS-Chem model at the horizontal resolutions of 4° × 5° and 2° × 2.5°. Our analysis identified resolution-dependent biases in the model, which we attributed to discrepancies between the two model resolutions in vertical transport in the troposphere and in stratosphere–troposphere exchange.
Marielle Saunois, Ann R. Stavert, Ben Poulter, Philippe Bousquet, Josep G. Canadell, Robert B. Jackson, Peter A. Raymond, Edward J. Dlugokencky, Sander Houweling, Prabir K. Patra, Philippe Ciais, Vivek K. Arora, David Bastviken, Peter Bergamaschi, Donald R. Blake, Gordon Brailsford, Lori Bruhwiler, Kimberly M. Carlson, Mark Carrol, Simona Castaldi, Naveen Chandra, Cyril Crevoisier, Patrick M. Crill, Kristofer Covey, Charles L. Curry, Giuseppe Etiope, Christian Frankenberg, Nicola Gedney, Michaela I. Hegglin, Lena Höglund-Isaksson, Gustaf Hugelius, Misa Ishizawa, Akihiko Ito, Greet Janssens-Maenhout, Katherine M. Jensen, Fortunat Joos, Thomas Kleinen, Paul B. Krummel, Ray L. Langenfelds, Goulven G. Laruelle, Licheng Liu, Toshinobu Machida, Shamil Maksyutov, Kyle C. McDonald, Joe McNorton, Paul A. Miller, Joe R. Melton, Isamu Morino, Jurek Müller, Fabiola Murguia-Flores, Vaishali Naik, Yosuke Niwa, Sergio Noce, Simon O'Doherty, Robert J. Parker, Changhui Peng, Shushi Peng, Glen P. Peters, Catherine Prigent, Ronald Prinn, Michel Ramonet, Pierre Regnier, William J. Riley, Judith A. Rosentreter, Arjo Segers, Isobel J. Simpson, Hao Shi, Steven J. Smith, L. Paul Steele, Brett F. Thornton, Hanqin Tian, Yasunori Tohjima, Francesco N. Tubiello, Aki Tsuruta, Nicolas Viovy, Apostolos Voulgarakis, Thomas S. Weber, Michiel van Weele, Guido R. van der Werf, Ray F. Weiss, Doug Worthy, Debra Wunch, Yi Yin, Yukio Yoshida, Wenxin Zhang, Zhen Zhang, Yuanhong Zhao, Bo Zheng, Qing Zhu, Qiuan Zhu, and Qianlai Zhuang
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 1561–1623, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-1561-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-1561-2020, 2020
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Understanding and quantifying the global methane (CH4) budget is important for assessing realistic pathways to mitigate climate change. We have established a consortium of multidisciplinary scientists under the umbrella of the Global Carbon Project to synthesize and stimulate new research aimed at improving and regularly updating the global methane budget. This is the second version of the review dedicated to the decadal methane budget, integrating results of top-down and bottom-up estimates.
Maximilian Reuter, Michael Buchwitz, Oliver Schneising, Stefan Noël, Heinrich Bovensmann, John P. Burrows, Hartmut Boesch, Antonio Di Noia, Jasdeep Anand, Robert J. Parker, Peter Somkuti, Lianghai Wu, Otto P. Hasekamp, Ilse Aben, Akihiko Kuze, Hiroshi Suto, Kei Shiomi, Yukio Yoshida, Isamu Morino, David Crisp, Christopher W. O'Dell, Justus Notholt, Christof Petri, Thorsten Warneke, Voltaire A. Velazco, Nicholas M. Deutscher, David W. T. Griffith, Rigel Kivi, David F. Pollard, Frank Hase, Ralf Sussmann, Yao V. Té, Kimberly Strong, Sébastien Roche, Mahesh K. Sha, Martine De Mazière, Dietrich G. Feist, Laura T. Iraci, Coleen M. Roehl, Christian Retscher, and Dinand Schepers
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 789–819, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-789-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-789-2020, 2020
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We present new satellite-derived data sets of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). The data products are column-averaged dry-air mole fractions of CO2 and CH4, denoted XCO2 and XCH4. The products cover the years 2003–2018 and are merged Level 2 (satellite footprints) and merged Level 3 (gridded at monthly time and 5° x 5° spatial resolution) products obtained from combining several individual sensor products. We present the merging algorithms and product validation results.
Mark F. Lunt, Paul I. Palmer, Liang Feng, Christopher M. Taylor, Hartmut Boesch, and Robert J. Parker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 14721–14740, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-14721-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-14721-2019, 2019
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Using data from the GOSAT satellite between 2010 and 2016 and a Bayesian inversion approach, we estimate monthly emissions of methane from tropical Africa. We find an increase in methane emissions during this period, driven in part by rising emissions from South Sudan. Using ancillary data we attribute this short-term emissions rise to an increase in the extent of the Sudd wetlands driven by increased outflow from the East African lakes.
Bo Zheng, Frederic Chevallier, Yi Yin, Philippe Ciais, Audrey Fortems-Cheiney, Merritt N. Deeter, Robert J. Parker, Yilong Wang, Helen M. Worden, and Yuanhong Zhao
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 1411–1436, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-1411-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-1411-2019, 2019
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We use a multi-species atmospheric Bayesian inversion approach to attribute satellite-observed atmospheric carbon monoxide (CO) variations to its sources and sinks in order to achieve a full closure of the global CO budget during 2000–2017. We identify a declining trend in the global CO budget since 2000, driven by reduced anthropogenic emissions in the US, Europe, and China, as well as by reduced biomass burning emissions globally, especially in equatorial Africa.
Joannes D. Maasakkers, Daniel J. Jacob, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Tia R. Scarpelli, Hannah Nesser, Jian-Xiong Sheng, Yuzhong Zhang, Monica Hersher, A. Anthony Bloom, Kevin W. Bowman, John R. Worden, Greet Janssens-Maenhout, and Robert J. Parker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 7859–7881, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7859-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7859-2019, 2019
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We use 2010–2015 satellite observations of atmospheric methane to improve estimates of methane emissions and their trends, as well as the concentration and trend of tropospheric OH (hydroxyl radical, methane's main sink). We find overestimates of Chinese coal and Middle East oil/gas emissions in the prior estimate. The 2010–2015 growth in methane is attributed to an increase in emissions from India, China, and areas with large tropical wetlands. The contribution from OH is small in comparison.
Joe McNorton, Chris Wilson, Manuel Gloor, Rob J. Parker, Hartmut Boesch, Wuhu Feng, Ryan Hossaini, and Martyn P. Chipperfield
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 18149–18168, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-18149-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-18149-2018, 2018
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Since 2007 atmospheric methane (CH4) has been unexpectedly increasing following a 6-year hiatus. We have used an atmospheric model to attribute regional sources and global sinks of CH4 using observations for the 2003–2015 period. Model results show the renewed growth is best explained by decreased atmospheric removal, decreased biomass burning emissions, and an increased energy sector (mainly from Africa–Middle East and Southern Asia–Oceania) and wetland emissions (mainly from northern Eurasia).
Michael Buchwitz, Maximilian Reuter, Oliver Schneising, Stefan Noël, Bettina Gier, Heinrich Bovensmann, John P. Burrows, Hartmut Boesch, Jasdeep Anand, Robert J. Parker, Peter Somkuti, Rob G. Detmers, Otto P. Hasekamp, Ilse Aben, André Butz, Akihiko Kuze, Hiroshi Suto, Yukio Yoshida, David Crisp, and Christopher O'Dell
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 17355–17370, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-17355-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-17355-2018, 2018
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We present a new satellite data set of column-averaged mixing ratios of carbon dioxide (CO2), which covers the time period 2003 to 2016. We used this data set to compute annual mean atmospheric CO2 growth rates. We show that the growth rate is highest during 2015 and 2016 despite nearly constant CO2 emissions from fossil fuel burning in recent years. The high growth rates are attributed to year 2015-2016 El Nino episodes. We present correlations with fossil fuel emissions and ENSO indices.
Neil Humpage, Hartmut Boesch, Paul I. Palmer, Andy Vick, Phil Parr-Burman, Martyn Wells, David Pearson, Jonathan Strachan, and Naidu Bezawada
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 5199–5222, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-5199-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-5199-2018, 2018
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We present an overview of the GreenHouse gas Observations of the Stratosphere and Troposphere (GHOST) instrument, a novel shortwave infrared grating spectrometer designed for remote sensing of total column greenhouse gas concentrations from an aircraft. Using laboratory measurements we show that the GHOST design is able to achieve its science objectives. We conclude by describing GHOST's maiden flights on board the NASA Global Hawk UAV during CAST/ATTREX and show some of the initial results.
Jian-Xiong Sheng, Daniel J. Jacob, Alexander J. Turner, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Joshua Benmergui, A. Anthony Bloom, Claudia Arndt, Ritesh Gautam, Daniel Zavala-Araiza, Hartmut Boesch, and Robert J. Parker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 12257–12267, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-12257-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-12257-2018, 2018
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Analysis of 7 years (2010–2016) of GOSAT methane trends over Canada, the contiguous US, and Mexico suggests that US methane emissions increased by 2.5 ± 1.4 % a−1 over the 7-year period, with contributions from both oil–gas systems and livestock in the Midwest. Mexican emissions show a decrease that can be attributed to a decreasing cattle population. Canadian emissions show year-to-year variability driven by wetland emissions and correlated with wetland areal extent.
Paul I. Palmer, Simon O'Doherty, Grant Allen, Keith Bower, Hartmut Bösch, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Sarah Connors, Sandip Dhomse, Liang Feng, Douglas P. Finch, Martin W. Gallagher, Emanuel Gloor, Siegfried Gonzi, Neil R. P. Harris, Carole Helfter, Neil Humpage, Brian Kerridge, Diane Knappett, Roderic L. Jones, Michael Le Breton, Mark F. Lunt, Alistair J. Manning, Stephan Matthiesen, Jennifer B. A. Muller, Neil Mullinger, Eiko Nemitz, Sebastian O'Shea, Robert J. Parker, Carl J. Percival, Joseph Pitt, Stuart N. Riddick, Matthew Rigby, Harjinder Sembhi, Richard Siddans, Robert L. Skelton, Paul Smith, Hannah Sonderfeld, Kieran Stanley, Ann R. Stavert, Angelina Wenger, Emily White, Christopher Wilson, and Dickon Young
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 11753–11777, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11753-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11753-2018, 2018
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This paper provides an overview of the Greenhouse gAs Uk and Global Emissions (GAUGE) experiment. GAUGE was designed to quantify nationwide GHG emissions of the UK, bringing together measurements and atmospheric transport models. This novel experiment is the first of its kind. We anticipate it will inform the blueprint for countries that are building a measurement infrastructure in preparation for global stocktakes, which are a key part of the Paris Agreement.
Richard Siddans, Diane Knappett, Brian Kerridge, Alison Waterfall, Jane Hurley, Barry Latter, Hartmut Boesch, and Robert Parker
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 4135–4164, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4135-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4135-2017, 2017
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This paper describes an algorithm to infer the global atmospheric distribution of the greenhouse gas methane, from measurements made by the infrared, nadir-viewing spectrometer IASI, on board the MetOp polar orbiting satellites. The algorithm has been applied to 9 years of data. Results are presented and validated by comparison to independent measurements.
Hannah Sonderfeld, Hartmut Bösch, Antoine P. R. Jeanjean, Stuart N. Riddick, Grant Allen, Sébastien Ars, Stewart Davies, Neil Harris, Neil Humpage, Roland Leigh, and Joseph Pitt
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 3931–3946, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3931-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3931-2017, 2017
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The waste sector is the second largest source of methane in the UK. However, uncertainties of methane emissions from landfill sites still remain. In this study we present a new approach for the estimation of methane emissions from a landfill site by applying a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for precise measurements of methane with in situ Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Different source areas could be distinguished with this method and their emissions were assessed.
Michael Buchwitz, Oliver Schneising, Maximilian Reuter, Jens Heymann, Sven Krautwurst, Heinrich Bovensmann, John P. Burrows, Hartmut Boesch, Robert J. Parker, Peter Somkuti, Rob G. Detmers, Otto P. Hasekamp, Ilse Aben, André Butz, Christian Frankenberg, and Alexander J. Turner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 5751–5774, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5751-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5751-2017, 2017
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Methane is an important greenhouse gas and increasing atmospheric concentrations result in global warming. We present a simple method to derive annual methane emission estimates of methane hotspot areas from satellite data. We present results for four source areas. We found that our estimates are in good agreement with other studies/data sets for the Four Corners region in the USA and for Azerbaijan but we also found higher emissions for parts of California and Turkmenistan.
Liang Feng, Paul I. Palmer, Hartmut Bösch, Robert J. Parker, Alex J. Webb, Caio S. C. Correia, Nicholas M. Deutscher, Lucas G. Domingues, Dietrich G. Feist, Luciana V. Gatti, Emanuel Gloor, Frank Hase, Rigel Kivi, Yi Liu, John B. Miller, Isamu Morino, Ralf Sussmann, Kimberly Strong, Osamu Uchino, Jing Wang, and Andreas Zahn
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 4781–4797, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4781-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4781-2017, 2017
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We use the GEOS-Chem global 3-D model of atmospheric chemistry and transport and an ensemble Kalman filter to simultaneously infer regional fluxes of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from GOSAT retrievals of XCH4:XCO2, using sparse ground-based CH4 and CO2 mole fraction data to anchor the ratio. Our results show that assimilation of GOSAT data significantly reduced the posterior uncertainty and changed the a priori spatial distribution of CH4 emissions.
Dmitry A. Belikov, Shamil Maksyutov, Alexander Ganshin, Ruslan Zhuravlev, Nicholas M. Deutscher, Debra Wunch, Dietrich G. Feist, Isamu Morino, Robert J. Parker, Kimberly Strong, Yukio Yoshida, Andrey Bril, Sergey Oshchepkov, Hartmut Boesch, Manvendra K. Dubey, David Griffith, Will Hewson, Rigel Kivi, Joseph Mendonca, Justus Notholt, Matthias Schneider, Ralf Sussmann, Voltaire A. Velazco, and Shuji Aoki
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 143–157, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-143-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-143-2017, 2017
Niels Andela, Guido R. van der Werf, Johannes W. Kaiser, Thijs T. van Leeuwen, Martin J. Wooster, and Caroline E. R. Lehmann
Biogeosciences, 13, 3717–3734, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-3717-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-3717-2016, 2016
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Landscape fires occur on a large scale in savannas and grasslands, affecting ecosystems and air quality. We combined two satellite-derived datasets to derive fuel consumption per unit of area burned for savannas and grasslands in the (sub)tropics. Fire return periods, vegetation productivity, vegetation type and human land management were all important drivers of its spatial distribution. The results can be used to improve fire emission modelling and management or to detect ecosystem degradation.
Gabriel Pereira, Ricardo Siqueira, Nilton E. Rosário, Karla L. Longo, Saulo R. Freitas, Francielle S. Cardozo, Johannes W. Kaiser, and Martin J. Wooster
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 6961–6975, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-6961-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-6961-2016, 2016
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Fires associated with land use and land cover changes release large amounts of aerosols and trace gases into the atmosphere. Although several inventories of biomass burning emissions cover Brazil, there are still considerable uncertainties and differences among them. However, results indicate that emission derived via similar methods tend to agree with one other, but aerosol emissions from fires with particularly high biomass consumption still lead to an underestimation.
Mark C. de Jong, Martin J. Wooster, Karl Kitchen, Cathy Manley, Rob Gazzard, and Frank F. McCall
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 1217–1237, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-16-1217-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-16-1217-2016, 2016
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We present a percentile-based calibration of the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI) System for the United Kingdom (UK), developed from numerical weather prediction data, and evaluate it using historic wildfire records. The Fine Fuel Moisture Code, Initial Spread Index and final FWI component of the FWI system show the greatest predictive skill for UK wildfires. Our findings provide useful insights for any future redevelopment of the current operational UK fire danger rating system.
L. Feng, P. I. Palmer, R. J. Parker, N. M. Deutscher, D. G. Feist, R. Kivi, I. Morino, and R. Sussmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 1289–1302, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-1289-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-1289-2016, 2016
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There is an on-going debate on the larger European biospheric uptake inferred from GOSAT XCO2 retrievals than those inferred from in situ data. Using a set of 15 experiments, we found that the elevated uptake over Europe could largely be explained by mis-fitting data due to regional XCO2 biases: 50–80 % of the elevated European uptake is due to retrievals outside the immediate European; and a varying monthly bias of up to 0.5 ppm for XCO2 retrievals over Europe could explain most of the remainder.
R. Paugam, M. Wooster, S. Freitas, and M. Val Martin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 907–925, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-907-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-907-2016, 2016
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Landscape fire plume height controls fire emissions release in the atmosphere, in particular their transport that may also affect the longevity, chemical conversion, and fate of the plumes chemical constituents. Here, we review how such landscape-scale fire smoke plume injection heights are represented in large-scale atmospheric transport models aiming to represent the impacts of wildfire emissions on component of the Earth system.
M. J. Wooster, G. Roberts, P. H. Freeborn, W. Xu, Y. Govaerts, R. Beeby, J. He, A. Lattanzio, D. Fisher, and R. Mullen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 13217–13239, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-13217-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-13217-2015, 2015
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Landscape fires strongly influence atmospheric chemistry, composition, and climate. Characterizing such fires at very high temporal resolution is best achieved using thermal observations of actively burning fires made from geostationary Earth Observation satellites. Here we detail the Fire Radiative Power (FRP) products generated by the Land Surface Analysis Satellite Applications Facility (LSA SAF) from data collected by the Meteosat geostationary satellites.
G. Roberts, M. J. Wooster, W. Xu, P. H. Freeborn, J.-J. Morcrette, L. Jones, A. Benedetti, H. Jiangping, D. Fisher, and J. W. Kaiser
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 13241–13267, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-13241-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-13241-2015, 2015
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Characterising the dynamics of wildfires at high temporal resolution is best achieved using observations from geostationary satellite sensors. The SEVIRI Fire Radiative Power (FRP) products have been developed using such imagery at up to 15-minute temporal frequency. These data are used to estimate wildfire fuel consumption and to the characterise smoke emissions from the 2007 Peloponnese "mega fires" within an atmospheric transport model.
H. Lindqvist, C. W. O'Dell, S. Basu, H. Boesch, F. Chevallier, N. Deutscher, L. Feng, B. Fisher, F. Hase, M. Inoue, R. Kivi, I. Morino, P. I. Palmer, R. Parker, M. Schneider, R. Sussmann, and Y. Yoshida
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 13023–13040, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-13023-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-13023-2015, 2015
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Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration varies seasonally mainly due to plant photosynthesis in the Northern Hemisphere. We found that the satellite GOSAT can capture this variability from space to within 1ppm. We also found that models can differ by more than 1ppm. This implies that the satellite measurements could be useful in evaluating models and their prior estimates of carbon dioxide sources and sinks.
R. J. Parker, H. Boesch, K. Byckling, A. J. Webb, P. I. Palmer, L. Feng, P. Bergamaschi, F. Chevallier, J. Notholt, N. Deutscher, T. Warneke, F. Hase, R. Sussmann, S. Kawakami, R. Kivi, D. W. T. Griffith, and V. Velazco
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 4785–4801, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4785-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4785-2015, 2015
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Atmospheric CH4 is an important greenhouse gas. Long-term global observations are necessary to understand its behaviour, with satellite observations playing a key role. The "proxy" retrieval method is one of the most successful but relies on the contribution from atmospheric CO2 models. This work assesses the significance of the uncertainty from the model CO2 within the retrieval and determines that despite this uncertainty the data are still valuable for determining sources and sinks of CH4.
W. Hewson, M. P. Barkley, G. Gonzalez Abad, H. Bösch, T. Kurosu, R. Spurr, and L. G. Tilstra
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 4055–4074, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4055-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4055-2015, 2015
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This work presents the air mass factor (AMF) algorithm in use at the University of Leicester, which introduces scene-specific variables into a per-observation full radiative transfer AMF calculation, including increasing spatial resolution of key environmental parameter databases, input variable area weighting, instrument-specific scattering weight calculation, and inclusion of an ozone vertical profile climatology.
A. Berchet, I. Pison, F. Chevallier, J.-D. Paris, P. Bousquet, J.-L. Bonne, M. Y. Arshinov, B. D. Belan, C. Cressot, D. K. Davydov, E. J. Dlugokencky, A. V. Fofonov, A. Galanin, J. Lavrič, T. Machida, R. Parker, M. Sasakawa, R. Spahni, B. D. Stocker, and J. Winderlich
Biogeosciences, 12, 5393–5414, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-5393-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-5393-2015, 2015
J. R. Worden, A. J. Turner, A. Bloom, S. S. Kulawik, J. Liu, M. Lee, R. Weidner, K. Bowman, C. Frankenberg, R. Parker, and V. H. Payne
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 3433–3445, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-3433-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-3433-2015, 2015
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Here we demonstrate the potential for estimating lower tropospheric CH4 concentrations through the combination of free-tropospheric methane measurements from the Aura Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) and XCH4 (dry-mole air fraction of methane) from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite - Thermal And Near-infrared for carbon Observation (GOSAT TANSO).
N. Andela, J. W. Kaiser, G. R. van der Werf, and M. J. Wooster
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 8831–8846, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-8831-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-8831-2015, 2015
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The polar orbiting MODIS instruments provide four daily observations of the fire diurnal cycle, resulting in erroneous fire radiative energy (FRE) estimates. Using geostationary SEVIRI data, we explore the fire diurnal cycle and its drivers for Africa to develop a new method to estimate global FRE in near real-time using MODIS. The fire diurnal cycle varied with climate and vegetation type, and including information on the fire diurnal cycle in the model significantly improved the FRE estimates.
A. J. Turner, D. J. Jacob, K. J. Wecht, J. D. Maasakkers, E. Lundgren, A. E. Andrews, S. C. Biraud, H. Boesch, K. W. Bowman, N. M. Deutscher, M. K. Dubey, D. W. T. Griffith, F. Hase, A. Kuze, J. Notholt, H. Ohyama, R. Parker, V. H. Payne, R. Sussmann, C. Sweeney, V. A. Velazco, T. Warneke, P. O. Wennberg, and D. Wunch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 7049–7069, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-7049-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-7049-2015, 2015
S. Gonzi, P. I. Palmer, R. Paugam, M. Wooster, and M. N. Deeter
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 4339–4355, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-4339-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-4339-2015, 2015
R. Paugam, M. Wooster, J. Atherton, S. R. Freitas, M. G. Schultz, and J. W. Kaiser
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acpd-15-9815-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acpd-15-9815-2015, 2015
Revised manuscript not accepted
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The transport of Biomass Burning emissions in Chemical Transport Model rely on parametrization of plumes injection height. Using fire observation selected to ensure match-up of fire-atmosphere-plume dynamics; a popular plume rise model was improved and optimized. The resulting model shows response to the effect of atmospheric stability consistent with previous findings and is able to predict higher injection height than any other tested parametrizations, giving a closer match with observation.
A. Geddes and H. Bösch
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 859–874, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-859-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-859-2015, 2015
M. Alexe, P. Bergamaschi, A. Segers, R. Detmers, A. Butz, O. Hasekamp, S. Guerlet, R. Parker, H. Boesch, C. Frankenberg, R. A. Scheepmaker, E. Dlugokencky, C. Sweeney, S. C. Wofsy, and E. A. Kort
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 113–133, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-113-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-113-2015, 2015
M. Reuter, M. Buchwitz, M. Hilker, J. Heymann, O. Schneising, D. Pillai, H. Bovensmann, J. P. Burrows, H. Bösch, R. Parker, A. Butz, O. Hasekamp, C. W. O'Dell, Y. Yoshida, C. Gerbig, T. Nehrkorn, N. M. Deutscher, T. Warneke, J. Notholt, F. Hase, R. Kivi, R. Sussmann, T. Machida, H. Matsueda, and Y. Sawa
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 13739–13753, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-13739-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-13739-2014, 2014
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Current knowledge about the European terrestrial biospheric carbon sink relies upon bottom-up and global surface flux inverse model estimates using in situ measurements. Our analysis of five satellite data sets comprises a regional inversion designed to be insensitive to potential retrieval biases and transport errors. We show that the satellite-derived sink is larger (1.0±0.3GtC/a) than previous estimates (0.4±0.4GtC/a).
A. Fraser, P. I. Palmer, L. Feng, H. Bösch, R. Parker, E. J. Dlugokencky, P. B. Krummel, and R. L. Langenfelds
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 12883–12895, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-12883-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-12883-2014, 2014
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Satellite measurements of CO2 and CH4 can be subject to regional systematic errors that can consequently compromise their ability to infer robust flux estimates of these two gases. We develop a method to use retrieved ratios of CH4 and CO2 that are less affected by systematic error. We show that additional in situ data are needed to anchor these observed ratios so they can simultaneously infer fluxes of CO2 and CH4. We argue the ratio data will provide a more faithful description of true fluxes.
T. E. L. Smith, C. Paton-Walsh, C. P. Meyer, G. D. Cook, S. W. Maier, J. Russell-Smith, M. J. Wooster, and C. P. Yates
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 11335–11352, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-11335-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-11335-2014, 2014
K. J. Wecht, D. J. Jacob, M. P. Sulprizio, G. W. Santoni, S. C. Wofsy, R. Parker, H. Bösch, and J. Worden
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 8173–8184, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-8173-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-8173-2014, 2014
B. Dils, M. Buchwitz, M. Reuter, O. Schneising, H. Boesch, R. Parker, S. Guerlet, I. Aben, T. Blumenstock, J. P. Burrows, A. Butz, N. M. Deutscher, C. Frankenberg, F. Hase, O. P. Hasekamp, J. Heymann, M. De Mazière, J. Notholt, R. Sussmann, T. Warneke, D. Griffith, V. Sherlock, and D. Wunch
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 1723–1744, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1723-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1723-2014, 2014
S. Turquety, L. Menut, B. Bessagnet, A. Anav, N. Viovy, F. Maignan, and M. Wooster
Geosci. Model Dev., 7, 587–612, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-587-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-587-2014, 2014
H. Boesch, N. M. Deutscher, T. Warneke, K. Byckling, A. J. Cogan, D. W. T. Griffith, J. Notholt, R. J. Parker, and Z. Wang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 599–612, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-599-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-599-2013, 2013
W. Hewson, H. Bösch, M. P. Barkley, and I. De Smedt
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 371–386, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-371-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-371-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Subject: Gases | Research Activity: Remote Sensing | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Chemistry (chemical composition and reactions)
Quantifying biases in TROPESS AIRS, CrIS, and joint AIRS+OMI tropospheric ozone products using ozonesondes
State-wide California 2020 carbon dioxide budget estimated with OCO-2 and OCO-3 satellite data
Satellite detection of NO2 distributions using TROPOMI and TEMPO and comparison with ground-based concentration measurements
Measurement report: Diurnal variability in NO2 and HCHO lower-tropospheric vertical profiles in southeastern Los Angeles
Biosphere–atmosphere related processes influence trace-gas and aerosol satellite–model biases
Estimation of diurnal emissions of CO2 from thermal power plants using spaceborne integrated path differential absorption (IPDA) lidar
Increase in carbon monoxide (CO) and aerosol optical depth (AOD) observed by satellites in the Northern Hemisphere over the summers of 2008–2023, linked to an increase in wildfires
Monitoring of total and off-road NOx emissions from Canadian oil sands surface mining using the Ozone Monitoring Instrument
Large reductions in satellite-derived and modelled European lower-tropospheric ozone during and after the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2022)
Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report (TOAR): 16-year ozone trends from the IASI Climate Data Record
Air quality trends and regimes in South Korea inferred from 2015–2023 surface and satellite observations
What can we learn about tropospheric OH from satellite observations of methane?
Identifying missing sources and reducing NOx emissions uncertainty over China using daily satellite data and a mass-conserving method
Feasibility of robust estimates of ozone production rates using a synergy of satellite observations, ground-based remote sensing, and models
Global Patterns and Trends in Ground-Level Ozone Chemical Formation Regimes from 1996 to 2022
Upper-tropospheric pollutants observed by MIPAS: geographic and seasonal variations
Comparing space-based to reported carbon monoxide emission estimates for Europe's iron and steel plants
Unleashing the potential of geostationary satellite observations in air quality forecasting through artificial intelligence techniques
Tropical upper-tropospheric trends in ozone and carbon monoxide (2005–2020): observational and model results
Global seasonal urban, industrial, and background NO2 estimated from TROPOMI satellite observations
Ground-based Tropospheric Ozone Measurements: Regional tropospheric ozone column trends from the TOAR-II/ HEGIFTOM homogenized datasets
Opposing trends in the peak and low ozone concentrations in eastern China: anthropogenic and meteorological influences
Vertical profiles of global tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2) obtained by cloud slicing the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI)
Opinion: Beyond global means – novel space-based approaches to indirectly constrain the concentrations of and trends and variations in the tropospheric hydroxyl radical (OH)
Satellite-observed relationships between land cover, burned area, and atmospheric composition over the southern Amazon
Ammonia emission estimates using CrIS satellite observations over Europe
Insights into the long-term (2005–2021) spatiotemporal evolution of summer ozone production sensitivity in the Northern Hemisphere derived with the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI)
Tropical tropospheric ozone distribution and trends from in situ and satellite data
Estimation of ground-level NO2 and its spatiotemporal variations in China using GEMS measurements and a nested machine learning model
Investigation of the impact of satellite vertical sensitivity on long-term retrieved lower-tropospheric ozone trends
Quantifying the diurnal variation in atmospheric NO2 from Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) observations
Ammonia in the upper troposphere–lower stratosphere (UTLS): GLORIA airborne measurements for CAMS model evaluation in the Asian monsoon and in biomass burning plumes above the South Atlantic
A lightweight NO2-to-NOx conversion model for quantifying NOx emissions of point sources from NO2 satellite observations
Towards a sector-specific CO∕CO2 emission ratio: satellite-based observations of CO release from steel production in Germany
Monitoring European anthropogenic NOx emissions from space
Global carbon emission accounting: national-level assessment of wildfire CO2 emission – a case study of China
Pyrogenic HONO seen from space: insights from global IASI observations
First evaluation of the GEMS formaldehyde product against TROPOMI and ground-based column measurements during the in-orbit test period
High-resolution mapping of nitrogen oxide emissions in large US cities from TROPOMI retrievals of tropospheric nitrogen dioxide columns
Quantifying the tropospheric ozone radiative effect and its temporal evolution in the satellite era
A satellite chronology of plumes from the April 2021 eruption of La Soufrière, St Vincent
Investigation of spatial and temporal variability in lower tropospheric ozone from RAL Space UV–Vis satellite products
Two years of satellite-based carbon dioxide emission quantification at the world's largest coal-fired power plants
Tropical tropospheric ozone and carbon monoxide distributions: characteristics, origins, and control factors, as seen by IAGOS and IASI
Investigation of the summer 2018 European ozone air pollution episodes using novel satellite data and modelling
Bridging the spatial gaps of the Ammonia Monitoring Network using satellite ammonia measurements
A roadmap to estimating agricultural ammonia volatilization over Europe using satellite observations and simulation data
Investigation of meteorological conditions and BrO during ozone depletion events in Ny-Ålesund between 2010 and 2021
Quantification of carbon monoxide emissions from African cities using TROPOMI
Nitrogen oxides emissions from selected cities in North America, Europe, and East Asia observed by the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) before and after the COVID-19 pandemic
Elyse A. Pennington, Gregory B. Osterman, Vivienne H. Payne, Kazuyuki Miyazaki, Kevin W. Bowman, and Jessica L. Neu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 8533–8552, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8533-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8533-2025, 2025
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Tropospheric ozone is a harmful pollutant and powerful greenhouse gas. For satellite products to accurately quantify trends in tropospheric ozone, they must have a low bias compared to a reliable source of data. This study compares three NASA satellite products to ozonesonde data. They have low global measurement bias and thus can be used to detect global tropospheric ozone trends, but the measurement bias should be considered in certain regions and time periods.
Matthew S. Johnson, Sofia D. Hamilton, Seongeun Jeong, Yu Yan Cui, Dien Wu, Alex Turner, and Marc Fischer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 8475–8492, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8475-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8475-2025, 2025
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Satellites, such as NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 and -3 (OCO-2 and OCO-3, respectively), retrieve carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations, which provide vital information for estimating surface CO2 emissions. Here, we investigate the ability of OCO-2/3 retrievals to constrain CO2 emissions for the state of California for the major emission sectors (i.e., fossil fuels, net ecosystem exchange, and wildfire).
Summer Acker, Tracey Holloway, and Monica Harkey
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 8271–8288, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8271-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8271-2025, 2025
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We studied how well satellites detect nitrogen dioxide, a harmful air pollutant, compared with the EPA's ground monitors across the US. Both satellites performed best in areas far from roads, where pollution is lower and more uniform. The newer TEMPO satellite, with hourly data, agreed most closely with monitors at midday and performed better than TROPOMI, a satellite with daily measurements. These findings highlight the ability of satellites to complement existing ground-based monitors.
Peter K. Peterson, Lisa F. Hernandez, Leslie Tanaka, and Alejandro Dunnick
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 7777–7788, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7777-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7777-2025, 2025
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This work uses spectroscopy to examine the vertical distribution of nitrogen dioxide and formaldehyde in southeastern Los Angeles, USA, a region heavily impacted by ozone pollution. We examine how both the amount and vertical profile of the two species vary throughout the day, finding that differences between the two species impact the utilization of satellite-based measurements to diagnose ozone production chemistry and that these impacts are variable depending on the time of day.
Emma Sands, Ruth M. Doherty, Fiona M. O'Connor, Richard J. Pope, James Weber, and Daniel P. Grosvenor
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 7269–7297, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7269-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7269-2025, 2025
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We perform a detailed satellite–model comparison for isoprene, formaldehyde and aerosol optical depth in an Earth system model. We quantify the impacts of several processes that affect how biosphere–atmosphere interactions influence atmospheric chemistry and aerosols. Our findings highlight that the aerosol direct effect is sensitive to the processes studied. These results can inform future investigations of how the biosphere can affect atmospheric composition and climate.
Xuanye Zhang, Hailong Yang, Lingbing Bu, Zengchang Fan, Wei Xiao, Binglong Chen, Lu Zhang, Sihan Liu, Zhongting Wang, Jiqiao Liu, Weibiao Chen, and Xuhui Lee
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6725–6740, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6725-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6725-2025, 2025
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This study utilized the IPDA (integrated path differential absorption) lidar on board the DQ-1 satellite to monitor emissions from localized strong point sources and, for the first time, observed the diurnal variation in CO2 emissions from a high-latitude power plant. Overall, power plant CO2 emissions were largely consistent with local electricity consumption patterns, with most plants emitting less at night than during the day and with higher emissions in winter compared to spring and autumn.
Antoine Ehret, Solène Turquety, Maya George, Juliette Hadji-Lazaro, and Cathy Clerbaux
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6365–6394, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6365-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6365-2025, 2025
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Biomass burning has a considerable effect on the chemical composition of the atmosphere and climate, due to the emission of trace gases and aerosols. We examine the relationship between fire variability and the values of carbon monoxide and aerosol optical depth observed by satellites. The observed increase in wildfires has led to a corresponding rise in the mean and extreme values of carbon monoxide and aerosol optical depth during the summer and early autumn across the Northern Hemisphere.
Chris A. McLinden, Debora Griffin, Vitali Fioletov, Junhua Zhang, Enrico Dammers, Cristen Adams, Mallory Loria, Nickolay Krotkov, and Lok N. Lamsal
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6093–6120, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6093-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6093-2025, 2025
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The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) was used to understand the evolution of NOx emissions from the Canadian oil sands. OMI NO2 combined with winds and reported stack emissions found emissions from the heavy-hauler mine fleet have remained flat since 2005, whereas the total oil sands mined have more than doubled. This difference is a result of emissions standards that limit NOx emissions becoming more stringent over this period, confirming the efficacy of the policy enacting these standards.
Matilda A. Pimlott, Richard J. Pope, Brian J. Kerridge, Richard Siddans, Barry G. Latter, Lucy J. Ventress, Wuhu Feng, and Martyn P. Chipperfield
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4391–4401, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4391-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4391-2025, 2025
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Globally, lockdowns were implemented to limit the spread of COVID-19, leading to a decrease in emissions of key air pollutants. Here, we use novel satellite data and a chemistry model to investigate the impact of the pandemic on tropospheric ozone (O3), a key pollutant, in 2020. Overall, we found substantial decreases of up to 20 %, two-thirds of which came from emission reductions, while one-third was due to a decrease in the stratospheric O3 flux into the troposphere.
Anne Boynard, Catherine Wespes, Juliette Hadji-Lazaro, Selviga Sinnathamby, Daniel Hurtmans, Pierre-François Coheur, Marie Doutriaux-Boucher, Jacobus Onderwaater, Wolfgang Steinbrecht, Elyse A. Pennington, Kevin Bowman, and Cathy Clerbaux
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1054, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1054, 2025
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This study analyzes 16 years of global ozone data to assess its impact on air quality and climate. Using satellite measurements, we observed a global decrease in tropospheric ozone, particularly in tropical and European regions. The study highlights the importance of long-term data for tracking trends, especially during events like the pandemic. We emphasize the need for improved data processing and integrating multiple datasets to better understand ozone trends.
Yujin J. Oak, Daniel J. Jacob, Drew C. Pendergrass, Ruijun Dang, Nadia K. Colombi, Heesung Chong, Seoyoung Lee, Su Keun Kuk, and Jhoon Kim
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3233–3252, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3233-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3233-2025, 2025
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We analyze 2015–2023 air quality trends in South Korea using surface and satellite observations. Primary pollutants have decreased, consistent with emissions reductions. Surface O3 continues to increase and PM2.5 has decreased overall, but the nitrate component has not. O3 and PM2.5 nitrate depend on nonlinear responses from precursor emissions. Satellite data indicate a recent shift to NOx-sensitive O3 and nitrate formation, where further NOx reductions will benefit both O3 and PM2.5 pollution.
Elise Penn, Daniel J. Jacob, Zichong Chen, James D. East, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Lori Bruhwiler, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Hannah Nesser, Zhen Qu, Yuzhong Zhang, and John Worden
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2947–2965, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2947-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2947-2025, 2025
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The hydroxyl radical (OH) destroys many air pollutants, including methane. Global-mean OH cannot be directly measured, and thus it is inferred with the methyl chloroform (MCF) proxy. MCF is decreasing, and a replacement is needed. We use satellite observations of methane in two spectral ranges as a proxy for OH. We find shortwave infrared observations can characterize yearly OH and its seasonality but not the latitudinal distribution. Thermal infrared observations add little information.
Lingxiao Lu, Jason Blake Cohen, Kai Qin, Xiaolu Li, and Qin He
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2291–2309, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2291-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2291-2025, 2025
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This study applies an approach that assimilates NO2 vertical column densities from TROPOMI in a mass-conserving manner and inverts daily NOx emissions, presented over rapidly changing regions in China. Source attribution is quantified by the local thermodynamics of the combustion temperature (NOx/NO2). Emission results identify sources which do not exist in the a priori datasets, especially medium industrial sources located next to the Yangtze River.
Amir H. Souri, Gonzalo González Abad, Glenn M. Wolfe, Tijl Verhoelst, Corinne Vigouroux, Gaia Pinardi, Steven Compernolle, Bavo Langerock, Bryan N. Duncan, and Matthew S. Johnson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2061–2086, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2061-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2061-2025, 2025
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We establish a simple yet robust relationship between ozone production rates and geophysical parameters obtained from several intensive atmospheric composition campaigns. We show that satellite remote sensing data can effectively constrain these parameters, enabling us to produce the first global maps of ozone production rates with unprecedented resolution.
Yu Tian, Siyi Wang, and Xiaomeng Jin
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-368, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-368, 2025
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We leverage over two-decade ground-based ozone observations alongside space-based observations of ozone precursors (NO2 and formaldehyde) to study the long-term evolution in ozone chemical regimes across global source regions. We find a global trend towards NOx-limited regimes, supported by increasing satellite-based HCHO/NO2 and a diminishing ozone weekend effect.
Norbert Glatthor, Gabriele P. Stiller, Thomas von Clarmann, Bernd Funke, Sylvia Kellmann, and Andrea Linden
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1175–1208, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1175-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1175-2025, 2025
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We present global upper-tropospheric distributions of the pollutants HCN, CO, C2H2, C2H6, PAN, and HCOOH, observed between 2002 and 2012 by the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) on the Environmental Satellite (Envisat). By comparing the spatial distributions of their volume mixing ratios and by global correlation and regression analyses, we draw conclusions on their sources, such as biomass burning, anthropogenic sources, and biogenic release.
Gijs Leguijt, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Hugo A. C. Denier van der Gon, Arjo J. Segers, Tobias Borsdorff, Ivar R. van der Velde, and Ilse Aben
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 555–574, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-555-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-555-2025, 2025
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The production of steel coincides with large emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants including carbon monoxide. European facilities are required to report their emissions, which are estimated using a variety of methods. We evaluate these estimates using carbon monoxide concentrations measured via satellite. We find generally good agreement between our values and those reported but also identify some uncertainties, showing that satellites can provide insights into these emissions.
Chengxin Zhang, Xinhan Niu, Hongyu Wu, Zhipeng Ding, Ka Lok Chan, Jhoon Kim, Thomas Wagner, and Cheng Liu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 759–770, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-759-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-759-2025, 2025
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This research utilizes hourly air pollution observations from the world’s first geostationary satellite to develop a spatiotemporal neural network model for full-coverage surface NO2 pollution prediction over the next 24 hours, achieving outstanding forecasting performance and efficacy. These results highlight the profound impact of geostationary satellite observations in advancing air quality forecasting models, thereby contributing to future models for health exposure to air pollution.
Lucien Froidevaux, Douglas E. Kinnison, Benjamin Gaubert, Michael J. Schwartz, Nathaniel J. Livesey, William G. Read, Charles G. Bardeen, Jerry R. Ziemke, and Ryan A. Fuller
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 597–624, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-597-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-597-2025, 2025
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We compare observed changes in ozone (O3) and carbon monoxide (CO) in the tropical upper troposphere (10–15 km altitude) for 2005–2020 to predictions from model simulations that track the evolution of natural and industrial emissions transported to this region. An increasing trend in measured upper-tropospheric O3 is well matched by model trends. We find that changes in modeled industrial CO surface emissions lead to better model agreement with observed slight decreases in upper-tropospheric CO.
Vitali Fioletov, Chris A. McLinden, Debora Griffin, Xiaoyi Zhao, and Henk Eskes
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 575–596, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-575-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-575-2025, 2025
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Satellite data were used to estimate urban per capita emissions for 261 major cities worldwide. Three components in tropospheric NO2 data (background NO2, NO2 from urban sources, and NO2 from industrial point sources) were isolated, and then each of these components was analyzed separately. The largest per capita emissions were found in the Middle East and the smallest in India and southern Africa. Urban weekend emissions are 20 %–50 % less than workday emissions for all regions except China.
Roeland Van Malderen, Zhou Zang, Kai-Lan Chang, Robin Björklund, Owen R. Cooper, Jane Liu, Eliane Maillard Barras, Corinne Vigouroux, Irina Petropavlovskikh, Thierry Leblanc, Valérie Thouret, Pawel Wolff, Peter Effertz, Audrey Gaudel, David W. Tarasick, Herman G. J. Smit, Anne M. Thompson, Ryan M. Stauffer, Debra E. Kollonige, Deniz Poyraz, Gérard Ancellet, Marie-Renée De Backer, Matthias M. Frey, James W. Hannigan, José L. Hernandez, Bryan J. Johnson, Nicholas Jones, Rigel Kivi, Emmanuel Mahieu, Isamu Morino, Glen McConville, Katrin Müller, Isao Murata, Justus Notholt, Ankie Piters, Maxime Prignon, Richard Querel, Vincenzo Rizi, Dan Smale, Wolfgang Steinbrecht, Kimberly Strong, and Ralf Sussmann
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3745, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3745, 2025
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Tropospheric ozone is an important greenhouse gas and an air pollutant, whose distribution and time variability is mainly governed by anthropogenic emissions and dynamics. In this paper, we assess regional trends of tropospheric ozone column amounts, based on two different approaches of merging or synthesizing ground-based observations and their trends within specific regions. Our findings clearly demonstrate regional trend differences, but also consistently higher pre- than post-COVID trends.
Zhuang Wang, Chune Shi, Hao Zhang, Xianguang Ji, Yizhi Zhu, Congzi Xia, Xiaoyun Sun, Xinfeng Lin, Shaowei Yan, Suyao Wang, Yuan Zhou, Chengzhi Xing, Yujia Chen, and Cheng Liu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 347–366, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-347-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-347-2025, 2025
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This study attempts to explain the surface ozone background and typical and peak trends in eastern China by combining a large number of ground-based and satellite observations. We found diametrically opposed trends in peak (decreasing) and low (increasing) ozone concentrations. Anthropogenic emissions primarily drive trends in low and peak ozone concentrations in eastern China, though meteorological effects also play a role.
Rebekah P. Horner, Eloise A. Marais, Nana Wei, Robert G. Ryan, and Viral Shah
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13047–13064, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13047-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13047-2024, 2024
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Nitrogen oxides (NOx ≡ NO + NO2) affect tropospheric ozone and the hydroxyl radical, influencing climate and atmospheric oxidation. To address the lack of routine observations of NOx, we cloud slice satellite observations of NO2 to derive a new dataset of global vertical profiles of NO2. We evaluate our data against in situ aircraft observations and use these data to critique the contemporary understanding of tropospheric NOx, as simulated by the GEOS-Chem model.
Bryan N. Duncan, Daniel C. Anderson, Arlene M. Fiore, Joanna Joiner, Nickolay A. Krotkov, Can Li, Dylan B. Millet, Julie M. Nicely, Luke D. Oman, Jason M. St. Clair, Joshua D. Shutter, Amir H. Souri, Sarah A. Strode, Brad Weir, Glenn M. Wolfe, Helen M. Worden, and Qindan Zhu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13001–13023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13001-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13001-2024, 2024
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Trace gases emitted to or formed within the atmosphere may be chemically or physically removed from the atmosphere. One trace gas, the hydroxyl radical (OH), is responsible for initiating the chemical removal of many trace gases, including some greenhouse gases. Despite its importance, scientists have not been able to adequately measure OH. In this opinion piece, we discuss promising new methods to indirectly constrain OH using satellite data of trace gases that control the abundance of OH.
Emma Sands, Richard J. Pope, Ruth M. Doherty, Fiona M. O'Connor, Chris Wilson, and Hugh Pumphrey
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11081–11102, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11081-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11081-2024, 2024
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Changes in vegetation alongside biomass burning impact regional atmospheric composition and air quality. Using satellite remote sensing, we find a clear linear relationship between forest cover and isoprene and a pronounced non-linear relationship between burned area and nitrogen dioxide in the southern Amazon, a region of substantial deforestation. These quantified relationships can be used for model evaluation and further exploration of biosphere-atmosphere interactions in Earth System Models.
Jieying Ding, Ronald van der A, Henk Eskes, Enrico Dammers, Mark Shephard, Roy Wichink Kruit, Marc Guevara, and Leonor Tarrason
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10583–10599, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10583-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10583-2024, 2024
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Here we applied the existing Daily Emissions Constrained by Satellite Observations (DECSO) inversion algorithm to NH3 observations from the CrIS satellite instrument to estimate NH3 emissions. As NH3 in the atmosphere is influenced by NOx, we implemented DECSO to estimate NOx and NH3 emissions simultaneously. The emissions are derived over Europe for 2020 at a spatial resolution of 0.2° using daily observations from CrIS and TROPOMI. Results are compared to bottom-up emission inventories.
Matthew S. Johnson, Sajeev Philip, Scott Meech, Rajesh Kumar, Meytar Sorek-Hamer, Yoichi P. Shiga, and Jia Jung
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10363–10384, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10363-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10363-2024, 2024
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Satellites, like the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), retrieve proxy species of ozone (O3) formation (formaldehyde and nitrogen dioxide) and the ratios (FNRs) which can define O3 production sensitivity regimes. Here we investigate trends of OMI FNRs from 2005 to 2021, and they have increased in major cities, suggesting a transition from radical- to NOx-limited regimes. OMI also observed the impact of reduced emissions during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown that resulted in increased FNRs.
Audrey Gaudel, Ilann Bourgeois, Meng Li, Kai-Lan Chang, Jerald Ziemke, Bastien Sauvage, Ryan M. Stauffer, Anne M. Thompson, Debra E. Kollonige, Nadia Smith, Daan Hubert, Arno Keppens, Juan Cuesta, Klaus-Peter Heue, Pepijn Veefkind, Kenneth Aikin, Jeff Peischl, Chelsea R. Thompson, Thomas B. Ryerson, Gregory J. Frost, Brian C. McDonald, and Owen R. Cooper
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9975–10000, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9975-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9975-2024, 2024
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The study examines tropical tropospheric ozone changes. In situ data from 1994–2019 display increased ozone, notably over India, Southeast Asia, and Malaysia and Indonesia. Sparse in situ data limit trend detection for the 15-year period. In situ and satellite data, with limited sampling, struggle to consistently detect trends. Continuous observations are vital over the tropical Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, western Africa, and South Asia for accurate ozone trend estimation in these regions.
Naveed Ahmad, Changqing Lin, Alexis K. H. Lau, Jhoon Kim, Tianshu Zhang, Fangqun Yu, Chengcai Li, Ying Li, Jimmy C. H. Fung, and Xiang Qian Lao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9645–9665, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9645-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9645-2024, 2024
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This study developed a nested machine learning model to convert the GEMS NO2 column measurements into ground-level concentrations across China. The model directly incorporates the NO2 mixing height (NMH) into the methodological framework. The study underscores the importance of considering NMH when estimating ground-level NO2 from satellite column measurements and highlights the significant advantages of new-generation geostationary satellites in air quality monitoring.
Richard J. Pope, Fiona M. O'Connor, Mohit Dalvi, Brian J. Kerridge, Richard Siddans, Barry G. Latter, Brice Barret, Eric Le Flochmoen, Anne Boynard, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Wuhu Feng, Matilda A. Pimlott, Sandip S. Dhomse, Christian Retscher, Catherine Wespes, and Richard Rigby
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9177–9195, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9177-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9177-2024, 2024
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Ozone is a potent air pollutant in the lower troposphere, with adverse impacts on human health. Satellite records of tropospheric ozone currently show large-scale inconsistencies in long-term trends. Our detailed study of the potential factors (e.g. satellite errors, where the satellite can observe ozone) potentially driving these inconsistencies found that, in North America, Europe, and East Asia, the underlying trends are typically small with large uncertainties.
David P. Edwards, Sara Martínez-Alonso, Duseong S. Jo, Ivan Ortega, Louisa K. Emmons, John J. Orlando, Helen M. Worden, Jhoon Kim, Hanlim Lee, Junsung Park, and Hyunkee Hong
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8943–8961, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8943-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8943-2024, 2024
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Until recently, satellite observations of atmospheric pollutants at any location could only be obtained once a day. New geostationary satellites stare at a region of the Earth to make hourly measurements, and the Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer is the first looking at Asia. These data and model simulations show how the change seen for one important pollutant that determines air quality depends on a combination of pollution emissions, atmospheric chemistry, and meteorology.
Sören Johansson, Michael Höpfner, Felix Friedl-Vallon, Norbert Glatthor, Thomas Gulde, Vincent Huijnen, Anne Kleinert, Erik Kretschmer, Guido Maucher, Tom Neubert, Hans Nordmeyer, Christof Piesch, Peter Preusse, Martin Riese, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, Jörn Ungermann, Gerald Wetzel, and Wolfgang Woiwode
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8125–8138, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8125-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8125-2024, 2024
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We present airborne infrared limb sounding GLORIA measurements of ammonia (NH3) in the upper troposphere of air masses within the Asian monsoon and of those connected with biomass burning. Comparing CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) model data, we find that the model reproduces the measured enhanced NH3 within the Asian monsoon well but not that within biomass burning plumes, where no enhanced NH3 is measured in the upper troposphere but considerable amounts are simulated by CAMS.
Sandro Meier, Erik F. M. Koene, Maarten Krol, Dominik Brunner, Alexander Damm, and Gerrit Kuhlmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7667–7686, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7667-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7667-2024, 2024
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Nitrogen oxides (NOx = NO + NO2) are important air pollutants. This study addresses the challenge of accurately estimating NOx emissions from NO2 satellite observations. We develop a realistic model to convert NO2 to NOx by using simulated plumes from various power plants. We apply the model to satellite NO2 observations, significantly reducing biases in estimated NOx emissions. The study highlights the potential for a consistent, high-resolution estimation of NOx emissions using satellite data.
Oliver Schneising, Michael Buchwitz, Maximilian Reuter, Michael Weimer, Heinrich Bovensmann, John P. Burrows, and Hartmut Bösch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7609–7621, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7609-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7609-2024, 2024
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Large quantities of CO and CO2 are emitted during conventional steel production. As satellite-based estimates of CO2 emissions at the facility level are challenging, co-emitted CO can indicate the carbon footprint of steel plants. We estimate CO emissions for German steelworks and use CO2 emissions from emissions trading data to derive a sector-specific CO/CO2 emission ratio for the steel industry; it is a prerequisite to use CO as a proxy for CO2 emissions from similar steel production sites.
Ronald J. van der A, Jieying Ding, and Henk Eskes
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7523–7534, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7523-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7523-2024, 2024
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Using observations of the Sentinel-5P satellite and the latest version of the inversion algorithm DECSO, anthropogenic NOx emissions are derived for Europe for the years 2019–2022 with a spatial resolution of 0.2°. The results are compared with European emissions of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service.
Xuehong Gong, Zeyu Liu, Jie Tian, Qiyuan Wang, Guohui Li, Zhisheng An, and Yongming Han
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1684, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1684, 2024
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Our study analyzed CO2 emissions from wildfires in China from 2001 to 2022. Cropland and forest fires contributed the most, while grassland fires were the least. Emissions from forest and shrub fires decreased significantly, while cropland fires increased. The highest emissions were in Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia. China's effective policy management has reduced wildfire-related CO2 emissions, aiding global climate change efforts.
Bruno Franco, Lieven Clarisse, Nicolas Theys, Juliette Hadji-Lazaro, Cathy Clerbaux, and Pierre Coheur
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4973–5007, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4973-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4973-2024, 2024
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Using IASI global infrared measurements, we retrieve nitrous acid (HONO) in fire plumes from space. We detect large enhancements of pyrogenic HONO worldwide, especially from intense wildfires at Northern Hemisphere mid- and high latitudes. Predominance of IASI nighttime over daytime measurements sheds light on HONO's extended lifetime and secondary formation during long-range transport in smoke plumes. Our findings deepen the understanding of atmospheric HONO, crucial for air quality assessment.
Gitaek T. Lee, Rokjin J. Park, Hyeong-Ahn Kwon, Eunjo S. Ha, Sieun D. Lee, Seunga Shin, Myoung-Hwan Ahn, Mina Kang, Yong-Sang Choi, Gyuyeon Kim, Dong-Won Lee, Deok-Rae Kim, Hyunkee Hong, Bavo Langerock, Corinne Vigouroux, Christophe Lerot, Francois Hendrick, Gaia Pinardi, Isabelle De Smedt, Michel Van Roozendael, Pucai Wang, Heesung Chong, Yeseul Cho, and Jhoon Kim
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4733–4749, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4733-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4733-2024, 2024
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This study evaluates the Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) HCHO product by comparing its vertical column densities (VCDs) with those of TROPOMI and ground-based observations. Based on some sensitivity tests, obtaining radiance references under clear-sky conditions significantly improves HCHO retrieval quality. GEMS HCHO VCDs captured seasonal and diurnal variations well during the first year of observation, showing consistency with TROPOMI and ground-based observations.
Fei Liu, Steffen Beirle, Joanna Joiner, Sungyeon Choi, Zhining Tao, K. Emma Knowland, Steven J. Smith, Daniel Q. Tong, Siqi Ma, Zachary T. Fasnacht, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3717–3728, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3717-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3717-2024, 2024
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Using satellite data, we developed a coupled method independent of the chemical transport model to map NOx emissions across US cities. After validating our technique with synthetic data, we charted NOx emissions from 2018–2021 in 39 cities. Our results closely matched EPA estimates but also highlighted some inconsistencies in both magnitude and spatial distribution. This research can help refine strategies for monitoring and managing air quality.
Richard J. Pope, Alexandru Rap, Matilda A. Pimlott, Brice Barret, Eric Le Flochmoen, Brian J. Kerridge, Richard Siddans, Barry G. Latter, Lucy J. Ventress, Anne Boynard, Christian Retscher, Wuhu Feng, Richard Rigby, Sandip S. Dhomse, Catherine Wespes, and Martyn P. Chipperfield
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3613–3626, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3613-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3613-2024, 2024
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Tropospheric ozone is an important short-lived climate forcer which influences the incoming solar short-wave radiation and the outgoing long-wave radiation in the atmosphere (8–15 km) where the balance between the two yields a net positive (i.e. warming) effect at the surface. Overall, we find that the tropospheric ozone radiative effect ranges between 1.21 and 1.26 W m−2 with a negligible trend (2008–2017), suggesting that tropospheric ozone influences on climate have remained stable with time.
Isabelle A. Taylor, Roy G. Grainger, Andrew T. Prata, Simon R. Proud, Tamsin A. Mather, and David M. Pyle
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 15209–15234, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15209-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15209-2023, 2023
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This study looks at sulfur dioxide (SO2) and ash emissions from the April 2021 eruption of La Soufrière on St Vincent. Using satellite data, 35 eruptive events were identified. Satellite data were used to track SO2 as it was transported around the globe. The majority of SO2 was emitted into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. Similarities with the 1979 eruption of La Soufrière highlight the value of studying these eruptions to be better prepared for future eruptions.
Richard J. Pope, Brian J. Kerridge, Richard Siddans, Barry G. Latter, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Wuhu Feng, Matilda A. Pimlott, Sandip S. Dhomse, Christian Retscher, and Richard Rigby
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14933–14947, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14933-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14933-2023, 2023
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Ozone is a potent air pollutant, and we present the first study to investigate long-term changes in lower tropospheric column ozone (LTCO3) from space. We have constructed a merged LTCO3 dataset from GOME-1, SCIAMACHY and OMI between 1996 and 2017. Comparing LTCO3 between the 1996–2000 and 2013–2017 5-year averages, we find significant positive increases in the tropics/sub-tropics, while in the northern mid-latitudes, we find small-scale differences.
Daniel H. Cusworth, Andrew K. Thorpe, Charles E. Miller, Alana K. Ayasse, Ralph Jiorle, Riley M. Duren, Ray Nassar, Jon-Paul Mastrogiacomo, and Robert R. Nelson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14577–14591, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14577-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14577-2023, 2023
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Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from combustion sources are uncertain in many places across the globe. Satellites have the ability to detect and quantify emissions from large CO2 point sources, including coal-fired power plants. In this study, we tasked two satellites to routinely observe CO2 emissions at 30 coal-fired power plants between 2021 and 2022. These results present the largest dataset of space-based CO2 emission estimates to date.
Maria Tsivlidou, Bastien Sauvage, Yasmine Bennouna, Romain Blot, Damien Boulanger, Hannah Clark, Eric Le Flochmoën, Philippe Nédélec, Valérie Thouret, Pawel Wolff, and Brice Barret
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14039–14063, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14039-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14039-2023, 2023
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The tropics are a region where the ozone increase has been most apparent since 1980 and where observations are sparse. Using aircraft, satellite, and model data, we document the characteristics of tropospheric ozone and CO over the whole tropics for the last 2 decades. We explore the origin of the observed CO anomalies and investigate transport processes driving the tropical CO and O3 distribution. Our study highlights the importance of anthropogenic emissions, mostly over the northern tropics.
Richard J. Pope, Brian J. Kerridge, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Richard Siddans, Barry G. Latter, Lucy J. Ventress, Matilda A. Pimlott, Wuhu Feng, Edward Comyn-Platt, Garry D. Hayman, Stephen R. Arnold, and Ailish M. Graham
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13235–13253, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13235-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13235-2023, 2023
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In the summer of 2018, Europe experienced several persistent large-scale ozone (O3) pollution episodes. Satellite tropospheric O3 and surface O3 data recorded substantial enhancements in 2018 relative to other years. Targeted model simulations showed that meteorological processes and emissions controlled the elevated surface O3, while mid-tropospheric O3 enhancements were dominated by stratospheric O3 intrusion and advection of North Atlantic O3-rich air masses into Europe.
Rui Wang, Da Pan, Xuehui Guo, Kang Sun, Lieven Clarisse, Martin Van Damme, Pierre-François Coheur, Cathy Clerbaux, Melissa Puchalski, and Mark A. Zondlo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13217–13234, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13217-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13217-2023, 2023
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Ammonia (NH3) is a key precursor for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and a primary form of reactive nitrogen, yet it has sparse ground measurements. We perform the first comprehensive comparison between ground observations and satellite retrievals in the US, demonstrating that satellite NH3 data can help fill spatial gaps in the current ground monitoring networks. Trend analyses using both datasets highlight increasing NH3 trends across the US, including the NH3 hotspots and urban areas.
Rimal Abeed, Camille Viatte, William C. Porter, Nikolaos Evangeliou, Cathy Clerbaux, Lieven Clarisse, Martin Van Damme, Pierre-François Coheur, and Sarah Safieddine
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 12505–12523, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12505-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12505-2023, 2023
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Ammonia emissions from agricultural activities will inevitably increase with the rise in population. We use a variety of datasets (satellite, reanalysis, and model simulation) to calculate the first regional map of ammonia emission potential during the start of the growing season in Europe. We then apply our developed method using a climate model to show the effect of the temperature increase on future ammonia columns under two possible climate scenarios.
Bianca Zilker, Andreas Richter, Anne-Marlene Blechschmidt, Peter von der Gathen, Ilias Bougoudis, Sora Seo, Tim Bösch, and John Philip Burrows
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9787–9814, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9787-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9787-2023, 2023
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During Arctic spring, near-surface ozone is depleted by bromine released from salty sea ice and/or snow-covered areas under certain meteorological conditions. To study this ozone depletion and the prevailing meteorological conditions, two ozone data sets from Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, have been evaluated. We found that during ozone depletion events lower pressure over the Barents Sea and higher pressure in the Icelandic Low area led to a transport of cold polar air from the north to Ny-Ålesund.
Gijs Leguijt, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Hugo A. C. Denier van der Gon, Arjo J. Segers, Tobias Borsdorff, and Ilse Aben
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8899–8919, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8899-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8899-2023, 2023
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We present a fast method to evaluate carbon monoxide emissions from cities in Africa. Carbon monoxide is important for climate change in an indirect way, as it is linked to ozone, methane, and carbon dioxide. Our measurements are made with a satellite that sees the entire globe every single day. This means that we can check from space whether the current knowledge of emission rates is up to date. We make the comparison and show that the emission rates in northern Africa are underestimated.
Chantelle R. Lonsdale and Kang Sun
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8727–8748, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8727-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8727-2023, 2023
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The COVID-19 pandemic, which was caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, emerged in 2019, and its still evolving variants have resulted in unprecedented shifts in human activities and anthropogenic emissions into the Earth's atmosphere. We present monthly nitrogen oxide emissions over three major continents from May 2018 to January 2023 to capture variations before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. We focus on a diverse collection of 54 cities to quantify the post-COVID-19 perturbations.
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Short summary
The current El Niño event has had a dramatic impact on the amount of Indonesian biomass burning and subsequent greenhouse gas emission. We have used satellite observations of CH4 and CO2 of these fires to probe aspects of their chemical composition. We show large enhancements in the amount of these species, due to the fire emissions. The ability to determine large-scale emission ratios from space allows the combustion behaviour of very large regions of burning to be characterised and understood.
The current El Niño event has had a dramatic impact on the amount of Indonesian biomass burning...
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