Articles | Volume 20, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-99-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-99-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
03 Jan 2020
Research article |
| 03 Jan 2020
| 03 Jan 2020
A methodology to constrain carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants using satellite observations of co-emitted nitrogen dioxide
Universities Space Research Association (USRA), Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research (GESTAR), Columbia, MD, USA
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
Bryan N. Duncan
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
Nickolay A. Krotkov
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
Lok N. Lamsal
Universities Space Research Association (USRA), Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research (GESTAR), Columbia, MD, USA
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
Steffen Beirle
Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie, Mainz, Germany
Debora Griffin
Air Quality Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada
Chris A. McLinden
Air Quality Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada
Daniel L. Goldberg
Energy Systems Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, USA
Zifeng Lu
Energy Systems Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, USA
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Gaia Pinardi, Martina M. Friedrich, Corinne Vigouroux, Bavo Langerock, Isabelle De Smedt, Caroline Fayt, Christian Hermans, Steffen Beirle, Thomas Wagner, Minqiang Zhou, Ting Wang, Pucai Wang, Martine De Mazière, and Michel Van Roozendael
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3320, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3320, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (AMT).
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Daniel E. Huber, Gaige H. Kerr, M. Omar Nawaz, Sara Runkel, Susan C. Anenberg, and Daniel L. Goldberg
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3178, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3178, 2025
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We used satellite data to track air pollution in over 11,000 cities worldwide from 2019 to 2024. Nitrogen dioxide levels fell in many cities in Asia, Europe, and North America, but rose in parts of Africa and the Middle East. We found signs of nitrogen dioxide changes from fossil fuel use, conflict and mining operations. These findings show how satellites can help track pollution and highlight where official data on emissions may be wrong or incomplete.
África Barreto, Francisco Quirós, Omaira E. García, Jorge Pereda-de-Pablo, Daniel González-Fernández, Andrés Bedoya-Velásquez, Michael Sicard, Carmen Córdoba-Jabonero, Marco Iarlori, Vincenzo Rizi, Nickolay Krotkov, Simon Carn, Reijo Roininen, Antonio J. Molina-Arias, A. Fernando Almansa, Óscar Álvarez-Losada, Carla Aramo, Juan José Bustos, Romain Ceolato, Adolfo Comerón, Alicia Felpeto, Rosa D. García, Pablo González-Sicilia, Yenny González, Pascal Hedelt, Miguel Hernández, María-Ángeles López-Cayuela, Diego Loyola, Stavros Meletlidis, Constantino Muñoz-Porcar, Ermanno Pietropaolo, Ramón Ramos, Alejandro Rodríguez-Gómez, Roberto Román, Pedro M. Romero-Campos, Martin Stuefer, Carlos Toledano, and Elsworth Welton
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Matthias Kohl, Christoph Brühl, Jennifer Schallock, Holger Tost, Patrick Jöckel, Adrian Jost, Steffen Beirle, Michael Höpfner, and Andrea Pozzer
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 3985–4007, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-3985-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-3985-2025, 2025
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SO2 from explosive volcanic eruptions reaching the stratosphere can oxidize and form sulfur aerosols, potentially persisting for several years. We developed a new submodel, Explosive Volcanic ERuptions (EVER), that seamlessly includes stratospheric volcanic SO2 emissions in global numerical simulations based on a novel standard historical model setup, successfully evaluated with satellite observations. Sensitivity studies on the Nabro eruption in 2011 evaluate different emission methods.
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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Ramina Alwarda, Kristof Bognar, Xiaoyi Zhao, Vitali Fioletov, Jonathan Davies, Sum Chi Lee, Debora Griffin, Alexandru Lupu, Udo Frieß, Alexander Cede, Yushan Su, and Kimberly Strong
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 2397–2423, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2397-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2397-2025, 2025
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Amir H. Souri, Gonzalo González Abad, Bryan N. Duncan, and Luke D. Oman
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1679, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1679, 2025
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We create long-term maps of PO3 magnitudes along with their corresponding sensitivity maps. This is achieved using a deep learning parameterization method that relies on satellite data, atmospheric models, and ground-based remote sensing. Our approach provides more quantitative information than commonly used methods that depend on ratio-based indicators (such as HCHO/NO2). Additionally, our method considers light and water vapor, making it suitable for applications with GEO satellites.
Zachary Watson, Can Li, Fei Liu, Sean W. Freeman, Huanxin Zhang, Jun Wang, and Shan-Hu Lee
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1735, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1735, 2025
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Air pollutants like sulfur dioxide cause direct impacts on human health and the environment. Our work estimated surface concentrations from satellite data using atmospheric models and machine learning compared to an air quality monitoring network. We found that both methods can accurately determine the locations and changes in sulfur dioxide, but the machine learning method had better accuracy. Both methods are useful for monitoring air quality in locations without ground-based measurements.
Daniel L. Goldberg, M. Omar Nawaz, Congmeng Lyu, Jian He, Annmarie G. Carlton, Shobha Kondragunta, and Susan C. Anenberg
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1350, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1350, 2025
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This research investigates how air quality, specifically NO2 concentrations, is different under clear and cloudy skies. We find that in situ surface NO2 is, on average, +36 % larger during cloudy days versus clear sky days, with a wide distribution based on geographic region and roadway proximity: largest in the Northeast U.S. and smallest in the Southwest U.S. and near major roadways. This has implications for satellite data applications, which only use measurements in the absence of clouds.
Debora Griffin, Colin Hempel, Chris McLinden, Shailesh Kumar Kharol, Colin Lee, Andre Fogal, Christopher Sioris, Mark Shephard, and Yuan You
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1681, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1681, 2025
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Surface NO2 concentrations are obtained across North America using satellite data and machine learning, and compared to traditional approaches to determine surface NO2 from satellite observations.
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.
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.
Xiaoyi Zhao, Vitali Fioletov, Debora Griffin, Chris McLinden, Ralf Staebler, Cristian Mihele, Kevin Strawbridge, Jonathan Davies, Ihab Abboud, Sum Chi Lee, Alexander Cede, Martin Tiefengraber, and Robert Swap
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6889–6912, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6889-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6889-2024, 2024
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This study explores differences between remote sensing and in situ instruments in terms of their vertical, horizontal, and temporal sampling differences. Understanding and resolving these differences are critical for future analyses linking satellite, ground-based remote sensing, and in situ observations in air quality monitoring. It shows that the meteorological conditions (wind directions, speed, and boundary layer conditions) will strongly affect the agreement between the two measurements.
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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Deepangsu Chatterjee, Randall V. Martin, Chi Li, Dandan Zhang, Haihui Zhu, Daven K. Henze, James H. Crawford, Ronald C. Cohen, Lok N. Lamsal, and Alexander M. Cede
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12687–12706, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12687-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12687-2024, 2024
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We investigate the hourly variation of NO2 columns and surface concentrations by applying the GEOS-Chem model to interpret aircraft and ground-based measurements over the US and Pandora sun photometer measurements over the US, Europe, and Asia. Corrections to the Pandora columns and finer model resolution improve the modeled representation of the summertime hourly variation of total NO2 columns to explain the weaker hourly variation in NO2 columns than at the surface.
Leon Kuhn, Steffen Beirle, Sergey Osipov, Andrea Pozzer, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6485–6516, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6485-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6485-2024, 2024
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This paper presents a new machine learning model that allows us to compute NO2 concentration profiles from satellite observations. A neural network was trained on synthetic data from the regional chemistry and transport model WRF-Chem. This is the first model of its kind. We present a thorough model validation study, covering various seasons and regions of the world.
Kerry Anderson, Jack Chen, Peter Englefield, Debora Griffin, Paul A. Makar, and Dan Thompson
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 7713–7749, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7713-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7713-2024, 2024
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The Global Forest Fire Emissions Prediction System (GFFEPS) is a model that predicts smoke and carbon emissions from wildland fires. The model calculates emissions from the ground up based on satellite-detected fires, modelled weather and fire characteristics. Unlike other global models, GFFEPS uses daily weather conditions to capture changing burning conditions on a day-to-day basis. GFFEPS produced lower carbon emissions due to the changing weather not captured by the other models.
Can Li, Nickolay A. Krotkov, Joanna Joiner, Vitali Fioletov, Chris McLinden, Debora Griffin, Peter J. T. Leonard, Simon Carn, Colin Seftor, and Alexander Vasilkov
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 4291–4309, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4291-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4291-2024, 2024
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Sulfur dioxide (SO2), a poisonous gas from human activities and volcanoes, causes air pollution, acid rain, and changes to climate and the ozone layer. Satellites have been used to monitor SO2 globally, including remote areas. Here we describe a new satellite SO2 dataset from the OMPS instrument that flies on the N20 satellite. Results show that the new dataset agrees well with the existing ones from other satellites and can help to continue the global monitoring of SO2 from space.
Debora Griffin, Jack Chen, Kerry Anderson, Paul Makar, Chris A. McLinden, Enrico Dammers, and Andre Fogal
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10159–10186, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10159-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10159-2024, 2024
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Satellite-derived CO emissions provide new insights into the understanding of global CO emission rates from wildfires. We use TROPOMI satellite data to create a global inventory database of wildfire CO emissions. These satellite-derived wildfire emissions are used for the evaluation and improvement of existing fire emission inventories and to examine how the wildfire CO emissions have changed over the past 2 decades.
Tim Trent, Marc Schröder, Shu-Peng Ho, Steffen Beirle, Ralf Bennartz, Eva Borbas, Christian Borger, Helene Brogniez, Xavier Calbet, Elisa Castelli, Gilbert P. Compo, Wesley Ebisuzaki, Ulrike Falk, Frank Fell, John Forsythe, Hans Hersbach, Misako Kachi, Shinya Kobayashi, Robert E. Kursinski, Diego Loyola, Zhengzao Luo, Johannes K. Nielsen, Enzo Papandrea, Laurence Picon, Rene Preusker, Anthony Reale, Lei Shi, Laura Slivinski, Joao Teixeira, Tom Vonder Haar, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9667–9695, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9667-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9667-2024, 2024
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In a warmer future, water vapour will spend more time in the atmosphere, changing global rainfall patterns. In this study, we analysed the performance of 28 water vapour records between 1988 and 2014. We find sensitivity to surface warming generally outside expected ranges, attributed to breakpoints in individual record trends and differing representations of climate variability. The implication is that longer records are required for high confidence in assessing climate trends.
Amir H. Souri, Bryan N. Duncan, Sarah A. Strode, Daniel C. Anderson, Michael E. Manyin, Junhua Liu, Luke D. Oman, Zhen Zhang, and Brad Weir
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8677–8701, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8677-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8677-2024, 2024
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We explore a new method of using the wealth of information obtained from satellite observations of Aura OMI NO2, HCHO, and MERRA-2 reanalysis in NASA’s GEOS model equipped with an efficient tropospheric OH (TOH) estimator to enhance the representation of TOH spatial distribution and its long-term trends. This new framework helps us pinpoint regional inaccuracies in TOH and differentiate between established prior knowledge and newly acquired information from satellites on TOH trends.
Enrico Dammers, Janot Tokaya, Christian Mielke, Kevin Hausmann, Debora Griffin, Chris McLinden, Henk Eskes, and Renske Timmermans
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4983–5007, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4983-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4983-2024, 2024
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Nitrogen dioxide (NOx) is produced by sources such as industry and traffic and is directly linked to negative impacts on health and the environment. The current construction of emission inventories to keep track of NOx emissions is slow and time-consuming. Satellite measurements provide a way to quickly and independently estimate emissions. In this study, we apply a consistent methodology to derive NOx emissions over Germany and illustrate the value of having such a method for fast projections.
M. Omar Nawaz, Jeremiah Johnson, Greg Yarwood, Benjamin de Foy, Laura Judd, and Daniel L. Goldberg
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6719–6741, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6719-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6719-2024, 2024
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NO2 is a gas with implications for air pollution. A campaign conducted in Houston provided an opportunity to compare NO2 from different instruments and a model. Aircraft and satellite observations agreed well with measurements on the ground; however, the latter estimated lower values. We find that model-simulated NO2 was lower than observations, especially downtown, suggesting that NO2 sources associated with the urban core of Houston, such as vehicle emissions, may be underestimated.
Steffen Beirle and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3439–3453, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3439-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3439-2024, 2024
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We present a new method for estimating emissions and lifetimes for nitrogen oxides emitted from large cities by using satellite NO2 observations combined with wind fields. The estimate is based on the simultaneous evaluation of the downwind plumes for opposing wind directions. This allows us to derive seasonal mean emissions and lifetimes for 100 cities around the globe.
Meng Li, Junichi Kurokawa, Qiang Zhang, Jung-Hun Woo, Tazuko Morikawa, Satoru Chatani, Zifeng Lu, Yu Song, Guannan Geng, Hanwen Hu, Jinseok Kim, Owen R. Cooper, and Brian C. McDonald
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3925–3952, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3925-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3925-2024, 2024
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In this work, we developed MIXv2, a mosaic Asian emission inventory for 2010–2017. With high spatial (0.1°) and monthly temporal resolution, MIXv2 integrates anthropogenic and open biomass burning emissions across seven sectors following a mosaic methodology. It provides CO2 emissions data alongside nine key pollutants and three chemical mechanisms. Our publicly accessible gridded monthly emissions data can facilitate long-term atmospheric and climate model analyses.
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.
Leon Kuhn, Steffen Beirle, Vinod Kumar, Sergey Osipov, Andrea Pozzer, Tim Bösch, Rajesh Kumar, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 185–217, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-185-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-185-2024, 2024
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NO₂ is an important air pollutant. It was observed that the WRF-Chem model shows significant deviations in NO₂ abundance when compared to measurements. We use a 1-month simulation over central Europe to show that these deviations can be mostly resolved by reparameterization of the vertical mixing routine. In order to validate our results, they are compared to in situ, satellite, and MAX-DOAS measurements.
Lukas Fehr, Chris McLinden, Debora Griffin, Daniel Zawada, Doug Degenstein, and Adam Bourassa
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 7491–7507, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-7491-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-7491-2023, 2023
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This work highlights upgrades to SASKTRAN, a model that simulates sunlight interacting with the atmosphere to help measure trace gases. The upgrades were verified by detailed comparisons between different numerical methods. A case study was performed using SASKTRAN’s multidimensional capabilities, which found that ignoring horizontal variation in the atmosphere (a common practice in the field) can introduce non-negligible errors where there is snow or high pollution.
Tianle Yuan, Fei Liu, Lok N. Lamsal, and Hua Song
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.22541/essoar.168771101.14987378/v1, https://doi.org/10.22541/essoar.168771101.14987378/v1, 2023
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We train and apply a state-of-the-art deep learning model to detect NO2 plumes emitted by ships using NO2 retrievals from TROPOMI. By applying the model, we can detect individual plumes with excellent fidelity. The aggregated data show major shipping routes, but miss other routes. The missing routes are due to high cloudiness. Our method can be potentially useful for monitoring ship emissions of NOx and verifying compliance of emission standards.
Simon Warnach, Holger Sihler, Christian Borger, Nicole Bobrowski, Steffen Beirle, Ulrich Platt, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5537–5573, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5537-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5537-2023, 2023
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BrO inside volcanic gas plumes but can be used in combination with SO2 to characterize the volcanic property and its activity state. High-quality satellite observations can provide a global inventory of this important quantity. This paper investigates how to accurately detect BrO inside volcanic plumes from the satellite UV spectrum. A sophisticated novel non-volcanic background correction scheme is presented, and systematic errors including cross-interference with formaldehyde are minimized.
Vitali E. Fioletov, Chris A. McLinden, Debora Griffin, Nickolay A. Krotkov, Can Li, Joanna Joiner, Nicolas Theys, and Simon Carn
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5575–5592, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5575-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5575-2023, 2023
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Snow-covered terrain, with its high reflectance in the UV, typically enhances satellite sensitivity to boundary layer pollution. However, a significant fraction of high-quality cloud-free measurements over snow is currently excluded from analyses. In this study, we investigated how satellite SO2 measurements over snow-covered surfaces can be used to improve estimations of annual SO2 emissions.
Steffen Beirle, Christian Borger, Adrian Jost, and Thomas Wagner
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 3051–3073, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3051-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3051-2023, 2023
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We present a catalog of nitrogen oxide emissions from point sources (like power plants or metal smelters) based on satellite observations of NO2 combined with meteorological wind fields.
Christian Borger, Steffen Beirle, and Thomas Wagner
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 3023–3049, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3023-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3023-2023, 2023
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This study presents a long-term data set of monthly mean total column water vapour (TCWV) based on measurements of the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) covering the time range from January 2005 to December 2020. We describe how the TCWV values are retrieved from UV–Vis satellite spectra and demonstrate that the OMI TCWV data set is in good agreement with various different reference data sets. Moreover, we also show that it fulfills typical stability requirements for climate data records.
Daniel C. Anderson, Bryan N. Duncan, Julie M. Nicely, Junhua Liu, Sarah A. Strode, and Melanie B. Follette-Cook
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 6319–6338, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6319-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6319-2023, 2023
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We describe a methodology that combines machine learning, satellite observations, and 3D chemical model output to infer the abundance of the hydroxyl radical (OH), a chemical that removes many trace gases from the atmosphere. The methodology successfully captures the variability of observed OH, although further observations are needed to evaluate absolute accuracy. Current satellite observations are of sufficient quality to infer OH, but retrieval validation in the remote tropics is needed.
Thomas Wagner, Simon Warnach, Steffen Beirle, Nicole Bobrowski, Adrian Jost, Janis Puķīte, and Nicolas Theys
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1609–1662, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1609-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1609-2023, 2023
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We investigate 3D effects of volcanic plumes on the retrieval results of satellite and ground-based UV–Vis observations. With its small ground pixels of 3.5 x 5.5 km², the TROPOMI instrument can detect much smaller volcanic plumes than previous instruments. At the same time, 3D effects become important. The effect of horizontal photon paths especially can lead to a strong underestimation of the derived plume contents of up to > 50 %, which can be further increased for strong absorbers like SO2.
Nick Gorkavyi, Nickolay Krotkov, and Alexander Marshak
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1527–1537, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1527-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1527-2023, 2023
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The article discusses topical issues of the visible (libration) motion of the Earth in the sky of the Moon in a rectangle measuring 13.4° × 15.8°. On the one hand, the librations of the Moon make these observations difficult. On the other hand, they can be used as a natural scanning mechanism for cameras and spectroscopes mounted on a fixed platform on the surface of the Moon.
Laura Hyesung Yang, Daniel J. Jacob, Nadia K. Colombi, Shixian Zhai, Kelvin H. Bates, Viral Shah, Ellie Beaudry, Robert M. Yantosca, Haipeng Lin, Jared F. Brewer, Heesung Chong, Katherine R. Travis, James H. Crawford, Lok N. Lamsal, Ja-Ho Koo, and Jhoon Kim
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 2465–2481, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2465-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2465-2023, 2023
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A geostationary satellite can now provide hourly NO2 vertical columns, and obtaining the NO2 vertical columns from space relies on NO2 vertical distribution from the chemical transport model (CTM). In this work, we update the CTM to better represent the chemistry environment so that the CTM can accurately provide NO2 vertical distribution. We also find that the changes in NO2 vertical distribution driven by a change in mixing depth play an important role in the NO2 column's diurnal variation.
Amir H. Souri, Matthew S. Johnson, Glenn M. Wolfe, James H. Crawford, Alan Fried, Armin Wisthaler, William H. Brune, Donald R. Blake, Andrew J. Weinheimer, Tijl Verhoelst, Steven Compernolle, Gaia Pinardi, Corinne Vigouroux, Bavo Langerock, Sungyeon Choi, Lok Lamsal, Lei Zhu, Shuai Sun, Ronald C. Cohen, Kyung-Eun Min, Changmin Cho, Sajeev Philip, Xiong Liu, and Kelly Chance
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 1963–1986, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1963-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1963-2023, 2023
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We have rigorously characterized different sources of error in satellite-based HCHO / NO2 tropospheric columns, a widely used metric for diagnosing near-surface ozone sensitivity. Specifically, the errors were categorized/quantified into (i) an inherent chemistry error, (ii) the decoupled relationship between columns and the near-surface concentration, (iii) the spatial representativeness error of ground satellite pixels, and (iv) the satellite retrieval errors.
Joanna Joiner, Sergey Marchenko, Zachary Fasnacht, Lok Lamsal, Can Li, Alexander Vasilkov, and Nickolay Krotkov
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 481–500, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-481-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-481-2023, 2023
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Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is an important trace gas for both air quality and climate. NO2 affects satellite ocean color products. A new ocean color instrument – OCI (Ocean Color Instrument) – will be launched in 2024 on a NASA satellite. We show that it will be possible to measure NO2 from OCI even though it was not designed for this. The techniques developed here, based on machine learning, can also be applied to instruments already in space to speed up algorithms and reduce the effects of noise.
Viral Shah, Daniel J. Jacob, Ruijun Dang, Lok N. Lamsal, Sarah A. Strode, Stephen D. Steenrod, K. Folkert Boersma, Sebastian D. Eastham, Thibaud M. Fritz, Chelsea Thompson, Jeff Peischl, Ilann Bourgeois, Ilana B. Pollack, Benjamin A. Nault, Ronald C. Cohen, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Jose L. Jimenez, Simone T. Andersen, Lucy J. Carpenter, Tomás Sherwen, and Mat J. Evans
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 1227–1257, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1227-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1227-2023, 2023
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NOx in the free troposphere (above 2 km) affects global tropospheric chemistry and the retrieval and interpretation of satellite NO2 measurements. We evaluate free tropospheric NOx in global atmospheric chemistry models and find that recycling NOx from its reservoirs over the oceans is faster than that simulated in the models, resulting in increases in simulated tropospheric ozone and OH. Over the U.S., free tropospheric NO2 contributes the majority of the tropospheric NO2 column in summer.
Vitali E. Fioletov, Chris A. McLinden, Debora Griffin, Ihab Abboud, Nickolay Krotkov, Peter J. T. Leonard, Can Li, Joanna Joiner, Nicolas Theys, and Simon Carn
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 75–93, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-75-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-75-2023, 2023
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Sulfur dioxide (SO2) measurements from three satellite instruments were used to update and extend the previously developed global catalogue of large SO2 emission sources. This version 2 of the global catalogue covers the period of 2005–2021 and includes a total of 759 continuously emitting point sources. The catalogue data show an approximate 50 % decline in global SO2 emissions between 2005 and 2021, although emissions were relatively stable during the last 3 years.
Can Li, Joanna Joiner, Fei Liu, Nickolay A. Krotkov, Vitali Fioletov, and Chris McLinden
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 5497–5514, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5497-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5497-2022, 2022
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Satellite observations provide information on the sources of SO2, an important pollutant that affects both air quality and climate. However, these observations suffer from relatively poor data quality due to weak signals of SO2. Here, we use a machine learning technique to analyze satellite SO2 observations in order to reduce the noise and artifacts over relatively clean areas while keeping the signals near pollution sources. This leads to significant improvement in satellite SO2 data.
Katherine L. Hayden, Shao-Meng Li, John Liggio, Michael J. Wheeler, Jeremy J. B. Wentzell, Amy Leithead, Peter Brickell, Richard L. Mittermeier, Zachary Oldham, Cristian M. Mihele, Ralf M. Staebler, Samar G. Moussa, Andrea Darlington, Mengistu Wolde, Daniel Thompson, Jack Chen, Debora Griffin, Ellen Eckert, Jenna C. Ditto, Megan He, and Drew R. Gentner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 12493–12523, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12493-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12493-2022, 2022
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In this study, airborne measurements provided the most detailed characterization, to date, of boreal forest wildfire emissions. Measurements showed a large diversity of air pollutants expanding the volatility range typically reported. A large portion of organic species was unidentified, likely comprised of complex organic compounds. Aircraft-derived emissions improve wildfire chemical speciation and can support reliable model predictions of pollution from boreal forest wildfires.
Daniel L. Goldberg, Monica Harkey, Benjamin de Foy, Laura Judd, Jeremiah Johnson, Greg Yarwood, and Tracey Holloway
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 10875–10900, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10875-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10875-2022, 2022
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TROPOMI measurements offer a valuable means to validate emissions inventories and ozone formation regimes, with important limitations. Lightning NOx is important to account for in Texas and can contribute up to 24 % of the column NO2 in rural areas and 8 % in urban areas. Modeled NO2 in urban areas agrees with TROPOMI NO2 to within 20 % in most circumstances, with a small underestimate in Dallas (−13 %) and Houston (−20 %). Near Texas power plants, the satellite appears to underrepresent NO2.
Christian Borger, Steffen Beirle, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 10603–10621, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10603-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10603-2022, 2022
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In this study, we analyse trends of total column water vapour (TCWV) using multiple years of satellite observations and find, on the global average, an increase in the TCWV amount by about 0.21 % per year. Further investigations of the hydrological cycle reveal that the assumption of temporally invariant relative humidity is not always fulfilled and that the response of the global water vapour turnover time to global warming is 2 to 3 times higher than previously reported values.
Daniel C. Anderson, Melanie B. Follette-Cook, Sarah A. Strode, Julie M. Nicely, Junhua Liu, Peter D. Ivatt, and Bryan N. Duncan
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 6341–6358, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-6341-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-6341-2022, 2022
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The hydroxyl radical (OH) is the most important chemical in the atmosphere for removing certain pollutants, including methane, the second-most-important greenhouse gas. We present a methodology to create an easily modifiable parameterization that can calculate OH concentrations in a computationally efficient way. The parameterization, which predicts OH within 5 %, can be integrated into larger climate models to allow for calculation of the interactions between OH, methane, and other chemicals.
Aaron Pearlman, Monica Cook, Boryana Efremova, Francis Padula, Lok Lamsal, Joel McCorkel, and Joanna Joiner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4489–4501, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4489-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4489-2022, 2022
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NOAA’s Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) constellation is planned to consist of an atmospheric composition instrument (ACX) to support air quality forecasting and monitoring. As design trade-offs are being studied, we investigated one parameter, the polarization sensitivity, which has yet to be fully documented for NO2 retrievals. Our simulation study explores these impacts to inform the ACX’s development and better understand polarization’s role in trace gas retrievals.
Vitali Fioletov, Chris A. McLinden, Debora Griffin, Nickolay Krotkov, Fei Liu, and Henk Eskes
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 4201–4236, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4201-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4201-2022, 2022
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The COVID-19 lockdown had a large impact on anthropogenic emissions and particularly on nitrogen dioxide (NO2). A new method of isolation of background, urban, and industrial components in NO2 is applied to estimate the lockdown impact on each of them. From 16 March to 15 June 2020, urban NO2 declined by −18 % to −28 % in most regions of the world, while background NO2 typically declined by less than −10 %.
Dimitris Karagkiozidis, Martina Michaela Friedrich, Steffen Beirle, Alkiviadis Bais, François Hendrick, Kalliopi Artemis Voudouri, Ilias Fountoulakis, Angelos Karanikolas, Paraskevi Tzoumaka, Michel Van Roozendael, Dimitris Balis, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1269–1301, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1269-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1269-2022, 2022
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In this study we focus on the retrieval of aerosol, NO2, and HCHO vertical profiles from multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) observations for the first time over Thessaloniki, Greece. We use two independent inversion algorithms for the profile retrievals. We evaluate their performance, we intercompare their results, and we validate their products with ancillary data, measured by other co-located reference instruments.
Steffen Beirle, Christian Borger, Steffen Dörner, Vinod Kumar, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 987–1006, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-987-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-987-2022, 2022
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We present a formalism that relates the vertical column density (VCD) of the oxygen collision complex O4 to surface values of temperature and pressure, based on physical laws. In addition, we propose an empirical modification which also accounts for surface relative humidity (RH). This allows for simple and quick but still accurate calculation of the O4 VCD without the need for constructing full vertical profiles, which is expected to be useful in particular for MAX-DOAS applications.
Maria Tzortziou, Charlotte F. Kwong, Daniel Goldberg, Luke Schiferl, Róisín Commane, Nader Abuhassan, James J. Szykman, and Lukas C. Valin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 2399–2417, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2399-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2399-2022, 2022
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The COVID-19 pandemic created an extreme natural experiment in which sudden changes in human behavior significantly impacted urban air quality. Using a combination of model, satellite, and ground-based data, we examine the impact of multiple waves and phases of the pandemic on atmospheric nitrogen pollution in the New York metropolitan area, and address the role of weather as a key driver of high pollution episodes observed even during – and despite – the stringent early lockdowns.
Fei Liu, Zhining Tao, Steffen Beirle, Joanna Joiner, Yasuko Yoshida, Steven J. Smith, K. Emma Knowland, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 1333–1349, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1333-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1333-2022, 2022
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In this work, we present a novel method to infer NOx emissions and lifetimes based on tropospheric NO2 observations together with reanalysis wind fields for cities located in polluted backgrounds. We evaluate the accuracy of the method using synthetic NO2 observations derived from a high-resolution model simulation. Our work provides an estimate for uncertainties in satellite-derived emissions inferred from chemical transport model (CTM)-independent approaches.
Mahtab Majdzadeh, Craig A. Stroud, Christopher Sioris, Paul A. Makar, Ayodeji Akingunola, Chris McLinden, Xiaoyi Zhao, Michael D. Moran, Ihab Abboud, and Jack Chen
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 219–249, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-219-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-219-2022, 2022
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A new lookup table for aerosol optical properties based on a Mie scattering code was calculated and adopted within an improved version of the photolysis module in the GEM-MACH in-line chemical transport model. The modified version of the photolysis module makes use of online interactive aerosol feedback and applies core-shell parameterizations to the black carbon absorption efficiency based on Bond et al. (2006) to the size bins with black carbon mass fraction of less than 40 %.
Debora Griffin, Chris A. McLinden, Enrico Dammers, Cristen Adams, Chelsea E. Stockwell, Carsten Warneke, Ilann Bourgeois, Jeff Peischl, Thomas B. Ryerson, Kyle J. Zarzana, Jake P. Rowe, Rainer Volkamer, Christoph Knote, Natalie Kille, Theodore K. Koenig, Christopher F. Lee, Drew Rollins, Pamela S. Rickly, Jack Chen, Lukas Fehr, Adam Bourassa, Doug Degenstein, Katherine Hayden, Cristian Mihele, Sumi N. Wren, John Liggio, Ayodeji Akingunola, and Paul Makar
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7929–7957, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7929-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7929-2021, 2021
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Satellite-derived NOx emissions from biomass burning are estimated with TROPOMI observations. Two common emission estimation methods are applied, and sensitivity tests with model output were performed to determine the accuracy of these methods. The effect of smoke aerosols on TROPOMI NO2 columns is estimated and compared to aircraft observations from four different aircraft campaigns measuring biomass burning plumes in 2018 and 2019 in North America.
Nick Gorkavyi, Nickolay Krotkov, Can Li, Leslie Lait, Peter Colarco, Simon Carn, Matthew DeLand, Paul Newman, Mark Schoeberl, Ghassan Taha, Omar Torres, Alexander Vasilkov, and Joanna Joiner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7545–7563, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7545-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7545-2021, 2021
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The 21 June 2019 eruption of the Raikoke volcano produced significant amounts of volcanic aerosols (sulfate and ash) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas that penetrated into the lower stratosphere. We showed that the amount of SO2 decreases with a characteristic period of 8–18 d and the peak of sulfate aerosol lags the initial peak of SO2 by 1.5 months. We also examined the dynamics of an unusual stratospheric coherent circular cloud of SO2 and aerosol observed from 18 July to 22 September 2019.
Song Liu, Pieter Valks, Gaia Pinardi, Jian Xu, Ka Lok Chan, Athina Argyrouli, Ronny Lutz, Steffen Beirle, Ehsan Khorsandi, Frank Baier, Vincent Huijnen, Alkiviadis Bais, Sebastian Donner, Steffen Dörner, Myrto Gratsea, François Hendrick, Dimitris Karagkiozidis, Kezia Lange, Ankie J. M. Piters, Julia Remmers, Andreas Richter, Michel Van Roozendael, Thomas Wagner, Mark Wenig, and Diego G. Loyola
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7297–7327, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7297-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7297-2021, 2021
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In this work, an improved tropospheric NO2 retrieval algorithm from TROPOMI measurements over Europe is presented. The stratospheric estimation is implemented with correction for the dependency of the stratospheric NO2 on the viewing geometry. The AMF calculation is implemented using improved surface albedo, a priori NO2 profiles, and cloud correction. The improved tropospheric NO2 data show good correlations with ground-based MAX-DOAS measurements.
Nicolas Theys, Vitali Fioletov, Can Li, Isabelle De Smedt, Christophe Lerot, Chris McLinden, Nickolay Krotkov, Debora Griffin, Lieven Clarisse, Pascal Hedelt, Diego Loyola, Thomas Wagner, Vinod Kumar, Antje Innes, Roberto Ribas, François Hendrick, Jonas Vlietinck, Hugues Brenot, and Michel Van Roozendael
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16727–16744, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16727-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16727-2021, 2021
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We present a new algorithm to retrieve sulfur dioxide from space UV measurements. We apply the technique to high-resolution TROPOMI measurements and demonstrate the high sensitivity of the approach to weak SO2 emissions worldwide with an unprecedented limit of detection of 8 kt yr−1. This result has broad implications for atmospheric science studies dealing with improving emission inventories and identifying and quantifying missing sources, in the context of air quality and climate.
Siqi Ma, Daniel Tong, Lok Lamsal, Julian Wang, Xuelei Zhang, Youhua Tang, Rick Saylor, Tianfeng Chai, Pius Lee, Patrick Campbell, Barry Baker, Shobha Kondragunta, Laura Judd, Timothy A. Berkoff, Scott J. Janz, and Ivanka Stajner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16531–16553, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16531-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16531-2021, 2021
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Predicting high ozone gets more challenging as urban emissions decrease. How can different techniques be used to foretell the quality of air to better protect human health? We tested four techniques with the CMAQ model against observations during a field campaign over New York City. The new system proves to better predict the magnitude and timing of high ozone. These approaches can be extended to other regions to improve the predictability of high-O3 episodes in contemporary urban environments.
Xin Tian, Yang Wang, Steffen Beirle, Pinhua Xie, Thomas Wagner, Jin Xu, Ang Li, Steffen Dörner, Bo Ren, and Xiaomei Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 12867–12894, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12867-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12867-2021, 2021
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The performances of two MAX-DOAS inversion algorithms were evaluated for various aerosol pollution scenarios. One inversion algorithm is based on optimal estimation; the other uses a parameterized approach. In this analysis, three types of profile shapes for aerosols and NO2 were considered: exponential, Boltzmann, and Gaussian. The evaluation results can effectively guide the application of the two inversion algorithms in the actual atmosphere and improve the accuracy of the actual inversion.
Anoop S. Mahajan, Mriganka S. Biswas, Steffen Beirle, Thomas Wagner, Anja Schönhardt, Nuria Benavent, and Alfonso Saiz-Lopez
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 11829–11842, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11829-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11829-2021, 2021
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Iodine plays a vital role in oxidation chemistry over Antarctica, with past observations showing highly elevated levels of iodine oxide (IO) leading to severe depletion of boundary layer ozone. We present IO observations over three summers (2015–2017) at the Indian Antarctic bases of Bharati and Maitri. IO was observed during all campaigns with mixing ratios below 2 pptv, which is lower than the peak levels observed in West Antarctica, showing the differences in regional chemistry and emissions.
Vinod Kumar, Julia Remmers, Steffen Beirle, Joachim Fallmann, Astrid Kerkweg, Jos Lelieveld, Mariano Mertens, Andrea Pozzer, Benedikt Steil, Marc Barra, Holger Tost, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 5241–5269, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5241-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5241-2021, 2021
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We present high-resolution regional atmospheric chemistry model simulations focused around Germany. We highlight the importance of spatial resolution of the model itself as well as the input emissions inventory and short-scale temporal variability of emissions for simulations. We propose a consistent approach for evaluating the simulated vertical distribution of NO2 using MAX-DOAS measurements while also considering its spatial sensitivity volume and change in sensitivity within this volume.
Jianfeng Li, Yuhang Wang, Ruixiong Zhang, Charles Smeltzer, Andrew Weinheimer, Jay Herman, K. Folkert Boersma, Edward A. Celarier, Russell W. Long, James J. Szykman, Ruben Delgado, Anne M. Thompson, Travis N. Knepp, Lok N. Lamsal, Scott J. Janz, Matthew G. Kowalewski, Xiong Liu, and Caroline R. Nowlan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 11133–11160, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11133-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11133-2021, 2021
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Comprehensive evaluations of simulated diurnal cycles of NO2 and NOy concentrations, vertical profiles, and tropospheric vertical column densities at two different resolutions with various measurements during the DISCOVER-AQ 2011 campaign show potential distribution biases of NOx emissions in the National Emissions Inventory 2011 at both 36 and 4 km resolutions, providing another possible explanation for the overestimation of model results.
Antti Arola, William Wandji Nyamsi, Antti Lipponen, Stelios Kazadzis, Nickolay A. Krotkov, and Johanna Tamminen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4947–4957, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4947-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4947-2021, 2021
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Methods to estimate surface UV radiation from satellite measurements offer the only means to obtain global coverage, and the development of satellite-based UV algorithms has been ongoing since the early 1990s. One of the main challenges in this development has been how to account for the overall effect of absorption by atmospheric aerosols. One such method was suggested roughly a decade ago, and in this study we propose further improvements for this kind of approach.
Steffen Beirle, Christian Borger, Steffen Dörner, Henk Eskes, Vinod Kumar, Adrianus de Laat, and Thomas Wagner
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 2995–3012, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-2995-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-2995-2021, 2021
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A catalog of point sources of nitrogen oxides was created using satellite observations of NO2. Key for the identification of point sources was the divergence, i.e., the difference between upwind and downwind levels of NO2.
The catalog lists 451 locations, of which 242 could be automatically matched to power plants. Other point sources are metal smelters, cement plants, or industrial areas. The catalog thus allows checking and improving of existing emission inventories.
Wenfu Tang, David P. Edwards, Louisa K. Emmons, Helen M. Worden, Laura M. Judd, Lok N. Lamsal, Jassim A. Al-Saadi, Scott J. Janz, James H. Crawford, Merritt N. Deeter, Gabriele Pfister, Rebecca R. Buchholz, Benjamin Gaubert, and Caroline R. Nowlan
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4639–4655, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4639-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4639-2021, 2021
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We use high-resolution airborne mapping spectrometer measurements to assess sub-grid variability within satellite pixels over urban regions. The sub-grid variability within satellite pixels increases with increasing satellite pixel sizes. Temporal variability within satellite pixels decreases with increasing satellite pixel sizes. This work is particularly relevant and useful for future satellite design, satellite data interpretation, and point-grid data comparisons.
Holger Sihler, Steffen Beirle, Steffen Dörner, Marloes Gutenstein-Penning de Vries, Christoph Hörmann, Christian Borger, Simon Warnach, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3989–4031, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3989-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3989-2021, 2021
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MICRU is an algorithm for the retrieval of effective cloud fractions (CFs) from satellite measurements. CFs describe the amount of clouds, which have a significant impact on the vertical sensitivity profile of trace gases like NO2 and HCHO. MICRU retrieves small CFs with an accuracy of 0.04 over the entire satellite swath. It features an empirical surface reflectivity model accounting for physical anisotropy (BRDF, sun glitter) and instrumental effects. MICRU is also applicable to imager data.
Thomas Wagner, Steffen Dörner, Steffen Beirle, Sebastian Donner, and Stefan Kinne
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3871–3893, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3871-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3871-2021, 2021
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We compare measured and simulated O4 absorptions for conditions of extremely low aerosol optical depth, for which the uncertainties related to imperfect knowledge of aerosol properties do not significantly affect the comparison results. The simulations underestimate the measurements by 15 % to 20 %. Even if no aerosols are considered, the simulated O4 absorptions are systematically lower than the measurements. Our results indicate a fundamental inconsistency between simulations and measurements.
Nikita M. Fedkin, Can Li, Nickolay A. Krotkov, Pascal Hedelt, Diego G. Loyola, Russell R. Dickerson, and Robert Spurr
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3673–3691, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3673-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3673-2021, 2021
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This study presents a new volcanic sulfur dioxide (SO2) layer height retrieval algorithm for the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI). We generated a large spectral dataset with a radiative transfer model and used it to train neural networks to predict SO2 height from OMI radiance data. The algorithm is fast and takes less than 10 min for a single orbit. Retrievals were tested on four eruption cases, and results had reasonable agreement (within 2 km) with other retrievals and previous studies.
Michaela I. Hegglin, Susann Tegtmeier, John Anderson, Adam E. Bourassa, Samuel Brohede, Doug Degenstein, Lucien Froidevaux, Bernd Funke, John Gille, Yasuko Kasai, Erkki T. Kyrölä, Jerry Lumpe, Donal Murtagh, Jessica L. Neu, Kristell Pérot, Ellis E. Remsberg, Alexei Rozanov, Matthew Toohey, Joachim Urban, Thomas von Clarmann, Kaley A. Walker, Hsiang-Jui Wang, Carlo Arosio, Robert Damadeo, Ryan A. Fuller, Gretchen Lingenfelser, Christopher McLinden, Diane Pendlebury, Chris Roth, Niall J. Ryan, Christopher Sioris, Lesley Smith, and Katja Weigel
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 1855–1903, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-1855-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-1855-2021, 2021
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An overview of the SPARC Data Initiative is presented, to date the most comprehensive assessment of stratospheric composition measurements spanning 1979–2018. Measurements of 26 chemical constituents obtained from an international suite of space-based limb sounders were compiled into vertically resolved, zonal monthly mean time series. The quality and consistency of these gridded datasets are then evaluated using a climatological validation approach and a range of diagnostics.
Daniel C. Anderson, Bryan N. Duncan, Arlene M. Fiore, Colleen B. Baublitz, Melanie B. Follette-Cook, Julie M. Nicely, and Glenn M. Wolfe
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 6481–6508, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6481-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6481-2021, 2021
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We demonstrate that large-scale climate features are the primary driver of year-to-year variability in simulated values of the hydroxyl radical, the primary atmospheric oxidant, over 1980–2018. The El Niño–Southern Oscillation is the dominant mode of hydroxyl variability, resulting in large-scale global decreases in OH during El Niño events. Other climate modes, such as the Australian monsoon and the North Atlantic Oscillation, have impacts of similar magnitude but on on more localized scales.
Alexander Vasilkov, Nickolay Krotkov, Eun-Su Yang, Lok Lamsal, Joanna Joiner, Patricia Castellanos, Zachary Fasnacht, and Robert Spurr
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 2857–2871, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2857-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2857-2021, 2021
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To explicitly account for aerosol effects in the OMI cloud and nitrogen dioxide algorithms, we use a model of aerosol optical properties from a global aerosol assimilation system and radiative transfer computations. Accounting for anisotropic reflection of Earth's surface is an important feature of the approach. Comparisons of the cloud and tropospheric nitrogen dioxide retrievals with implicit and explicit aerosol corrections are carried out for a selected area with high pollution.
Thomas Wagner, Steffen Beirle, Steffen Dörner, Christian Borger, and Roeland Van Malderen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 5315–5353, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5315-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5315-2021, 2021
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A global long-term (1995–2015) data set of total column water vapour (TCWV) derived from satellite observations is used to quantify the influence of teleconnections. Based on a newly developed empirical method more than 40 teleconnection indices are significantly detected in our global TCWV data set. After orthogonalisation, only 20 indices are left significant. The global distribution of the cumulative influence of teleconnection indices is strongest in the tropics and high latitudes.
Xiaoyi Zhao, Vitali Fioletov, Michael Brohart, Volodya Savastiouk, Ihab Abboud, Akira Ogyu, Jonathan Davies, Reno Sit, Sum Chi Lee, Alexander Cede, Martin Tiefengraber, Moritz Müller, Debora Griffin, and Chris McLinden
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 2261–2283, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2261-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2261-2021, 2021
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The Brewer spectrophotometer is one of the main instruments for measurements of atmospheric total column ozone. The global Brewer network largely relies on the world reference instruments (the Brewer triad) operated by Environment and Climate Change Canada since the early 1980s. This study provides an updated assessment (1999–2019) of the reference instrument performance, in terms of random uncertainties and long-term stability.
Bianca Lauster, Steffen Dörner, Steffen Beirle, Sebastian Donner, Sergey Gromov, Katharina Uhlmannsiek, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 769–783, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-769-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-769-2021, 2021
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In urban areas, road traffic is a dominant source of nitrogen oxides. In this study, two multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) instruments on opposite sides of a motorway were used to measure the nitrogen dioxide absorption near Mainz, Germany. Total nitrogen oxide emissions are estimated for the occurring traffic flux. We show that the measured emissions systematically exceed the maximum expected emissions calculated from the European emission standards.
Lok N. Lamsal, Nickolay A. Krotkov, Alexander Vasilkov, Sergey Marchenko, Wenhan Qin, Eun-Su Yang, Zachary Fasnacht, Joanna Joiner, Sungyeon Choi, David Haffner, William H. Swartz, Bradford Fisher, and Eric Bucsela
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 455–479, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-455-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-455-2021, 2021
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The NASA standard nitrogen dioxide (NO2) version 4.0 product for OMI Aura incorporates the most salient improvements. It represents the first global satellite trace gas retrieval with OMI–MODIS synergy accounting for surface reflectance anisotropy in cloud and NO2 retrievals. Improved spectral fitting procedures for NO2 and oxygen dimer (for cloud) retrievals and reliance on high-resolution field-of-view-specific input information for NO2 and cloud retrievals help enhance the NO2 data quality.
Jan-Lukas Tirpitz, Udo Frieß, François Hendrick, Carlos Alberti, Marc Allaart, Arnoud Apituley, Alkis Bais, Steffen Beirle, Stijn Berkhout, Kristof Bognar, Tim Bösch, Ilya Bruchkouski, Alexander Cede, Ka Lok Chan, Mirjam den Hoed, Sebastian Donner, Theano Drosoglou, Caroline Fayt, Martina M. Friedrich, Arnoud Frumau, Lou Gast, Clio Gielen, Laura Gomez-Martín, Nan Hao, Arjan Hensen, Bas Henzing, Christian Hermans, Junli Jin, Karin Kreher, Jonas Kuhn, Johannes Lampel, Ang Li, Cheng Liu, Haoran Liu, Jianzhong Ma, Alexis Merlaud, Enno Peters, Gaia Pinardi, Ankie Piters, Ulrich Platt, Olga Puentedura, Andreas Richter, Stefan Schmitt, Elena Spinei, Deborah Stein Zweers, Kimberly Strong, Daan Swart, Frederik Tack, Martin Tiefengraber, René van der Hoff, Michel van Roozendael, Tim Vlemmix, Jan Vonk, Thomas Wagner, Yang Wang, Zhuoru Wang, Mark Wenig, Matthias Wiegner, Folkard Wittrock, Pinhua Xie, Chengzhi Xing, Jin Xu, Margarita Yela, Chengxin Zhang, and Xiaoyi Zhao
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 1–35, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1-2021, 2021
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Multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) is a ground-based remote sensing measurement technique that derives atmospheric aerosol and trace gas vertical profiles from skylight spectra. In this study, consistency and reliability of MAX-DOAS profiles are assessed by applying nine different evaluation algorithms to spectral data recorded during an intercomparison campaign in the Netherlands and by comparing the results to colocated supporting observations.
Vinod Kumar, Steffen Beirle, Steffen Dörner, Abhishek Kumar Mishra, Sebastian Donner, Yang Wang, Vinayak Sinha, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 14183–14235, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14183-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14183-2020, 2020
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We present the first long-term MAX-DOAS measurements of aerosols, nitrogen dioxide and formaldehyde tropospheric columns, vertical distributions, and temporal variation from Mohali in the Indo-Gangetic Plain. We investigate the effect of various emission sources and meteorological conditions on the measured pollutants and how they control ozone formation. These measurements are also used to validate the corresponding satellite observations and are also compared against in situ observations.
Can Li, Nickolay A. Krotkov, Peter J. T. Leonard, Simon Carn, Joanna Joiner, Robert J. D. Spurr, and Alexander Vasilkov
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 6175–6191, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6175-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6175-2020, 2020
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Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is an important pollutant that causes haze and acid rain. The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) has been providing global observation of SO2 from space for over 15 years. In this paper, we introduce a new OMI SO2 dataset for global pollution monitoring. The dataset better accounts for the influences of different factors such as location and sun and satellite angles, leading to improved data quality. The new OMI SO2 dataset is publicly available through NASA's data center.
Yang Wang, Arnoud Apituley, Alkiviadis Bais, Steffen Beirle, Nuria Benavent, Alexander Borovski, Ilya Bruchkouski, Ka Lok Chan, Sebastian Donner, Theano Drosoglou, Henning Finkenzeller, Martina M. Friedrich, Udo Frieß, David Garcia-Nieto, Laura Gómez-Martín, François Hendrick, Andreas Hilboll, Junli Jin, Paul Johnston, Theodore K. Koenig, Karin Kreher, Vinod Kumar, Aleksandra Kyuberis, Johannes Lampel, Cheng Liu, Haoran Liu, Jianzhong Ma, Oleg L. Polyansky, Oleg Postylyakov, Richard Querel, Alfonso Saiz-Lopez, Stefan Schmitt, Xin Tian, Jan-Lukas Tirpitz, Michel Van Roozendael, Rainer Volkamer, Zhuoru Wang, Pinhua Xie, Chengzhi Xing, Jin Xu, Margarita Yela, Chengxin Zhang, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 5087–5116, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5087-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5087-2020, 2020
Jay Herman, Alexander Cede, Liang Huang, Jerald Ziemke, Omar Torres, Nickolay Krotkov, Matthew Kowalewski, and Karin Blank
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 8351–8380, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8351-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8351-2020, 2020
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The amount of erythemal irradiance reaching the Earth's surface has been calculated from ozone, aerosol, and reflectivity data obtained from OMI and DSCOVR/EPIC satellite instruments showing areas with high levels of solar UV radiation. Changes in erythemal irradiance, cloud transmission, aerosol transmission, and ozone absorption have been estimated for 14 years 2005–2018 in units of percent per year for 191 locations, mostly large cities, and from EPIC for the entire illuminated Earth.
Sarah A. Strode, James S. Wang, Michael Manyin, Bryan Duncan, Ryan Hossaini, Christoph A. Keller, Sylvia E. Michel, and James W. C. White
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 8405–8419, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8405-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8405-2020, 2020
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The 13C : 12C isotopic ratio in methane (CH4) provides information about CH4 sources, but loss of CH4 by reaction with OH and chlorine (Cl) also affects this ratio. Tropospheric Cl provides a small and uncertain sink for CH4 but has a large effect on its isotopic ratio. We use the GEOS model with several different Cl fields to test the sensitivity of methane's isotopic composition to tropospheric Cl. Cl affects the global mean, hemispheric gradient, and seasonal cycle of the isotopic ratio.
Steven Compernolle, Tijl Verhoelst, Gaia Pinardi, José Granville, Daan Hubert, Arno Keppens, Sander Niemeijer, Bruno Rino, Alkis Bais, Steffen Beirle, Folkert Boersma, John P. Burrows, Isabelle De Smedt, Henk Eskes, Florence Goutail, François Hendrick, Alba Lorente, Andrea Pazmino, Ankie Piters, Enno Peters, Jean-Pierre Pommereau, Julia Remmers, Andreas Richter, Jos van Geffen, Michel Van Roozendael, Thomas Wagner, and Jean-Christopher Lambert
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 8017–8045, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8017-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8017-2020, 2020
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Tropospheric and stratospheric NO2 columns from the OMI QA4ECV NO2 satellite product are validated by comparison with ground-based measurements at 11 sites. The OMI stratospheric column has a small negative bias, and the OMI tropospheric column has a stronger negative bias relative to the ground-based data. Discrepancies are attributed to comparison errors (e.g. difference in horizontal smoothing) and measurement errors (e.g. clouds, aerosols, vertical smoothing and a priori profile assumptions).
Jun Liu, Yixuan Zheng, Guannan Geng, Chaopeng Hong, Meng Li, Xin Li, Fei Liu, Dan Tong, Ruili Wu, Bo Zheng, Kebin He, and Qiang Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 7783–7799, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-7783-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-7783-2020, 2020
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Ambient PM2.5 pollution contributed substantially to premature mortality in China. The contributions of various sectors to anthropogenic PM2.5-related premature mortality have changed substantially during 1990–2015. In 1990, the residential sector was the leading source, followed by industry, power, agriculture, and transportation, whereas in 2015, the industrial sector became the largest contributor, followed by the residential sector, agriculture, transportation, and power.
Pablo E. Saide, Meng Gao, Zifeng Lu, Daniel L. Goldberg, David G. Streets, Jung-Hun Woo, Andreas Beyersdorf, Chelsea A. Corr, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Bruce Anderson, Johnathan W. Hair, Amin R. Nehrir, Glenn S. Diskin, Jose L. Jimenez, Benjamin A. Nault, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Jack Dibb, Eric Heim, Kara D. Lamb, Joshua P. Schwarz, Anne E. Perring, Jhoon Kim, Myungje Choi, Brent Holben, Gabriele Pfister, Alma Hodzic, Gregory R. Carmichael, Louisa Emmons, and James H. Crawford
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 6455–6478, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-6455-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-6455-2020, 2020
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Air quality forecasts over the Korean Peninsula captured aerosol optical depth but largely overpredicted surface PM during a Chinese haze transport event. Model deficiency was related to the calculation of optical properties. In order to improve it, aerosol size representation needs to be refined in the calculations, and the representation of aerosol properties, such as size distribution, chemical composition, refractive index, hygroscopicity parameter, and density, needs to be improved.
Christian Borger, Steffen Beirle, Steffen Dörner, Holger Sihler, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 2751–2783, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2751-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2751-2020, 2020
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We present a total column water vapour (TCWV) retrieval analysing measurements from S-5P/TROPOMI in the visible blue spectral range. The retrieval can well capture the global water vapour distribution with similar sensitivity over the land and ocean and agrees well with various reference data sets within the estimated TCWV uncertainties of typically around 10 %–20 %.
Sungyeon Choi, Lok N. Lamsal, Melanie Follette-Cook, Joanna Joiner, Nickolay A. Krotkov, William H. Swartz, Kenneth E. Pickering, Christopher P. Loughner, Wyat Appel, Gabriele Pfister, Pablo E. Saide, Ronald C. Cohen, Andrew J. Weinheimer, and Jay R. Herman
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 2523–2546, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2523-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2523-2020, 2020
Dan Tong, Jing Cheng, Yang Liu, Sha Yu, Liu Yan, Chaopeng Hong, Yu Qin, Hongyan Zhao, Yixuan Zheng, Guannan Geng, Meng Li, Fei Liu, Yuxuan Zhang, Bo Zheng, Leon Clarke, and Qiang Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 5729–5757, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-5729-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-5729-2020, 2020
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Future trends in air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in China are of great concern to the community. Here we developed a sophisticated dynamic projection model to understand 2015–2050 emission pathways under a range of socio-economic, climate policy, and pollution control scenarios. By coupling strong low-carbon transitions and clean air policy, emissions of major air pollutants in China will be reduced by 58–87 % during 2015–2050. This work can support future co-governance policy design.
Vitali Fioletov, Chris A. McLinden, Debora Griffin, Nicolas Theys, Diego G. Loyola, Pascal Hedelt, Nickolay A. Krotkov, and Can Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 5591–5607, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-5591-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-5591-2020, 2020
Xiaoyi Zhao, Debora Griffin, Vitali Fioletov, Chris McLinden, Alexander Cede, Martin Tiefengraber, Moritz Müller, Kristof Bognar, Kimberly Strong, Folkert Boersma, Henk Eskes, Jonathan Davies, Akira Ogyu, and Sum Chi Lee
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 2131–2159, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2131-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2131-2020, 2020
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Pandora NO2 measurements made at three sites located in the Toronto area are used to evaluate the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) NO2 data products, including standard NO2 and research data developed using a high-resolution regional air quality forecast model. TROPOMI pixels located upwind and downwind from the Pandora sites were analyzed by a new wind-based validation method, which revealed the spatial patterns of local and transported emissions and regional air quality changes.
Debora Griffin, Christopher Sioris, Jack Chen, Nolan Dickson, Andrew Kovachik, Martin de Graaf, Swadhin Nanda, Pepijn Veefkind, Enrico Dammers, Chris A. McLinden, Paul Makar, and Ayodeji Akingunola
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 1427–1445, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1427-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1427-2020, 2020
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This study looks into validating the aerosol layer height product from the recently launched TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) for forest fire plume through comparisons with two other satellite products, and interpreting differences due to the individual measurement techniques. These satellite observations are compared to predicted plume heights from Environment and Climate Change's air quality forecast model.
Zoë Y. W. Davis, Udo Frieß, Kevin B. Strawbridge, Monika Aggarwaal, Sabour Baray, Elijah G. Schnitzler, Akshay Lobo, Vitali E. Fioletov, Ihab Abboud, Chris A. McLinden, Jim Whiteway, Megan D. Willis, Alex K. Y. Lee, Jeff Brook, Jason Olfert, Jason O'Brien, Ralf Staebler, Hans D. Osthoff, Cristian Mihele, and Robert McLaren
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 1129–1155, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1129-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1129-2020, 2020
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Here, we evaluate a ground-based remote sensing method (MAX-DOAS) for measuring total pollutant loading and vertical profiles of pollution in the lower atmosphere by comparing our method to a variety of other measurement methods (lidar, sunphotometer, active DOAS, and aircraft measurements). Measurements were made in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region in Alberta, Canada. The complex dataset provided a rare opportunity to evaluate the performance of MAX-DOAS under varying atmospheric conditions.
Mark W. Shephard, Enrico Dammers, Karen E. Cady-Pereira, Shailesh K. Kharol, Jesse Thompson, Yonatan Gainariu-Matz, Junhua Zhang, Chris A. McLinden, Andrew Kovachik, Michael Moran, Shabtai Bittman, Christopher E. Sioris, Debora Griffin, Matthew J. Alvarado, Chantelle Lonsdale, Verica Savic-Jovcic, and Qiong Zheng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 2277–2302, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-2277-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-2277-2020, 2020
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Presented is a description and survey demonstrating the capabilities of the CrIS ammonia product for monitoring, air quality forecast model evaluation, dry deposition estimates, and emission estimates of an agricultural hotspot.
Sebastian Donner, Jonas Kuhn, Michel Van Roozendael, Alkiviadis Bais, Steffen Beirle, Tim Bösch, Kristof Bognar, Ilya Bruchkouski, Ka Lok Chan, Steffen Dörner, Theano Drosoglou, Caroline Fayt, Udo Frieß, François Hendrick, Christian Hermans, Junli Jin, Ang Li, Jianzhong Ma, Enno Peters, Gaia Pinardi, Andreas Richter, Stefan F. Schreier, André Seyler, Kimberly Strong, Jan-Lukas Tirpitz, Yang Wang, Pinhua Xie, Jin Xu, Xiaoyi Zhao, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 685–712, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-685-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-685-2020, 2020
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The calibration of the elevation angles of MAX-DOAS instruments is important for the correct interpretation of such MAX-DOAS measurements. We present and evaluate different methods for the elevation calibration of MAX-DOAS instruments which were applied during the CINDI-2 field campaign.
Julie M. Nicely, Bryan N. Duncan, Thomas F. Hanisco, Glenn M. Wolfe, Ross J. Salawitch, Makoto Deushi, Amund S. Haslerud, Patrick Jöckel, Béatrice Josse, Douglas E. Kinnison, Andrew Klekociuk, Michael E. Manyin, Virginie Marécal, Olaf Morgenstern, Lee T. Murray, Gunnar Myhre, Luke D. Oman, Giovanni Pitari, Andrea Pozzer, Ilaria Quaglia, Laura E. Revell, Eugene Rozanov, Andrea Stenke, Kane Stone, Susan Strahan, Simone Tilmes, Holger Tost, Daniel M. Westervelt, and Guang Zeng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 1341–1361, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1341-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1341-2020, 2020
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Differences in methane lifetime among global models are large and poorly understood. We use a neural network method and simulations from the Chemistry Climate Model Initiative to quantify the factors influencing methane lifetime spread among models and variations over time. UV photolysis, tropospheric ozone, and nitrogen oxides drive large model differences, while the same factors plus specific humidity contribute to a decreasing trend in methane lifetime between 1980 and 2015.
Zachary Fasnacht, Alexander Vasilkov, David Haffner, Wenhan Qin, Joanna Joiner, Nickolay Krotkov, Andrew M. Sayer, and Robert Spurr
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 6749–6769, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6749-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6749-2019, 2019
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The anisotropy of Earth's surface reflection plays an important role in satellite-based retrievals of cloud, aerosol, and trace gases. Most current ultraviolet and visible satellite retrievals utilize climatological surface reflectivity databases that do not account for surface anisotropy. The GLER concept was introduced to account for such features. Here we evaluate GLER for water surfaces by comparing with OMI measurements and show that it captures these surface anisotropy features.
Zoe Y. W. Davis, Sabour Baray, Chris A. McLinden, Aida Khanbabakhani, William Fujs, Csilla Csukat, Jerzy Debosz, and Robert McLaren
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 13871–13889, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-13871-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-13871-2019, 2019
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In this paper, we describe the use of mobile vehicle-mounted instrumentation to measure pollutants both at the surface and overhead (via a telescope) that are coming from a source. This allows us to calculate the total emissions from the source, in this case the city of Sarnia, ON, including both industrial emissions and emissions from the city populace. In this paper, we talk about improvements to the technique in the form of extra instrumentation in the vehicle.
Katerina Garane, Maria-Elissavet Koukouli, Tijl Verhoelst, Christophe Lerot, Klaus-Peter Heue, Vitali Fioletov, Dimitrios Balis, Alkiviadis Bais, Ariane Bazureau, Angelika Dehn, Florence Goutail, Jose Granville, Debora Griffin, Daan Hubert, Arno Keppens, Jean-Christopher Lambert, Diego Loyola, Chris McLinden, Andrea Pazmino, Jean-Pierre Pommereau, Alberto Redondas, Fabian Romahn, Pieter Valks, Michel Van Roozendael, Jian Xu, Claus Zehner, Christos Zerefos, and Walter Zimmer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 5263–5287, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5263-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5263-2019, 2019
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The Sentinel-5 Precursor TROPOMI near real time (NRTI) and offline (OFFL) total ozone column (TOC) products are validated against direct-sun and twilight zenith-sky ground-based TOC measurements and other already known spaceborne sensors. The results show that the TROPOMI TOC measurements are in very good agreement with the ground-based measurements and satellite sensor measurements and that they are well within the product requirements.
Enrico Dammers, Chris A. McLinden, Debora Griffin, Mark W. Shephard, Shelley Van Der Graaf, Erik Lutsch, Martijn Schaap, Yonatan Gainairu-Matz, Vitali Fioletov, Martin Van Damme, Simon Whitburn, Lieven Clarisse, Karen Cady-Pereira, Cathy Clerbaux, Pierre Francois Coheur, and Jan Willem Erisman
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 12261–12293, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-12261-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-12261-2019, 2019
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Ammonia is an essential molecule in the environment, but at its current levels it is unsustainable. However, the emissions are highly uncertain. We explore the use of satellites to estimate the ammonia lifetime and emissions around point sources to help improve the budget. The same method applied to different satellite instruments shows consistent results. Comparison to the emission inventories shows that those are underestimating emissions of point sources by on average a factor of 2.5.
Bradford L. Fisher, Nickolay A. Krotkov, Pawan K. Bhartia, Can Li, Simon A. Carn, Eric Hughes, and Peter J. T. Leonard
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 5137–5153, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5137-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5137-2019, 2019
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This article describes a new discrete wavelength algorithm, MS_SO2, which has been used operationally to retrieve global daily volcanic SO2 vertical column densities and the UV volcanic ash index from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) data collected by NASA’s Nimbus-7 satellite from 1978 to 1991. We examine the sensitivity of the algorithm to the detection of SO2, evaluate potential sources of error and compare results from MS_SO2 with the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) algorithm.
Xiaoyi Zhao, Debora Griffin, Vitali Fioletov, Chris McLinden, Jonathan Davies, Akira Ogyu, Sum Chi Lee, Alexandru Lupu, Michael D. Moran, Alexander Cede, Martin Tiefengraber, and Moritz Müller
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 10619–10642, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-10619-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-10619-2019, 2019
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New nitrogen dioxide (NO2) retrieval algorithms are developed for Pandora zenith-sky measurements. A column-to-surface conversion look-up table was produced for the Pandora instruments; therefore, quick and practical Pandora-based surface NO2 concentration data can be obtained for air quality monitoring purposes. It is demonstrated that the surface NO2 concentration is controlled not only by the planetary boundary layer height but also by both boundary layer dynamics and photochemistry.
Wenhan Qin, Zachary Fasnacht, David Haffner, Alexander Vasilkov, Joanna Joiner, Nickolay Krotkov, Bradford Fisher, and Robert Spurr
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 3997–4017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-3997-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-3997-2019, 2019
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Satellite observations depend on Sun and view angles due to anisotropy of the Earth's atmosphere and surface reflection. But most of the ultraviolet and visible cloud, aerosol, and trace-gas algorithms utilize surface reflectivity databases that do not account for surface anisotropy. We create a surface database using the GLER concept which adequately accounts for surface anisotropy, validate it with independent satellite data, and provide a simple implementation to the current algorithms.
Meng Li, Qiang Zhang, Bo Zheng, Dan Tong, Yu Lei, Fei Liu, Chaopeng Hong, Sicong Kang, Liu Yan, Yuxuan Zhang, Yu Bo, Hang Su, Yafang Cheng, and Kebin He
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 8897–8913, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-8897-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-8897-2019, 2019
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A long-term non-methane volatile organic compound (NMVOC) emission inventory is crucial for air quality management but still absent in China. We estimated China’s NMVOCs during 1990–2017 with speciation based on updated databases and investigated the trend of ozone formation potential (OFP) for the same period. Persistent growth of emissions and OFP highlights the need of control measures for solvent use and industrial sources and the importance of designing multi-pollutant control strategies.
Rachel F. Silvern, Daniel J. Jacob, Loretta J. Mickley, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Katherine R. Travis, Eloise A. Marais, Ronald C. Cohen, Joshua L. Laughner, Sungyeon Choi, Joanna Joiner, and Lok N. Lamsal
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 8863–8878, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-8863-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-8863-2019, 2019
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The US EPA reports a steady decrease in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from fuel combustion over the 2005–2017 period, while satellite observations show a leveling off after 2009, suggesting emission reductions and related air quality gains have halted. We show the sustained decrease in NOx emissions is in fact consistent with observed trends in surface NO2 and ozone concentrations and that the flattening of the satellite trend reflects a growing influence from the non-anthropogenic background.
Thomas Wagner, Steffen Beirle, Nuria Benavent, Tim Bösch, Ka Lok Chan, Sebastian Donner, Steffen Dörner, Caroline Fayt, Udo Frieß, David García-Nieto, Clio Gielen, David González-Bartolome, Laura Gomez, François Hendrick, Bas Henzing, Jun Li Jin, Johannes Lampel, Jianzhong Ma, Kornelia Mies, Mónica Navarro, Enno Peters, Gaia Pinardi, Olga Puentedura, Janis Puķīte, Julia Remmers, Andreas Richter, Alfonso Saiz-Lopez, Reza Shaiganfar, Holger Sihler, Michel Van Roozendael, Yang Wang, and Margarita Yela
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 2745–2817, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2745-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2745-2019, 2019
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In this study the consistency between MAX-DOAS measurements and radiative transfer simulations of the atmospheric O4 absorption is investigated. The study is based on measurements (2 selected days during the MADCAT campaign) as well as synthetic spectra. The uncertainties of all relevant aspects (spectral retrieval and radiative transfer simulations) are quantified. For one of the selected days, measurements and simulations do not agree within their uncertainties.
Paul I. Palmer, Emily L. Wilson, Geronimo L. Villanueva, Giuliano Liuzzi, Liang Feng, Anthony J. DiGregorio, Jianping Mao, Lesley Ott, and Bryan Duncan
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 2579–2594, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2579-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2579-2019, 2019
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We describe the potential impact of a new, low-cost, portable ground instrument (the mini-LHR) that measures methane and carbon dioxide in the atmospheric column. This region is key in quantifying the global carbon budget but has geographical gaps in measurements left by ground-based networks and space-based observations. A deployment of 50 mini-LHRs would add new data products in the Amazon, the Arctic, and southern Asia and significantly improve knowledge of regional and global carbon budgets.
Udo Frieß, Steffen Beirle, Leonardo Alvarado Bonilla, Tim Bösch, Martina M. Friedrich, François Hendrick, Ankie Piters, Andreas Richter, Michel van Roozendael, Vladimir V. Rozanov, Elena Spinei, Jan-Lukas Tirpitz, Tim Vlemmix, Thomas Wagner, and Yang Wang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 2155–2181, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2155-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2155-2019, 2019
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Multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) is a widely used measurement technique for the detection of a variety of atmospheric trace gases. It enables the retrieval of aerosol and trace gas vertical profiles in the atmospheric boundary layer using appropriate retrieval algorithms. In this study, the ability of eight profile retrieval algorithms to reconstruct vertical profiles is assessed on the basis of synthetic measurements.
Steffen Beirle, Steffen Dörner, Sebastian Donner, Julia Remmers, Yang Wang, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 1785–1806, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1785-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1785-2019, 2019
Cristen Adams, Chris A. McLinden, Mark W. Shephard, Nolan Dickson, Enrico Dammers, Jack Chen, Paul Makar, Karen E. Cady-Pereira, Naomi Tam, Shailesh K. Kharol, Lok N. Lamsal, and Nickolay A. Krotkov
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 2577–2599, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2577-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2577-2019, 2019
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We estimated how much carbon monoxide, ammonia, and nitrogen oxides were emitted in the smoke from the Fort McMurray Horse River wildfire using satellite data and air quality models. The fire emitted amounts of carbon monoxide that were similar to anthropogenic (human-caused) emissions for all of Alberta over a full year. We also estimated large amounts of ammonia and nitrogen oxides emitted from the fire. These results can be used to evaluate the performance of air quality forecasting models.
Huanxin Zhang, Jun Wang, Lorena Castro García, Jing Zeng, Connor Dennhardt, Yang Liu, and Nickolay A. Krotkov
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 2165–2181, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2165-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2165-2019, 2019
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OMU-based surface erythemal UV irradiance is compared with ground observations in the United States from 2005 to 2017. We reveal that the assumption of constant atmospheric conditions between OMI overpass time and local solar noon time may not fully represent the real atmosphere and the peaks of surface UV are not always at local solar noon because of cloud effects. Future geostationary satellites (e.g., TEMPO) would reduce sampling bias and improve trend analysis of surface UV estimate.
Song Liu, Pieter Valks, Gaia Pinardi, Isabelle De Smedt, Huan Yu, Steffen Beirle, and Andreas Richter
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 1029–1057, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1029-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1029-2019, 2019
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Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) plays significant roles in both stratospheric and tropospheric chemistry, and the observations from satellites enable reliable monitoring of NO2 columns on a global scale and on long time scales. This work presents a refined algorithm for the retrieval of NO2 columns from the satellite instrument Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 (GOME-2), which shows a clear improvement comparing to the previous algorithm.
Daniel L. Goldberg, Pablo E. Saide, Lok N. Lamsal, Benjamin de Foy, Zifeng Lu, Jung-Hun Woo, Younha Kim, Jinseok Kim, Meng Gao, Gregory Carmichael, and David G. Streets
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 1801–1818, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-1801-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-1801-2019, 2019
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Using satellite data, we are able to estimate the emissions of NOx (NOx=NO+NO2), a toxic group of air pollutants, in the Seoul metropolitan area. We first develop an enhanced satellite product that better observes NO2 in urban regions. Using this new product, we derive NOx emissions to be twice as large as the emissions reported by the South Korean government. The implication is that the measures taken to reduce NOx emissions in South Korea have not been as effective as regulators have thought.
Debora Griffin, Kaley A. Walker, Ingo Wohltmann, Sandip S. Dhomse, Markus Rex, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Wuhu Feng, Gloria L. Manney, Jane Liu, and David Tarasick
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 577–601, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-577-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-577-2019, 2019
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Ozone in the stratosphere is important to protect the Earth from UV radiation. Using measurements taken by the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment satellite between 2005 and 2013, we examine different methods to calculate the ozone loss in the high Arctic and establish the altitude at which most of the ozone is destroyed. Our results show that the different methods agree within the uncertainties. Recommendations are made on which methods are most appropriate to use.
K. Folkert Boersma, Henk J. Eskes, Andreas Richter, Isabelle De Smedt, Alba Lorente, Steffen Beirle, Jos H. G. M. van Geffen, Marina Zara, Enno Peters, Michel Van Roozendael, Thomas Wagner, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Ronald J. van der A, Joanne Nightingale, Anne De Rudder, Hitoshi Irie, Gaia Pinardi, Jean-Christopher Lambert, and Steven C. Compernolle
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 6651–6678, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-6651-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-6651-2018, 2018
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This paper describes a new, improved data record of 22+ years of coherent nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution measurements from different satellite instruments. Our work helps to ensure that climate data are of sufficient quality to draw reliable conclusions and shape decisions. It shows how dedicated intercomparisons of retrieval sub-steps have led to improved NO2 measurements from the GOME, SCIAMACHY, GOME-2(A), and OMI sensors, and how quality assurance of the new data product is achieved.
Eloise A. Marais, Daniel J. Jacob, Sungyeon Choi, Joanna Joiner, Maria Belmonte-Rivas, Ronald C. Cohen, Steffen Beirle, Lee T. Murray, Luke D. Schiferl, Viral Shah, and Lyatt Jaeglé
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 17017–17027, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-17017-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-17017-2018, 2018
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We intercompare two new products of global upper tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2) retrieved from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI). We evaluate these products with aircraft observations from NASA DC8 aircraft campaigns and interpret the useful information these products can provide about nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the global upper troposphere using the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model.
Fei Liu, Sungyeon Choi, Can Li, Vitali E. Fioletov, Chris A. McLinden, Joanna Joiner, Nickolay A. Krotkov, Huisheng Bian, Greet Janssens-Maenhout, Anton S. Darmenov, and Arlindo M. da Silva
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 16571–16586, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-16571-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-16571-2018, 2018
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Sulfur dioxide measurements from space have been used to detect emissions from large sources. We developed a new emission inventory by combining the satellite-based emission estimates and the conventional bottom-up inventory for smaller sources. The new inventory improves the model agreement with in situ observations and offers the possibility of rapid updates to emissions.
Jeffrey A. Geddes, Randall V. Martin, Eric J. Bucsela, Chris A. McLinden, and Daniel J. M. Cunningham
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 6271–6287, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-6271-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-6271-2018, 2018
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This paper describes an approach for separating the stratospheric and tropospheric contributions in geostationary observations of nitrogen dioxide from the upcoming TEMPO instrument. We find minimal impact of the limited field of observation compared to previous low-Earth-observing systems with global coverage. We find that continued development of low-Earth-orbit retrievals will benefit geostationary data by providing important context outside the field of regard.
Roeland Van Malderen, Eric Pottiaux, Gintautas Stankunavicius, Steffen Beirle, Thomas Wagner, Hugues Brenot, and Carine Bruyninx
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2018-1170, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2018-1170, 2018
Revised manuscript not accepted
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The study investigates the long-term time variability of the integrated water vapour retrieved by different techniques (GPS, UV/VIS satellites and numerical weather prediction reanalyses) for a global dataset of almost 120 sites and for the time period 1995–2010. A stepwise multiple linear regression technique is applied to ascribe the time variability of integrated water vapour to surface measurements at the sites, but also using teleconnection patterns or climate/oceanic indices.
Arlene M. Fiore, Emily V. Fischer, George P. Milly, Shubha Pandey Deolal, Oliver Wild, Daniel A. Jaffe, Johannes Staehelin, Olivia E. Clifton, Dan Bergmann, William Collins, Frank Dentener, Ruth M. Doherty, Bryan N. Duncan, Bernd Fischer, Stefan Gilge, Peter G. Hess, Larry W. Horowitz, Alexandru Lupu, Ian A. MacKenzie, Rokjin Park, Ludwig Ries, Michael G. Sanderson, Martin G. Schultz, Drew T. Shindell, Martin Steinbacher, David S. Stevenson, Sophie Szopa, Christoph Zellweger, and Guang Zeng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 15345–15361, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-15345-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-15345-2018, 2018
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We demonstrate a proof-of-concept approach for applying northern midlatitude mountaintop peroxy acetyl nitrate (PAN) measurements and a multi-model ensemble during April to constrain the influence of continental-scale anthropogenic precursor emissions on PAN. Our findings imply a role for carefully coordinated multi-model ensembles in helping identify observations for discriminating among widely varying (and poorly constrained) model responses of atmospheric constituents to changes in emissions.
Bo Zheng, Dan Tong, Meng Li, Fei Liu, Chaopeng Hong, Guannan Geng, Haiyan Li, Xin Li, Liqun Peng, Ji Qi, Liu Yan, Yuxuan Zhang, Hongyan Zhao, Yixuan Zheng, Kebin He, and Qiang Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 14095–14111, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14095-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14095-2018, 2018
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To tackle the problem of severe air pollution, China has implemented active clean air policies in recent years. We quantified China’s anthropogenic emissions during 2010–2017 and identified the major driving forces of these trends by using a combination of bottom-up emission inventory and index decomposition analysis (IDA) approaches. The major air pollutants have reduced their emissions by 17–62 % during 2010–2017. The IDA results suggest that emission control measures are the main drivers.
Alexander Vasilkov, Eun-Su Yang, Sergey Marchenko, Wenhan Qin, Lok Lamsal, Joanna Joiner, Nickolay Krotkov, David Haffner, Pawan K. Bhartia, and Robert Spurr
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 4093–4107, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-4093-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-4093-2018, 2018
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We discuss a new cloud algorithm that retrieves effective cloud fraction and cloud altitude and pressure from the oxygen dimer absorption band at 477 nm. The algorithm accounts for how changes in the sun–satellite geometry affect the surface reflection. The cloud fraction and pressure are used as inputs to the OMI algorithm that retrieves a pollutant gas called nitrogen dioxide. Impacts of the application of the newly developed cloud algorithm on the OMI nitrogen dioxide retrieval are discussed.
Marina Zara, K. Folkert Boersma, Isabelle De Smedt, Andreas Richter, Enno Peters, Jos H. G. M. van Geffen, Steffen Beirle, Thomas Wagner, Michel Van Roozendael, Sergey Marchenko, Lok N. Lamsal, and Henk J. Eskes
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 4033–4058, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-4033-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-4033-2018, 2018
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Nitrogen dioxide and formaldehyde satellite data are used for air quality and climate studies. We quantify and characterise slant column uncertainties from different research groups. Our evaluation is motivated by recently improved techniques and by a desire to provide fully traceable uncertainty budget for climate records generated within the QA4ECV project. The improved slant columns are in agreement but with substantial differences in the reported uncertainties between groups and instruments.
Matthew J. Cooper, Randall V. Martin, Alexei I. Lyapustin, and Chris A. McLinden
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 2983–2994, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2983-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2983-2018, 2018
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To accurately infer air pollutant concentrations from satellite observations, we must first know the reflectivity of the Earth’s surface. Using a model, we show that satellite observations are better able to observe NO2 near the surface if snow is present. However, knowing when snow is present is difficult due to its variability. We test seven existing snow cover data sets to assess their ability to inform future satellite observations and find that the IMS data set is best suited for this task.
Isabelle De Smedt, Nicolas Theys, Huan Yu, Thomas Danckaert, Christophe Lerot, Steven Compernolle, Michel Van Roozendael, Andreas Richter, Andreas Hilboll, Enno Peters, Mattia Pedergnana, Diego Loyola, Steffen Beirle, Thomas Wagner, Henk Eskes, Jos van Geffen, Klaas Folkert Boersma, and Pepijn Veefkind
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 2395–2426, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2395-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2395-2018, 2018
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This paper introduces the formaldehyde (HCHO) tropospheric vertical column retrieval algorithm implemented in the TROPOMI/Sentinel-5 Precursor operational processor, and comprehensively describes its various retrieval steps. Furthermore, algorithmic improvements developed in the framework of the EU FP7-project QA4ECV are described for future updates of the processor. Detailed error estimates are discussed in the light of Copernicus user requirements and needs for validation are highlighted.
Pieternel F. Levelt, Joanna Joiner, Johanna Tamminen, J. Pepijn Veefkind, Pawan K. Bhartia, Deborah C. Stein Zweers, Bryan N. Duncan, David G. Streets, Henk Eskes, Ronald van der A, Chris McLinden, Vitali Fioletov, Simon Carn, Jos de Laat, Matthew DeLand, Sergey Marchenko, Richard McPeters, Jerald Ziemke, Dejian Fu, Xiong Liu, Kenneth Pickering, Arnoud Apituley, Gonzalo González Abad, Antti Arola, Folkert Boersma, Christopher Chan Miller, Kelly Chance, Martin de Graaf, Janne Hakkarainen, Seppo Hassinen, Iolanda Ialongo, Quintus Kleipool, Nickolay Krotkov, Can Li, Lok Lamsal, Paul Newman, Caroline Nowlan, Raid Suleiman, Lieuwe Gijsbert Tilstra, Omar Torres, Huiqun Wang, and Krzysztof Wargan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 5699–5745, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5699-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5699-2018, 2018
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The aim of this paper is to highlight the many successes of the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) spanning more than 13 years. Data from OMI have been used in a wide range of applications. Due to its unprecedented spatial resolution, in combination with daily global coverage, OMI plays a unique role in measuring trace gases important for the ozone layer, air quality, and climate change. OMI data continue to be used for new research and applications.
Jungbin Mok, Nickolay A. Krotkov, Omar Torres, Hiren Jethva, Zhanqing Li, Jhoon Kim, Ja-Ho Koo, Sujung Go, Hitoshi Irie, Gordon Labow, Thomas F. Eck, Brent N. Holben, Jay Herman, Robert P. Loughman, Elena Spinei, Seoung Soo Lee, Pradeep Khatri, and Monica Campanelli
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 2295–2311, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2295-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2295-2018, 2018
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Measuring aerosol absorption from the shortest ultraviolet (UV) to the near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths is important for studies of climate, tropospheric photochemistry, human health, and agricultural productivity. We estimate the accuracy and demonstrate consistency of aerosol absorption retrievals from different instruments, after accounting for spectrally varying surface albedo and gaseous absorption.
Fei Liu, Ronald J. van der A, Henk Eskes, Jieying Ding, and Bas Mijling
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 4171–4186, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-4171-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-4171-2018, 2018
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We used ground measurements from the recently developed air quality monitoring network in China to validate modeling surface NO2 concentrations from the regional chemical transport model (CTM). The CTM simulations driven by satellite-derived and bottom-up inventories show negative and positive differences against the ground measurements, respectively. Our study suggests an improvement of the distribution of emissions between urban and rural areas in the satellite-derived inventory.
Keith A. Tereszchuk, Yves J. Rochon, Chris A. McLinden, and Paul A. Vaillancourt
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 1093–1113, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-1093-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-1093-2018, 2018
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To reduce computational costs, ECCC's new method to calculate the UV Index involves scaling and weighting the irradiance contribution of four low-res UV broadbands currently produced by the GEM forecast model. A high-res irradiance spectrum was produced using Cloud-J to create simulated GEM broadbands to calibrate the original GEM broadbands. The scaled GEM broadbands are then weighted accordingly so that the resultant UV Index field emulates the high-res UV Index field calculated from Cloud-J.
Steffen Beirle, Johannes Lampel, Yang Wang, Kornelia Mies, Steffen Dörner, Margherita Grossi, Diego Loyola, Angelika Dehn, Anja Danielczok, Marc Schröder, and Thomas Wagner
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 10, 449–468, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-449-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-449-2018, 2018
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We present time series of the global distribution of water vapor over more than 2 decades based on satellite measurements from different sensors. A particular focus is the consistency amongst the different sensors to avoid jumps from one instrument to another. This is reached by applying robust and simple retrieval settings consistently. The resulting
Climateproduct allows the study of the temporal evolution of water vapor over the last 20 years on a global scale.
Anders V. Lindfors, Jukka Kujanpää, Niilo Kalakoski, Anu Heikkilä, Kaisa Lakkala, Tero Mielonen, Maarten Sneep, Nickolay A. Krotkov, Antti Arola, and Johanna Tamminen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 997–1008, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-997-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-997-2018, 2018
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This paper describes the algorithm that will be used for estimating surface UV radiation from TROPOMI (TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument) measurements. TROPOMI is the only payload of the Sentinel-5 Precursor (S5P), which is a polar-orbiting satellite mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). The presented algorithm has been tested using input based on previous satellite measurements. These preliminary results indicate that the algorithm is functioning according to expectations.
Rachel M. Hoesly, Steven J. Smith, Leyang Feng, Zbigniew Klimont, Greet Janssens-Maenhout, Tyler Pitkanen, Jonathan J. Seibert, Linh Vu, Robert J. Andres, Ryan M. Bolt, Tami C. Bond, Laura Dawidowski, Nazar Kholod, June-ichi Kurokawa, Meng Li, Liang Liu, Zifeng Lu, Maria Cecilia P. Moura, Patrick R. O'Rourke, and Qiang Zhang
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 369–408, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-369-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-369-2018, 2018
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Historical emission trends are key inputs to Earth systems and atmospheric chemistry models. We present a new data set of historical (1750–2014) anthropogenic gases (CO, CH4, NH3, NOx, SO2, NMVOCs, BC, OC, and CO2) developed with the Community Emissions Data System (CEDS). This improves on existing inventories as it uses consistent methods and data across emissions species, has annual resolution for a longer and more recent time series, and is designed to be transparent and reproducible.
Adam E. Bourassa, Chris Z. Roth, Daniel J. Zawada, Landon A. Rieger, Chris A. McLinden, and Douglas A. Degenstein
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 489–498, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-489-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-489-2018, 2018
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OSIRIS satellite measurements of ozone in the stratosphere are corrected for slowly varying errors. These changes make the OSIRIS data compare better with other satellite measurements over the long term and make an impact on our understanding of the recovery of the ozone layer.
Johannes Lampel, Yang Wang, Andreas Hilboll, Steffen Beirle, Holger Sihler, Janis Puķīte, Ulrich Platt, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 4819–4831, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4819-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4819-2017, 2017
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Experience of differential atmospheric absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) shows that a spectral shift between measurement and reference spectrum is frequently required in order to achieve optimal fit results. The shift is often attributed to temporal instabilities of the instrument but implicitly solved the problem of the tilt effect discussed in this paper. The tilt effect results from the finite resolution of the measurements and amounts to 2 pm for the example data set.
Vitali Fioletov, Chris A. McLinden, Shailesh K. Kharol, Nickolay A. Krotkov, Can Li, Joanna Joiner, Michael D. Moran, Robert Vet, Antoon J. H. Visschedijk, and Hugo A. C. Denier van der Gon
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 12597–12616, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12597-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12597-2017, 2017
Yang Wang, Steffen Beirle, Francois Hendrick, Andreas Hilboll, Junli Jin, Aleksandra A. Kyuberis, Johannes Lampel, Ang Li, Yuhan Luo, Lorenzo Lodi, Jianzhong Ma, Monica Navarro, Ivan Ortega, Enno Peters, Oleg L. Polyansky, Julia Remmers, Andreas Richter, Olga Puentedura, Michel Van Roozendael, André Seyler, Jonathan Tennyson, Rainer Volkamer, Pinhua Xie, Nikolai F. Zobov, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 3719–3742, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3719-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3719-2017, 2017
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Slant column densities of nitrous acid (HONO) derived from different MAX-DOAS instruments and retrieval software are systematically compared for the first time during the Multi Axis DOAS – Comparison campaign for Aerosols and Trace gases (MAD-CAT) campaign held at MPIC in Mainz, Germany, from June to October 2013. Through the inter-comparisons and sensitivity studies we quantified the uncertainties in the DOAS fits of HONO from different sources and concluded a recommended setting.
Daniel L. Goldberg, Lok N. Lamsal, Christopher P. Loughner, William H. Swartz, Zifeng Lu, and David G. Streets
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 11403–11421, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-11403-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-11403-2017, 2017
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We developed a new satellite NO2 product using a high spatial resolution (1.33 × 1.33 km) model simulation constrained by aircraft observations. The high-resolution satellite product is now able to observe the spatial heterogeneities of NO2 pollution over a large area with more clarity. The satellite is now in better agreement with monitors at ground level observing the same pollution.
Debora Griffin, Kaley A. Walker, Stephanie Conway, Felicia Kolonjari, Kimberly Strong, Rebecca Batchelor, Chris D. Boone, Lin Dan, James R. Drummond, Pierre F. Fogal, Dejian Fu, Rodica Lindenmaier, Gloria L. Manney, and Dan Weaver
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 3273–3294, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3273-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3273-2017, 2017
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Measurements in the high Arctic from two ground-based and one space-borne infrared Fourier transform spectrometer agree well over an 8-year time period (2006–2013). These comparisons show no notable degradation, indicating the consistency of these data sets and suggesting that the space-borne measurements have been stable. Increasing ozone, as well as increases of some other atmospheric gases, has been found over this same time period.
Nickolay A. Krotkov, Lok N. Lamsal, Edward A. Celarier, William H. Swartz, Sergey V. Marchenko, Eric J. Bucsela, Ka Lok Chan, Mark Wenig, and Marina Zara
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 3133–3149, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3133-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3133-2017, 2017
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We describe the new version 3 OMI NO2 standard product (SPv3) based on significant improvements in both the estimation of the SCDs and the AMFs. The new SCDs and stratospheric VCDs are systematically lower (by ~ 10–40 %) than previous estimates. Tropospheric VCDs are also reduced over polluted areas. Initial evaluation over unpolluted areas has shown that the new SPv3 products agree better with independent satellite- and ground-based FTIR measurements.
Jieying Ding, Kazuyuki Miyazaki, Ronald Johannes van der A, Bas Mijling, Jun-ichi Kurokawa, SeogYeon Cho, Greet Janssens-Maenhout, Qiang Zhang, Fei Liu, and Pieternel Felicitas Levelt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 10125–10141, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10125-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10125-2017, 2017
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To evaluate the quality of the satellite-derived NOx emissions, we compare nine emission inventories of nitrogen oxides including four satellite-derived NOx inventories and bottom-up inventories for East Asia. The temporal and spatial distribution of NOx emissions over East Asia are evaluated. We analyse the differences in satellite-derived emissions from two different inversion methods. The paper ends with recommendations for future improvements of emission estimates.
Fei Liu, Steffen Beirle, Qiang Zhang, Ronald J. van der A, Bo Zheng, Dan Tong, and Kebin He
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 9261–9275, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9261-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9261-2017, 2017
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We assess NOx emission trends over Chinese cities based on satellite NO2 observations using a method independent of chemical transport models. NOx emissions over 48 Chinese cities have decreased significantly since 2011. Cities with different dominant emission sources (i.e. power, industrial, and transportation sectors) showed variable emission decline timelines that corresponded to the schedules for emission control in different sectors.
Georgina M. Miles, Richard Siddans, Roy G. Grainger, Alfred J. Prata, Bradford Fisher, and Nickolay Krotkov
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 2687–2702, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2687-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2687-2017, 2017
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Volcanic eruptions are important in the way they perturb the climate and help us understand atmospheric processes. We show a new method to measure the SO2 released by explosive volcanic eruptions using the HIRS/2 satellite instrument, which measured atmospheric temperature and H2O. We apply the technique to the 1991 eruption of Cerro Hudson and show it is possible to detect SO2 with a good degree of accuracy. This method and instrument can potentially generate a climate-significant record.
Hyun-Deok Choi, Hongyu Liu, James H. Crawford, David B. Considine, Dale J. Allen, Bryan N. Duncan, Larry W. Horowitz, Jose M. Rodriguez, Susan E. Strahan, Lin Zhang, Xiong Liu, Megan R. Damon, and Stephen D. Steenrod
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 8429–8452, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-8429-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-8429-2017, 2017
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We evaluate global ozone–carbon monoxide (O3–CO) correlations in a chemistry and transport model during July–August with TES-Aura satellite observations and examine the sensitivity of model simulations to input meteorological data and emissions. Results show that O3–CO correlations may be used effectively to constrain the sources of regional tropospheric O3 in global 3-D models, especially for those regions where convective transport of pollution plays an important role.
Cristen Adams, Adam E. Bourassa, Chris A. McLinden, Chris E. Sioris, Thomas von Clarmann, Bernd Funke, Landon A. Rieger, and Douglas A. Degenstein
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 8063–8080, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-8063-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-8063-2017, 2017
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We measured the relationship between volcanic aerosol and trace gases in the stratosphere using the OSIRIS and MIPAS satellite instruments between 2002 and 2014. We found that levels of stratospheric NO2 and N2O5 both decreased significantly in the presence of volcanic aerosol. These decreases were consistent with the modeling results.
Reza Shaiganfar, Steffen Beirle, Hugo Denier van der Gon, Sander Jonkers, Jeroen Kuenen, Herve Petetin, Qijie Zhang, Matthias Beekmann, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 7853–7890, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-7853-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-7853-2017, 2017
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We determine NOx emissions for Paris in summer 2009 and winter 2009/2010 by combining car MAX-DOAS measurements of NO2 with wind fields. We compare the results with simulations from the CHIMERE model. We derive daily average NOx emissions for Paris of 4.0 × 1025 molecules s−1 for summer and of 6.9 × 1025 molecules s−1 in winter. These values are a factor of about 1.4 and 2.0 larger than the corresponding emissions in the MACC-III emission inventory.
Shailesh K. Kharol, Chris A. McLinden, Christopher E. Sioris, Mark W. Shephard, Vitali Fioletov, Aaron van Donkelaar, Sajeev Philip, and Randall V. Martin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 5921–5929, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5921-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5921-2017, 2017
Yan Zhang, Can Li, Nickolay A. Krotkov, Joanna Joiner, Vitali Fioletov, and Chris McLinden
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 1495–1509, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1495-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1495-2017, 2017
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In this study, we demonstrate a very good consistency of the SO2 retrievals from OMI and OMPS using our state-of-the-art principal component analysis technique. Four full years of OMI and OMPS SO2 retrievals, during 2012–2015 have been analyzed over some of the world’s most polluted regions: eastern China, Mexico, and South Africa. The consistency of retrievals between OMI and OMPS make it possible to continue the long-term global SO2 pollution monitoring.
Yang Wang, Steffen Beirle, Johannes Lampel, Mariliza Koukouli, Isabelle De Smedt, Nicolas Theys, Ang Li, Dexia Wu, Pinhua Xie, Cheng Liu, Michel Van Roozendael, Trissevgeni Stavrakou, Jean-François Müller, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 5007–5033, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5007-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5007-2017, 2017
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A long-term MAX-DOAS measurement from 2011 to 2014 was operated in Wuxi, part of the most industrialized area of the Yangtze River delta region of China. The tropospheric VCDs and vertical profiles of NO2, SO2 and HCHO derived from the MAX-DOAS are used to validate the products derived from OMI and GOME-2A/B by different scientific teams (daily- and bimonthly-averaged data). We investigate the effects of clouds, aerosols and a priori profile shapes on satellite retrievals of tropospheric VCDs.
Christopher E. Sioris, Landon A. Rieger, Nicholas D. Lloyd, Adam E. Bourassa, Chris Z. Roth, Douglas A. Degenstein, Claude Camy-Peyret, Klaus Pfeilsticker, Gwenaël Berthet, Valéry Catoire, Florence Goutail, Jean-Pierre Pommereau, and Chris A. McLinden
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 1155–1168, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1155-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1155-2017, 2017
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A new OSIRIS NO2 retrieval algorithm is described and validated using > 40 balloon-based profile measurements. The validation results indicate a slight improvement relative to the existing operational algorithm in terms of the bias versus the balloon data, particularly in the lower stratosphere. The implication is that this new algorithm should replace the operational one. The motivation was to combine spectral fitting and the SaskTRAN radiative transfer model to achieve an improved product.
Holger Sihler, Peter Lübcke, Rüdiger Lang, Steffen Beirle, Martin de Graaf, Christoph Hörmann, Johannes Lampel, Marloes Penning de Vries, Julia Remmers, Ed Trollope, Yang Wang, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 881–903, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-881-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-881-2017, 2017
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This paper presents the independent and simple IFR method to retrieve the FOV of an instrument, i.e. the two-dimensional sensitivity distribution. IFR relies on correlated measurements featuring a higher spatial resolution and was applied to two satellite instruments, GOME-2 and OMI, and a DOAS instrument integrated in an SO2 camera. Our results confirm the commonly applied FOV distributions. IFR is applicable for verification exercises as well as degradation monitoring in the field.
Alba Lorente, K. Folkert Boersma, Huan Yu, Steffen Dörner, Andreas Hilboll, Andreas Richter, Mengyao Liu, Lok N. Lamsal, Michael Barkley, Isabelle De Smedt, Michel Van Roozendael, Yang Wang, Thomas Wagner, Steffen Beirle, Jin-Tai Lin, Nickolay Krotkov, Piet Stammes, Ping Wang, Henk J. Eskes, and Maarten Krol
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 759–782, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-759-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-759-2017, 2017
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Choices and assumptions made to represent the state of the atmosphere introduce an uncertainty of 42 % in the air mass factor calculation in trace gas satellite retrievals in polluted regions. The AMF strongly depends on the choice of a priori trace gas profile, surface albedo data set and the correction method to account for clouds and aerosols. We call for well-designed validation exercises focusing on situations when AMF structural uncertainty has the highest impact on satellite retrievals.
Steffen Beirle, Johannes Lampel, Christophe Lerot, Holger Sihler, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 581–598, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-581-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-581-2017, 2017
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We propose to parameterize the instrumental spectral response function (ISRF) as a "super-Gaussian", which can reproduce a variety of shapes, from point-hat to boxcar shape, by just adding one parameter to the "classical" Gaussian.
In addition, the super-Gaussian allows for a straightforward parametrization of the effect of ISRF changes.
Yang Wang, Johannes Lampel, Pinhua Xie, Steffen Beirle, Ang Li, Dexia Wu, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 2189–2215, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-2189-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-2189-2017, 2017
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The air pollution in the Yangtze River delta (YRD), the largest economic region in China, threatens the health of the inhabitants in this region. A long-term MAX-DOAS observation in Wuxi, China (belonging to YRD), is used to characterize vertical distributions (VD) of the aerosols and the precursor trace gases in the boundary to identify the dominating sources. The results are valuable for further validation of satellite products and chemical transport modelings.
Christopher E. Sioris, Chris A. McLinden, Mark W. Shephard, Vitali E. Fioletov, and Ihab Abboud
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 1931–1943, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1931-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1931-2017, 2017
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The contribution of the oil sands region to the local aerosol optical depth (AOD) is sought. Satellite data are used since they provide spatial coverage over many years. Satellites measure AOD with high correlation and small biases relative to coincident AERONET AODs. Trends are determined using annual mean AODs, and an increasing trend is found near the Shell mines. Spatially variable and high surface albedo is challenging for some sensors. Measuring polarization appears to be an asset.
Ronald J. van der A, Bas Mijling, Jieying Ding, Maria Elissavet Koukouli, Fei Liu, Qing Li, Huiqin Mao, and Nicolas Theys
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 1775–1789, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1775-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1775-2017, 2017
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The SO2 concentrations and NOx emissions over China derived from satellite observations are compared with the national fossil fuel consumption and air quality regulations. It is shown that not only NO2 concentrations but also NOx emissions in all Chinese provinces decreased in the last 2 years. We conclude that without the air quality regulations the SO2 concentrations would be about 2.5 times higher and the NO2 concentrations would be at least 25 % higher than they are today in China.
Can Li, Nickolay A. Krotkov, Simon Carn, Yan Zhang, Robert J. D. Spurr, and Joanna Joiner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 445–458, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-445-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-445-2017, 2017
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In this paper, we describe the new-generation OMI volcanic SO2 algorithm based on our principal component analysis (PCA) retrieval technique. We demonstrate significant improvement in the our new OMI volcanic SO2 data, with the retrieval noise reduced by a factor of 2 as compared with the previous dataset. The algorithm also improves the accuracy for large volcanic eruptions. It is also capable of producing consistent retrievals between different instruments.
Alexander Vasilkov, Wenhan Qin, Nickolay Krotkov, Lok Lamsal, Robert Spurr, David Haffner, Joanna Joiner, Eun-Su Yang, and Sergey Marchenko
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 333–349, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-333-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-333-2017, 2017
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We show how the surface reflection can vary day to day in the blue part of the sun's spectrum where we measure the pollutant gas nitrogen dioxide using a satellite instrument called OMI. We use information from an imaging spectrometer on another satellite, MODIS, to estimate the angular surface effects. We can then use models of how the sunlight travels through the atmosphere to predict how the angle-dependent surface reflection will impact the values of pollutant levels inferred by OMI.
Johannes Lampel, Denis Pöhler, Oleg L. Polyansky, Aleksandra A. Kyuberis, Nikolai F. Zobov, Jonathan Tennyson, Lorenzo Lodi, Udo Frieß, Yang Wang, Steffen Beirle, Ulrich Platt, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 1271–1295, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1271-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1271-2017, 2017
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Water vapour is known to absorb radiation from the microwave region to the blue part of the visible spectrum.
Ab initio approaches to model individual absorption lines of the gaseous water molecule predict absorption lines
until its dissociation limit at 243 nm.
We present first evidence of water vapour absorption near 363 nm from field measurements using data
from multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) and long-path (LP)-DOAS measurements.
Chaopeng Hong, Qiang Zhang, Kebin He, Dabo Guan, Meng Li, Fei Liu, and Bo Zheng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 1227–1239, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1227-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1227-2017, 2017
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We found that the apparent uncertainties in China’s energy consumption increased from 2004 to 2012. SO2 emissions are most sensitive to energy uncertainties because of the high contributions from industrial coal combustion. The energy-induced emission uncertainties for some species are comparable to total uncertainties of emissions as estimated by previous studies, indicating variations in energy consumption could be an important source of China’s emission uncertainties.
Meng Li, Qiang Zhang, Jun-ichi Kurokawa, Jung-Hun Woo, Kebin He, Zifeng Lu, Toshimasa Ohara, Yu Song, David G. Streets, Gregory R. Carmichael, Yafang Cheng, Chaopeng Hong, Hong Huo, Xujia Jiang, Sicong Kang, Fei Liu, Hang Su, and Bo Zheng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 935–963, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-935-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-935-2017, 2017
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An anthropogenic emission inventory for Asia is developed for the years 2008 and 2010 to support the Model Inter-Comparison Study for Asia (MICS-Asia) and the Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution (TF HTAP) projects by a mosaic of up-to-date regional emission inventories. The total Asian emissions in 2010 are estimated as follows: 51.3 Tg SO2, 52.1 Tg NOx, 336.5 Tg CO, 67.0 Tg NMVOC, 28.7 Tg NH3, 31.7 Tg PM10, 22.7 Tg PM2.5, 3.5 Tg BC, 8.3 Tg OC, and 17.3 Pg CO2.
Patrick E. Sheese, Kaley A. Walker, Chris D. Boone, Chris A. McLinden, Peter F. Bernath, Adam E. Bourassa, John P. Burrows, Doug A. Degenstein, Bernd Funke, Didier Fussen, Gloria L. Manney, C. Thomas McElroy, Donal Murtagh, Cora E. Randall, Piera Raspollini, Alexei Rozanov, James M. Russell III, Makoto Suzuki, Masato Shiotani, Joachim Urban, Thomas von Clarmann, and Joseph M. Zawodny
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 5781–5810, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-5781-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-5781-2016, 2016
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This study validates version 3.5 of the ACE-FTS NOy species data sets by comparing diurnally scaled ACE-FTS data to correlative data from 11 other satellite limb sounders. For all five species examined (NO, NO2, HNO3, N2O5, and ClONO2), there is good agreement between ACE-FTS and the other data sets in various regions of the atmosphere. In these validated regions, these NOy data products can be used for further investigation into the composition, dynamics, and climate of the stratosphere.
Iolanda Ialongo, Jay Herman, Nick Krotkov, Lok Lamsal, K. Folkert Boersma, Jari Hovila, and Johanna Tamminen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 5203–5212, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-5203-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-5203-2016, 2016
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We present the comparison between satellite- and ground-based atmospheric NO2 observations in Helsinki (Finland). The results show that, despite some limitations due to cloud contamination and low solar angles, satellite data are able to describe urban air quality features such as the weekly and seasonal cycles. The results support air quality satellite data exploitation at high latitudes and prepare for similar applications for future missions.
Christoph Hörmann, Holger Sihler, Steffen Beirle, Marloes Penning de Vries, Ulrich Platt, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 13015–13034, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-13015-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-13015-2016, 2016
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We present 10 years of bromine monoxide (BrO) satellite observations by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) over the Rann of Kutch salt marsh. The measurements reveal a typical seasonal cycle of BrO with maximum concentrations during April/May. The results indicate that the Rann of Kutch is probably one of the strongest natural point sources of reactive bromine compounds outside the polar regions and is thought to have a significant impact on local and regional ozone chemistry.
Thomas Wagner, Steffen Beirle, Julia Remmers, Reza Shaiganfar, and Yang Wang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 4803–4823, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4803-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4803-2016, 2016
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A method is developed for the calibration of the colour index (CI) and the O4 absorption derived from differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) measurements of scattered sunlight. Calibrated measurements of the CI and the O4 absorption are important for the detection and classification of clouds from MAX-DOAS observations.
Meng Gao, Gregory R. Carmichael, Pablo E. Saide, Zifeng Lu, Man Yu, David G. Streets, and Zifa Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 11837–11851, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11837-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11837-2016, 2016
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The WRF-Chem model was used to examine how the winter PM2.5 concentrations change in response to changes in emissions and meteorology in North China from 1960 to 2010. The discussions in this study indicate that dramatic changes in emissions are the main cause of increasing haze events in North China, and long-term trends in atmospheric circulations maybe another important cause. We also found aerosol feedbacks have been significantly enhanced from 1960 to 2010, due to higher aerosol loadings.
Quazi Z. Rasool, Rui Zhang, Benjamin Lash, Daniel S. Cohan, Ellen J. Cooter, Jesse O. Bash, and Lok N. Lamsal
Geosci. Model Dev., 9, 3177–3197, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-3177-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-3177-2016, 2016
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This study updates the representation of soil NO emissions in a regional air quality model. The implementation enhances the representation of biome types and dynamic fertilizer use. Previous modeling of soil NO in CMAQ had tended to under-estimate emissions and misrepresent their response to soil conditions and meteorology. We evaluate results against satellite observations of NO2, and quantify the impacts of the new parameterization on simulations of ozone and particulate matter.
Vitali E. Fioletov, Chris A. McLinden, Nickolay Krotkov, Can Li, Joanna Joiner, Nicolas Theys, Simon Carn, and Mike D. Moran
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 11497–11519, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11497-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11497-2016, 2016
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We introduce the first space-based catalogue of SO2 emission sources seen by OMI. The inventory contains about 500 sources. They account for about a half of all SO2 emissions; the remaining half is likely related to sources emitting less than 30 kt yr−1 and not detected by OMI. The sources are grouped by type (volcanoes, power plants, oil- and gas-related sources, and smelters) and country. The catalogue presented herein can be used for verification of available SO2 emission inventories.
Cristen Adams, Elise N. Normand, Chris A. McLinden, Adam E. Bourassa, Nicholas D. Lloyd, Douglas A. Degenstein, Nickolay A. Krotkov, Maria Belmonte Rivas, K. Folkert Boersma, and Henk Eskes
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 4103–4122, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4103-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4103-2016, 2016
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A new "OMI-minus-OSIRIS" (OmO) prototype dataset for tropospheric NO2 was created by combining information from the OMI satellite instrument, which is sensitive to NO2 in both the troposphere and stratosphere, with information from the OSIRIS satellite instrument, which measures NO2 in the stratosphere. This paper demonstrates that this approach is feasible and could be applied to future geostationary missions.
Jan Zörner, Marloes Penning de Vries, Steffen Beirle, Holger Sihler, Patrick R. Veres, Jonathan Williams, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 9457–9487, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9457-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9457-2016, 2016
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We present a top-down approach to infer and quantify rain-induced emission pulses of nitrogen oxides from soils using satellite-borne measurements of NO2. We found strong enhancements of NO2 induced by the first intense precipitation after prolonged droughts in many semi-arid regions of the world, in particular in the Sahel. Apart from the clear first-day peak, NO2 VCDs are moderately enhanced compared to background over the following 2 weeks suggesting potential further emissions.
U. Frieß, H. Klein Baltink, S. Beirle, K. Clémer, F. Hendrick, B. Henzing, H. Irie, G. de Leeuw, A. Li, M. M. Moerman, M. van Roozendael, R. Shaiganfar, T. Wagner, Y. Wang, P. Xie, S. Yilmaz, and P. Zieger
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 3205–3222, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-3205-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-3205-2016, 2016
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This article describes the first direct comparison of aerosol extinction profiles from Multi-Axis DOAS measurements of the oxygen collision complex using five different retrieval algorithms. A comparison of the retrieved profiles with co-located aerosol measurements shows good agreement with respect to profile shape and aerosol optical thickness. This study shows that MAX-DOAS is a simple, versatile and cost-effective method for the measurement of aerosol properties in the lower troposphere.
Vitali E. Fioletov, Chris A. McLinden, Alexander Cede, Jonathan Davies, Cristian Mihele, Stoyka Netcheva, Shao-Meng Li, and Jason O'Brien
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 2961–2976, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2961-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2961-2016, 2016
Steffen Beirle, Christoph Hörmann, Patrick Jöckel, Song Liu, Marloes Penning de Vries, Andrea Pozzer, Holger Sihler, Pieter Valks, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 2753–2779, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2753-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2753-2016, 2016
Sarah A. Strode, Helen M. Worden, Megan Damon, Anne R. Douglass, Bryan N. Duncan, Louisa K. Emmons, Jean-Francois Lamarque, Michael Manyin, Luke D. Oman, Jose M. Rodriguez, Susan E. Strahan, and Simone Tilmes
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 7285–7294, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-7285-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-7285-2016, 2016
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We use global models to interpret trends in MOPITT observations of CO. Simulations with time-dependent emissions reproduce the observed trends over the eastern USA and Europe, suggesting that the emissions are reasonable for these regions. The simulations produce a positive trend over eastern China, contrary to the observed negative trend. This may indicate that the assumed emission trend over China is too positive. However, large variability in the overhead ozone column also contributes.
Fei Liu, Steffen Beirle, Qiang Zhang, Steffen Dörner, Kebin He, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 5283–5298, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-5283-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-5283-2016, 2016
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We present a new method to quantify NOx emissions and corresponding atmospheric lifetimes from OMI NO2 observations together with ECMWF wind fields without further model input for sources located in polluted background. The derived NOx emissions show generally good agreement with bottom-up inventories for power plants and cities. Global inventory significantly underestimated NOx emissions in Chinese cities, most likely due to uncertainties associated with downscaling approaches.
Nickolay A. Krotkov, Chris A. McLinden, Can Li, Lok N. Lamsal, Edward A. Celarier, Sergey V. Marchenko, William H. Swartz, Eric J. Bucsela, Joanna Joiner, Bryan N. Duncan, K. Folkert Boersma, J. Pepijn Veefkind, Pieternel F. Levelt, Vitali E. Fioletov, Russell R. Dickerson, Hao He, Zifeng Lu, and David G. Streets
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 4605–4629, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-4605-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-4605-2016, 2016
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We examine changes in SO2 and NO2 over the world's most polluted regions during the first decade of Aura OMI observations. Over the eastern US, both NO2 and SO2 levels decreased by 40 % and 80 %, respectively. OMI confirmed large reductions in SO2 over eastern Europe's largest coal power plants. The North China Plain has the world's most severe SO2 pollution, but a decreasing trend been observed since 2011, with a 50 % reduction in 2012–2014. India's SO2 and NO2 levels are growing at a fast pace.
Yasin F. Elshorbany, Bryan N. Duncan, Sarah A. Strode, James S. Wang, and Jules Kouatchou
Geosci. Model Dev., 9, 799–822, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-799-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-799-2016, 2016
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The ECCOH (pronounced "echo") chemistry module interactively simulates the photochemistry of the CH4–CO–OH system within a chemistry climate model, carbon cycle model, or Earth system model. The computational efficiency of the module allows many multi-decadal sensitivity simulations of the CH4–CO–OH system. This capability is important for capturing nonlinear feedbacks of the CH4–CO–OH system and understanding the perturbations to methane, CO, and OH and the concomitant climate impacts.
Y. Wang, M. Penning de Vries, P. H. Xie, S. Beirle, S. Dörner, J. Remmers, A. Li, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 5133–5156, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-5133-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-5133-2015, 2015
M. W. Shephard, C. A. McLinden, K. E. Cady-Pereira, M. Luo, S. G. Moussa, A. Leithead, J. Liggio, R. M. Staebler, A. Akingunola, P. Makar, P. Lehr, J. Zhang, D. K. Henze, D. B. Millet, J. O. Bash, L. Zhu, K. C. Wells, S. L. Capps, S. Chaliyakunnel, M. Gordon, K. Hayden, J. R. Brook, M. Wolde, and S.-M. Li
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 5189–5211, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-5189-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-5189-2015, 2015
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This study provides direct validations of Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) satellite retrieved profiles against coincident aircraft profiles of carbon monoxide, ammonia, methanol, and formic acid, all of which are of interest for air quality. The comparisons are performed over the Canadian oil sands region during an intensive field campaign in support of the Joint Canada-Alberta Implementation Plan for the Oil Sands Monitoring (JOSM). Initial model evaluations are also provided.
F. Liu, Q. Zhang, D. Tong, B. Zheng, M. Li, H. Huo, and K. B. He
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 13299–13317, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-13299-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-13299-2015, 2015
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This is the first study in which emissions from China’s coal-fired power plants were estimated at unit level for a 20-year period. This new emission inventory is constructed from a unit-based database compiled in this work, named the China coal-fired Power plant Emissions Database (CPED), which includes detailed information on the technologies, activity data, operation situation, emission factors, and locations of individual units.
S. A. Strode, B. N. Duncan, E. A. Yegorova, J. Kouatchou, J. R. Ziemke, and A. R. Douglass
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 11789–11805, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-11789-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-11789-2015, 2015
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A low bias in carbon monoxide (CO) at northern latitudes is a common feature of chemistry climate models. We find that increasing Northern Hemisphere (NH) CO emissions or reducing NH OH concentrations improves the agreement with CO surface observations, but reducing NH OH leads to a better comparison with MOPITT. Removing model biases in ozone and water vapor increases the simulated methane lifetime, but it does not give the 20% reduction in NH OH suggested by our analysis of the CO bias.
T. Wagner, S. Beirle, S. Dörner, M. Penning de Vries, J. Remmers, A. Rozanov, and R. Shaiganfar
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 4265–4280, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4265-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4265-2015, 2015
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We present a new method for the absolute calibration of atmospheric radiance measurements. Existing methods are based on laboratory measurements, but our method uses the atmospheric radiance measurements themselves. For selected sky conditions these measurements are compared to radiative transfer simulations. The method is very accurate (better than 7%) and might be used for a variety of scientific applications, as well as for the determination of the energy yield of photovoltaic cells.
T. P. Canty, L. Hembeck, T. P. Vinciguerra, D. C. Anderson, D. L. Goldberg, S. F. Carpenter, D. J. Allen, C. P. Loughner, R. J. Salawitch, and R. R. Dickerson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 10965–10982, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10965-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10965-2015, 2015
M. J. M. Penning de Vries, S. Beirle, C. Hörmann, J. W. Kaiser, P. Stammes, L. G. Tilstra, O. N. E. Tuinder, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 10597–10618, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10597-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10597-2015, 2015
Z. Lu, D. G. Streets, B. de Foy, L. N. Lamsal, B. N. Duncan, and J. Xing
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 10367–10383, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10367-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10367-2015, 2015
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Using an exponentially modified Gaussian method and taking into account the effect of wind on NO2 distributions, we estimate 3-year moving-average emissions of summertime NOx from 35 US urban areas directly from NO2 retrievals of the OMI during 2005−2014. Total OMI-derived NOx emissions over US urban areas decreased by 49%, consistent with reductions of 43, 49, and 44% in the bottom-up NOx emissions, the weak-wind OMI NO2 burdens, and the averaged NO2 concentrations, respectively.
M. Beekmann, A. S. H. Prévôt, F. Drewnick, J. Sciare, S. N. Pandis, H. A. C. Denier van der Gon, M. Crippa, F. Freutel, L. Poulain, V. Ghersi, E. Rodriguez, S. Beirle, P. Zotter, S.-L. von der Weiden-Reinmüller, M. Bressi, C. Fountoukis, H. Petetin, S. Szidat, J. Schneider, A. Rosso, I. El Haddad, A. Megaritis, Q. J. Zhang, V. Michoud, J. G. Slowik, S. Moukhtar, P. Kolmonen, A. Stohl, S. Eckhardt, A. Borbon, V. Gros, N. Marchand, J. L. Jaffrezo, A. Schwarzenboeck, A. Colomb, A. Wiedensohler, S. Borrmann, M. Lawrence, A. Baklanov, and U. Baltensperger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 9577–9591, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-9577-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-9577-2015, 2015
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A detailed characterization of air quality in the Paris (France) agglomeration, a megacity, during two summer and winter intensive campaigns and from additional 1-year observations, revealed that about 70% of the fine particulate matter (PM) at urban background is transported into the megacity from upwind regions. Unexpectedly, a major part of organic PM is of modern origin (woodburning and cooking activities, secondary formation from biogenic VOC).
R. Shaiganfar, S. Beirle, H. Petetin, Q. Zhang, M. Beekmann, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 2827–2852, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-2827-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-2827-2015, 2015
L. K. Emmons, S. R. Arnold, S. A. Monks, V. Huijnen, S. Tilmes, K. S. Law, J. L. Thomas, J.-C. Raut, I. Bouarar, S. Turquety, Y. Long, B. Duncan, S. Steenrod, S. Strode, J. Flemming, J. Mao, J. Langner, A. M. Thompson, D. Tarasick, E. C. Apel, D. R. Blake, R. C. Cohen, J. Dibb, G. S. Diskin, A. Fried, S. R. Hall, L. G. Huey, A. J. Weinheimer, A. Wisthaler, T. Mikoviny, J. Nowak, J. Peischl, J. M. Roberts, T. Ryerson, C. Warneke, and D. Helmig
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 6721–6744, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-6721-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-6721-2015, 2015
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Eleven 3-D tropospheric chemistry models have been compared and evaluated with observations in the Arctic during the International Polar Year (IPY 2008). Large differences are seen among the models, particularly related to the model chemistry of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and reactive nitrogen (NOx, PAN, HNO3) partitioning. Consistency among the models in the underestimation of CO, ethane and propane indicates the emission inventory is too low for these compounds.
S. R. Arnold, L. K. Emmons, S. A. Monks, K. S. Law, D. A. Ridley, S. Turquety, S. Tilmes, J. L. Thomas, I. Bouarar, J. Flemming, V. Huijnen, J. Mao, B. N. Duncan, S. Steenrod, Y. Yoshida, J. Langner, and Y. Long
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 6047–6068, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-6047-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-6047-2015, 2015
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The extent to which forest fires produce the air pollutant and greenhouse gas ozone (O3) in the atmosphere at high latitudes in not well understood. We have compared how fire emissions produce O3 and its precursors in several models of atmospheric chemistry. We find enhancements in O3 in air dominated by fires in all models, which increase on average as fire emissions age. We also find that in situ O3 production in the Arctic is sensitive to details of organic chemistry and vertical lifting.
I. Ialongo, J. Hakkarainen, R. Kivi, P. Anttila, N. A. Krotkov, K. Yang, C. Li, S. Tukiainen, S. Hassinen, and J. Tamminen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 2279–2289, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-2279-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-2279-2015, 2015
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The SO2 observations from OMI and OMPS satellite instruments are compared to ground-based measurements during the Icelandic Holuhraun fissure eruption in September 2014. The best agreement with the Brewer observations in Sodankylä, Finland can be found, assuming the SO2 predominantly located in the lowest levels of the atmosphere. The analysis of the SO2 surface concentrations in northern Finland supports the hypothesis that the volcanic plume was located very close to the surface.
R. Kumar, M. C. Barth, V. S. Nair, G. G. Pfister, S. Suresh Babu, S. K. Satheesh, K. Krishna Moorthy, G. R. Carmichael, Z. Lu, and D. G. Streets
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 5415–5428, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-5415-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-5415-2015, 2015
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We examine differences in the surface BC between the Bay of Bengal (BoB) and the Arabian Sea (AS) and identify dominant sources of BC in South Asia during ICARB. Anthropogenic emissions were the main source of BC during ICARB and had about 5 times stronger influence on the BoB compared to the AS. Regional-scale transport contributes up to 25% of BC mass concentrations in western and eastern India, suggesting that surface BC mass concentrations cannot be linked directly to the local emissions.
S. A. Monks, S. R. Arnold, L. K. Emmons, K. S. Law, S. Turquety, B. N. Duncan, J. Flemming, V. Huijnen, S. Tilmes, J. Langner, J. Mao, Y. Long, J. L. Thomas, S. D. Steenrod, J. C. Raut, C. Wilson, M. P. Chipperfield, G. S. Diskin, A. Weinheimer, H. Schlager, and G. Ancellet
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 3575–3603, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-3575-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-3575-2015, 2015
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Multi-model simulations of Arctic CO, O3 and OH are evaluated using observations. Models show highly variable concentrations but the relative importance of emission regions and types is robust across the models, demonstrating the importance of biomass burning as a source. Idealised tracer experiments suggest that some of the model spread is due to variations in simulated transport from Europe in winter and from Asia throughout the year.
M. Grossi, P. Valks, D. Loyola, B. Aberle, S. Slijkhuis, T. Wagner, S. Beirle, and R. Lang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 1111–1133, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-1111-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-1111-2015, 2015
S. Kulkarni, N. Sobhani, J. P. Miller-Schulze, M. M. Shafer, J. J. Schauer, P. A. Solomon, P. E. Saide, S. N. Spak, Y. F. Cheng, H. A. C. Denier van der Gon, Z. Lu, D. G. Streets, G. Janssens-Maenhout, C. Wiedinmyer, J. Lantz, M. Artamonova, B. Chen, S. Imashev, L. Sverdlik, J. T. Deminter, B. Adhikary, A. D'Allura, C. Wei, and G. R. Carmichael
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 1683–1705, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-1683-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-1683-2015, 2015
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This study presents a regional-scale modeling analysis of aerosols in the Central Asia region including detailed characterization of seasonal source region and sector contributions along with the predicted changes in distribution of aerosols using 2030 future emission scenarios. The influence of long transport and impact of varied emission sources including dust, biomass burning, and anthropogenic sources on the regional aerosol distributions and the associated transport pathways are discussed.
W. Tang, D. S. Cohan, A. Pour-Biazar, L. N. Lamsal, A. T. White, X. Xiao, W. Zhou, B. H. Henderson, and B. F. Lash
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 1601–1619, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-1601-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-1601-2015, 2015
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A joint application of multiple satellite-derived model inputs to improve Texas O3 SIP modeling is demonstrated in this study. The GOES-retrieved clouds are applied to correct the modeled photolysis rates, and the DKF inversion approach is incorporated into the CAMx-DDM model to adjust NOx emissions using OMI NO2. Using both GOES-derived photolysis rates and OMI-constrained NOx emissions together improves O3 simulations and makes O3 more sensitive to NOx emissions in the O3 non-attainment areas.
C. Liu, X. Liu, M. G. Kowalewski, S. J. Janz, G. González Abad, K. E. Pickering, K. Chance, and L. N. Lamsal
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 751–759, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-751-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-751-2015, 2015
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We characterize the wavelengths and slit functions of Airborne Compact Atmospheric Mapper (ACAM) measurements in ~304--500 nm through the cross-correlation technique. It is necessary to account for atmospheric gas absorption and the ring effect. The derived broadened Gaussian slit functions agree very well with laboratory measurements. Trace gas retrieval comparisons demonstrate that the cross-correlation technique can be reliably used to characterize slit functions.
L. N. Lamsal, N. A. Krotkov, E. A. Celarier, W. H. Swartz, K. E. Pickering, E. J. Bucsela, J. F. Gleason, R. V. Martin, S. Philip, H. Irie, A. Cede, J. Herman, A. Weinheimer, J. J. Szykman, and T. N. Knepp
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 11587–11609, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-11587-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-11587-2014, 2014
C. Zhao, Z. Hu, Y. Qian, L. Ruby Leung, J. Huang, M. Huang, J. Jin, M. G. Flanner, R. Zhang, H. Wang, H. Yan, Z. Lu, and D. G. Streets
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 11475–11491, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-11475-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-11475-2014, 2014
A. Rocha-Lima, J. V. Martins, L. A. Remer, N. A. Krotkov, M. H. Tabacniks, Y. Ben-Ami, and P. Artaxo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 10649–10661, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-10649-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-10649-2014, 2014
S. Choi, J. Joiner, Y. Choi, B. N. Duncan, A. Vasilkov, N. Krotkov, and E. Bucsela
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 10565–10588, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-10565-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-10565-2014, 2014
S. Beirle, W. Koshak, R. Blakeslee, and T. Wagner
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 14, 2715–2726, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-14-2715-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-14-2715-2014, 2014
J. E. Franklin, J. R. Drummond, D. Griffin, J. R. Pierce, D. L. Waugh, P. I. Palmer, M. Parrington, J. D. Lee, A. C. Lewis, A. R. Rickard, J. W. Taylor, J. D. Allan, H. Coe, K. A. Walker, L. Chisholm, T. J. Duck, J. T. Hopper, Y. Blanchard, M. D. Gibson, K. R. Curry, K. M. Sakamoto, G. Lesins, L. Dan, J. Kliever, and A. Saha
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 8449–8460, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-8449-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-8449-2014, 2014
S. Beirle, C. Hörmann, M. Penning de Vries, S. Dörner, C. Kern, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 8309–8322, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-8309-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-8309-2014, 2014
R. Van Malderen, H. Brenot, E. Pottiaux, S. Beirle, C. Hermans, M. De Mazière, T. Wagner, H. De Backer, and C. Bruyninx
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 2487–2512, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-2487-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-2487-2014, 2014
I. Ialongo, J. Hakkarainen, N. Hyttinen, J.-P. Jalkanen, L. Johansson, K. F. Boersma, N. Krotkov, and J. Tamminen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 7795–7805, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-7795-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-7795-2014, 2014
C. He, Q. B. Li, K. N. Liou, J. Zhang, L. Qi, Y. Mao, M. Gao, Z. Lu, D. G. Streets, Q. Zhang, M. M. Sarin, and K. Ram
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 7091–7112, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-7091-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-7091-2014, 2014
A. E. Bourassa, D. A. Degenstein, W. J. Randel, J. M. Zawodny, E. Kyrölä, C. A. McLinden, C. E. Sioris, and C. Z. Roth
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 6983–6994, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-6983-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-6983-2014, 2014
F. Yan, E. Winijkul, D. G. Streets, Z. Lu, T. C. Bond, and Y. Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 5709–5733, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-5709-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-5709-2014, 2014
M. Li, Q. Zhang, D. G. Streets, K. B. He, Y. F. Cheng, L. K. Emmons, H. Huo, S. C. Kang, Z. Lu, M. Shao, H. Su, X. Yu, and Y. Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 5617–5638, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-5617-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-5617-2014, 2014
T. Wagner, A. Apituley, S. Beirle, S. Dörner, U. Friess, J. Remmers, and R. Shaiganfar
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 1289–1320, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1289-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1289-2014, 2014
C. A. McLinden, V. Fioletov, K. F. Boersma, S. K. Kharol, N. Krotkov, L. Lamsal, P. A. Makar, R. V. Martin, J. P. Veefkind, and K. Yang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 3637–3656, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-3637-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-3637-2014, 2014
C. E. Sioris, C. A. McLinden, V. E. Fioletov, C. Adams, J. M. Zawodny, A. E. Bourassa, C. Z. Roth, and D. A. Degenstein
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 3479–3496, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-3479-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-3479-2014, 2014
V. Buchard, A. M. da Silva, P. Colarco, N. Krotkov, R. R. Dickerson, J. W. Stehr, G. Mount, E. Spinei, H. L. Arkinson, and H. He
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 1929–1941, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1929-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1929-2014, 2014
C. Liu, S. Beirle, T. Butler, P. Hoor, C. Frankenberg, P. Jöckel, M. Penning de Vries, U. Platt, A. Pozzer, M. G. Lawrence, J. Lelieveld, H. Tost, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 1717–1732, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1717-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1717-2014, 2014
C. Adams, A. E. Bourassa, V. Sofieva, L. Froidevaux, C. A. McLinden, D. Hubert, J.-C. Lambert, C. E. Sioris, and D. A. Degenstein
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 49–64, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-49-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-49-2014, 2014
J. X. Warner, R. Yang, Z. Wei, F. Carminati, A. Tangborn, Z. Sun, W. Lahoz, J.-L. Attié, L. El Amraoui, and B. Duncan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 103–114, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-103-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-103-2014, 2014
J. Liu, D. W. Tarasick, V. E. Fioletov, C. McLinden, T. Zhao, S. Gong, C. Sioris, J. J. Jin, G. Liu, and O. Moeini
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 11441–11464, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-11441-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-11441-2013, 2013
J. Yoon, A. Pozzer, P. Hoor, D. Y. Chang, S. Beirle, T. Wagner, S. Schloegl, J. Lelieveld, and H. M. Worden
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 11307–11316, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-11307-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-11307-2013, 2013
W. Tang, D. S. Cohan, L. N. Lamsal, X. Xiao, and W. Zhou
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 11005–11018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-11005-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-11005-2013, 2013
D. Griffin, K. A. Walker, J. E. Franklin, M. Parrington, C. Whaley, J. Hopper, J. R. Drummond, P. I. Palmer, K. Strong, T. J. Duck, I. Abboud, P. F. Bernath, C. Clerbaux, P.-F. Coheur, K. R. Curry, L. Dan, E. Hyer, J. Kliever, G. Lesins, M. Maurice, A. Saha, K. Tereszchuk, and D. Weaver
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 10227–10241, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-10227-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-10227-2013, 2013
E. J. Bucsela, N. A. Krotkov, E. A. Celarier, L. N. Lamsal, W. H. Swartz, P. K. Bhartia, K. F. Boersma, J. P. Veefkind, J. F. Gleason, and K. E. Pickering
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 2607–2626, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2607-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2607-2013, 2013
T. Wagner, S. Beirle, H. Sihler, and K. Mies
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 2593–2605, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2593-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2593-2013, 2013
P. I. Palmer, M. Parrington, J. D. Lee, A. C. Lewis, A. R. Rickard, P. F. Bernath, T. J. Duck, D. L. Waugh, D. W. Tarasick, S. Andrews, E. Aruffo, L. J. Bailey, E. Barrett, S. J.-B. Bauguitte, K. R. Curry, P. Di Carlo, L. Chisholm, L. Dan, G. Forster, J. E. Franklin, M. D. Gibson, D. Griffin, D. Helmig, J. R. Hopkins, J. T. Hopper, M. E. Jenkin, D. Kindred, J. Kliever, M. Le Breton, S. Matthiesen, M. Maurice, S. Moller, D. P. Moore, D. E. Oram, S. J. O'Shea, R. C. Owen, C. M. L. S. Pagniello, S. Pawson, C. J. Percival, J. R. Pierce, S. Punjabi, R. M. Purvis, J. J. Remedios, K. M. Rotermund, K. M. Sakamoto, A. M. da Silva, K. B. Strawbridge, K. Strong, J. Taylor, R. Trigwell, K. A. Tereszchuk, K. A. Walker, D. Weaver, C. Whaley, and J. C. Young
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 6239–6261, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-6239-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-6239-2013, 2013
C. Adams, A. E. Bourassa, A. F. Bathgate, C. A. McLinden, N. D. Lloyd, C. Z. Roth, E. J. Llewellyn, J. M. Zawodny, D. E. Flittner, G. L. Manney, W. H. Daffer, and D. A. Degenstein
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 1447–1459, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-1447-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-1447-2013, 2013
C. Hörmann, H. Sihler, N. Bobrowski, S. Beirle, M. Penning de Vries, U. Platt, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 4749–4781, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-4749-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-4749-2013, 2013
R. A. Stachnik, L. Millán, R. Jarnot, R. Monroe, C. McLinden, S. Kühl, J. Puķīte, M. Shiotani, M. Suzuki, Y. Kasai, F. Goutail, J. P. Pommereau, M. Dorf, and K. Pfeilsticker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 3307–3319, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-3307-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-3307-2013, 2013
S. Beirle, H. Sihler, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 661–675, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-661-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-661-2013, 2013
J. Wang, S. Park, J. Zeng, C. Ge, K. Yang, S. Carn, N. Krotkov, and A. H. Omar
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 1895–1912, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-1895-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-1895-2013, 2013
J. Z. Ma, S. Beirle, J. L. Jin, R. Shaiganfar, P. Yan, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 1547–1567, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-1547-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-1547-2013, 2013
T. Wagner, M. O. Andreae, S. Beirle, S. Dörner, K. Mies, and R. Shaiganfar
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 131–149, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-131-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-131-2013, 2013
C. Adams, K. Strong, X. Zhao, A. E. Bourassa, W. H. Daffer, D. Degenstein, J. R. Drummond, E. E. Farahani, A. Fraser, N. D. Lloyd, G. L. Manney, C. A. McLinden, M. Rex, C. Roth, S. E. Strahan, K. A. Walker, and I. Wohltmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 611–624, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-611-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-611-2013, 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
We present a novel method to infer CO2 emissions from individual power plants, based on satellite observations of co-emitted NO2. We find that the CO2 emissions estimated by our satellite-based method during 2005–2017 are in reasonable agreement with the CEMS measurements for US power plants. The broader implication of our methodology is that it has the potential to provide an additional constraint on CO2 emissions from power plants in regions of the world without reliable emissions accounting.
We present a novel method to infer CO2 emissions from individual power plants, based on...
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