Articles | Volume 23, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1963-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1963-2023
Research article
 | 
07 Feb 2023
Research article |  | 07 Feb 2023

Characterization of errors in satellite-based HCHO ∕ NO2 tropospheric column ratios with respect to chemistry, column-to-PBL translation, spatial representation, and retrieval uncertainties

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

Related authors

Feasibility of robust estimates of ozone production rates using a synergy of satellite observations, ground-based remote sensing, and models
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
Short summary
Opinion: Beyond global means – novel space-based approaches to indirectly constrain the concentrations of and trends and variations in the tropospheric hydroxyl radical (OH)
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
Short summary
Methane retrieval from MethaneAIR using the CO2 proxy approach: a demonstration for the upcoming MethaneSAT mission
Christopher Chan Miller, Sébastien Roche, Jonas S. Wilzewski, Xiong Liu, Kelly Chance, Amir H. Souri, Eamon Conway, Bingkun Luo, Jenna Samra, Jacob Hawthorne, Kang Sun, Carly Staebell, Apisada Chulakadabba, Maryann Sargent, Joshua S. Benmergui, Jonathan E. Franklin, Bruce C. Daube, Yang Li, Joshua L. Laughner, Bianca C. Baier, Ritesh Gautam, Mark Omara, and Steven C. Wofsy
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5429–5454, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5429-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5429-2024, 2024
Short summary
Enhancing long-term trend simulation of the global tropospheric hydroxyl (TOH) and its drivers from 2005 to 2019: a synergistic integration of model simulations and satellite observations
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
Short summary
Global retrieval of stratospheric and tropospheric BrO columns from the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite Nadir Mapper (OMPS-NM) on board the Suomi-NPP satellite
Heesung Chong, Gonzalo González Abad, Caroline R. Nowlan, Christopher Chan Miller, Alfonso Saiz-Lopez, Rafael P. Fernandez, Hyeong-Ahn Kwon, Zolal Ayazpour, Huiqun Wang, Amir H. Souri, Xiong Liu, Kelly Chance, Ewan O'Sullivan, Jhoon Kim, Ja-Ho Koo, William R. Simpson, François Hendrick, Richard Querel, Glen Jaross, Colin Seftor, and Raid M. Suleiman
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2873–2916, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2873-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2873-2024, 2024
Short summary

Related subject area

Subject: Gases | Research Activity: Remote Sensing | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Chemistry (chemical composition and reactions)
Identifying missing sources and reducing NOx emissions uncertainty over China using daily satellite data and a mass-conserving method
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
Short summary
Feasibility of robust estimates of ozone production rates using a synergy of satellite observations, ground-based remote sensing, and models
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
Short summary
Upper-tropospheric pollutants observed by MIPAS: geographic and seasonal variations
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
Short summary
Comparing space-based to reported carbon monoxide emission estimates for Europe's iron and steel plants
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
Short summary
Unleashing the potential of geostationary satellite observations in air quality forecasting through artificial intelligence techniques
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
Short summary

Cited articles

Boeke, N. L., Marshall, J. D., Alvarez, S., Chance, K. V., Fried, A., Kurosu, T. P., Rappenglück, B., Richter, D., Walega, J., Weibring, P., and Millet, D. B.: Formaldehyde columns from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument: Urban versus background levels and evaluation using aircraft data and a global model, J. Geophys. Res., 116, D05303, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JD014870, 2011. 
Boersma, K. F., Eskes, H. J., and Brinksma, E. J.: Error analysis for tropospheric NO2 retrieval from space, J. Geophys. Res., 109, D04311, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JD003962, 2004. 
Boersma, K. F., Eskes, H. J., Veefkind, J. P., Brinksma, E. J., van der A, R. J., Sneep, M., van den Oord, G. H. J., Levelt, P. F., Stammes, P., Gleason, J. F., and Bucsela, E. J.: Near-real time retrieval of tropospheric NO2 from OMI, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 7, 2103–2118, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-7-2103-2007, 2007. 
Boersma, K. F., Eskes, H. J., Richter, A., De Smedt, I., Lorente, A., Beirle, S., van Geffen, J. H. G. M., Zara, M., Peters, E., Van Roozendael, M., Wagner, T., Maasakkers, J. D., van der A, R. J., Nightingale, J., De Rudder, A., Irie, H., Pinardi, G., Lambert, J.-C., and Compernolle, S. C.: Improving algorithms and uncertainty estimates for satellite NO2 retrievals: results from the quality assurance for the essential climate variables (QA4ECV) project, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 6651–6678, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-6651-2018, 2018. 
Download
Short summary
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.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint