Articles | Volume 23, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5945-2023
© Author(s) 2023. 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-23-5945-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
31 May 2023
Research article |
| 31 May 2023
| 31 May 2023
Satellite quantification of methane emissions and oil–gas methane intensities from individual countries in the Middle East and North Africa: implications for climate action
Zichong Chen
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University,
Cambridge, MA, USA
Daniel J. Jacob
John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University,
Cambridge, MA, USA
Ritesh Gautam
Environmental Defense Fund, Washington, DC, USA
Mark Omara
Environmental Defense Fund, Austin, TX, USA
Robert N. Stavins
John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge,
MA, USA
Robert C. Stowe
John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge,
MA, USA
Hannah Nesser
John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University,
Cambridge, MA, USA
Melissa P. Sulprizio
John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University,
Cambridge, MA, USA
Alba Lorente
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Leiden, the Netherlands
Daniel J. Varon
John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University,
Cambridge, MA, USA
School of Atmospheric Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai,
Guangdong, China
Lu Shen
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics,
Peking University, Beijing, China
John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University,
Cambridge, MA, USA
Drew C. Pendergrass
John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University,
Cambridge, MA, USA
Sarah Hancock
John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University,
Cambridge, MA, USA
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John Worden, Sudhanshu Pandey, Hannah Nesser, Kevin Bowman, Colin Harkins, Congmeng Lyu, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Deborah Gordon, Daniel Jacob, Lucas Estrada, Daniel J. Varon, James D. East, Lauren Schmeisser, and Zhen Qu
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Lucas A. Estrada, Daniel J. Jacob, Megan He, James D. East, Daniel J. Varon, Nicholas Balasus, Sarah E. Hancock, Melissa Sulprizio, Kevin W. Bowman, John R. Worden, Emily Reidy, and Benjamin R. K. Runkle
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Srijana Lama, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Xin Zhang, Marianne Girard, Swarna Dutt, Suyash Nandgaonkar, Daniel J. Varon, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Lucas A. Estrada, Nicholas Balasus, Robert J. Parker, Yukio Terao, and Ilse Aben
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Sarah E. Hancock, Daniel J. Jacob, Rodrigo Jimenez, Andrés Ardila, Luis Morales-Rincon, Néstor Rojas, Lucas A. Estrada, Nicholas Balasus, James D. East, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Xiaolin Wang, James L. France, Lauren Potyk, Elise Penn, Zichong Chen, Daniel J. Varon, Christian Frankenberg, Marci Baranski, Andreea Calcan, and Robert J. Parker
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Zhan Zhang, Maryann Sargent, Jack D. Warren, Apisada Chulakadabba, Marcus Russi, Sasha Ayvazov, Joshua Benmergui, Marvin Knapp, Ethan Kyzivat, Christopher C. Miller, Sébastien Roche, Bingkun Luo, David J. Miller, Maya Nasr, Kang Sun, James P. Williams, Katlyn MacKay, Mark Omara, Luis Guanter, Ritesh Gautam, Jonathan Franklin, Xiong Liu, and Steven C. Wofsy
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Katlyn MacKay, Joshua Benmergui, James P. Williams, Mark Omara, Anthony Himmelberger, Maryann Sargent, Jack D. Warren, Christopher C. Miller, Sébastien Roche, Zhan Zhang, Jonathan Franklin, Luis Guanter, Steven Wofsy, and Ritesh Gautam
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 1179–1192, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-1179-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-1179-2026, 2026
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Tia R. Scarpelli, Elfie Roy, Daniel J. Jacob, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Ryan D. Tate, and Daniel H. Cusworth
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 7019–7033, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-7019-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-7019-2025, 2025
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Fan Sun, Yu Cui, Jiayin Su, Mark W. Shephard, Shailesh K. Kharol, Yifan Zhang, Xuejing Shi, Junqing Zhang, Huili Liu, Qitao Xiao, Xiao Lu, Zhao-Cheng Zeng, Timothy J. Griffis, and Cheng Hu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 17907–17932, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-17907-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-17907-2025, 2025
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Haolin Wang, William Maslanka, Paul I. Palmer, Martin J. Wooster, Haofan Wang, Fei Yao, Liang Feng, Kai Wu, Xiao Lu, and Shaojia Fan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 17501–17526, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-17501-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-17501-2025, 2025
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We examine the impact of diurnally varying African biomass burning (BB) emissions on tropospheric ozone using GEOS-Chem simulations with a high-resolution satellite-derived emission inventory. Compared to coarser temporal resolutions, incorporating diurnal variations leads to significant changes in surface ozone and atmospheric oxidation capacity. Our findings highlight the importance of accurately representing BB emission timing in chemical transport models to improve ozone predictions.
Hannah Nesser, Kevin W. Bowman, Matthew D. Thill, Daniel J. Varon, Cynthia A. Randles, Ashutosh Tewari, Felipe J. Cardoso-Saldaña, Emily Reidy, Joannes D. Maasakkers, and Daniel J. Jacob
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Regional analyses of atmospheric trace gases can improve knowledge of fluxes at high resolution but rely on specified boundary conditions (BCs) at the domain edges. Biases in the often-uncertain BCs propagate to the inferred fluxes. We develop a framework to explain how errors in the BCs influence the optimized fluxes, derive two metrics to estimate this influence, and compare two methods to correct for the biases. We demonstrate correcting BCs directly is more effective at reducing bias.
Hantao Wang, Kazuyuki Miyazaki, Haitong Zhe Sun, Zhen Qu, Xiang Liu, Antje Inness, Martin Schultz, Sabine Schröder, Marc Serre, and J. Jason West
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 15969–15990, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-15969-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-15969-2025, 2025
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We use data from both aircraft (MethaneAIR) and satellite (TROPOMI) based measurements of methane in the atmosphere to better understand methane emissions from fossil fuel extraction. Data from these instruments are combined with a computer model of the atmosphere to improve estimates of methane emissions. We find that combining data from multiple sources provides more information than either source on its own. The tools and data we use are freely available.
Sina Voshtani, Dylan B. A. Jones, Debra Wunch, Drew C. Pendergrass, Paul O. Wennberg, David F. Pollard, Isamu Morino, Hirofumi Ohyama, Nicholas M. Deutscher, Frank Hase, Ralf Sussmann, Damien Weidmann, Rigel Kivi, Omaira García, Yao Té, Jack Chen, Kerry Anderson, Robin Stevens, Shobha Kondragunta, Aihua Zhu, Douglas Worthy, Senen Racki, Kathryn McKain, Maria V. Makarova, Nicholas Jones, Emmanuel Mahieu, Andrea Cadena-Caicedo, Paolo Cristofanelli, Casper Labuschagne, Elena Kozlova, Thomas Seitz, Martin Steinbacher, Reza Mahdi, and Isao Murata
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 15527–15565, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-15527-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-15527-2025, 2025
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We assess the complementarity of the greater temporal coverage provided by ground-based remote sensing data with the spatial coverage of satellite observations when these data are used together to quantify CO emissions from extreme wildfires in 2023. Our results reveal that the commonly used biomass burning emission inventories significantly underestimate the fire emissions and emphasize the importance of the ground-based remote sensing data in reducing uncertainties in the estimated emissions.
Drew C. Pendergrass, Daniel J. Jacob, Nicholas Balasus, Lucas Estrada, Daniel J. Varon, James D. East, Megan He, Todd A. Mooring, Elise Penn, Hannah Nesser, and John R. Worden
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 14353–14369, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-14353-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-14353-2025, 2025
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We use satellite observations of atmospheric methane, a greenhouse gas, to calculate emissions from both human and natural sources. We find that methane emissions surged in 2020–2021 before declining in 2022–2023. We attribute the surge in large part to emissions from eastern Africa, which experienced large methane-generating floods. Wetland models underestimate emissions in that region, which has led some previous work to incorrectly attribute the African surge in methane emissions to livestock.
Jeewoo Lee, Jhoon Kim, Seoyoung Lee, Myungje Choi, Jaehwa Lee, Daniel J. Jacob, Su Keun Kuk, and Young-Je Park
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 5761–5782, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-5761-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-5761-2025, 2025
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Atmospheric aerosols adversely affect human health, with East Asia recognized as one of the most impacted regions. This study presents a long-term (2011–2021), high spatiotemporal resolution aerosol optical depth dataset retrieved from a geostationary satellite over East Asia. The high-resolution data capture subtle aerosol gradients and land-ocean boundaries, providing valuable input for various fields such as aerosol-cloud interaction, climate change, ocean optics, and air quality studies.
Jingyu Li, Haolin Wang, Qi Fan, and Xiao Lu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 12983–13006, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-12983-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-12983-2025, 2025
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We use multiple global chemical models to quantify processes contributing to the ozone response to ENSO (El Niño–Southern Oscillation). We find that changes in transport patterns are the dominant factor in the overall ozone–ENSO responses, with the opposing effects of chemical depletion and increased biomass burning on ozone largely offsetting each other. Models consistently project an increase in tropical ozone–ENSO response associated with strengthening anomalous circulation and more abundant water vapor with global warming.
Ke Li, Rong Tan, Wenhao Qiao, Taegyung Lee, Yufen Wang, Danyuting Zhang, Minglong Tang, Wenqing Zhao, Yixuan Gu, Shaojia Fan, Jinqiang Zhang, Xiaopu Lyu, Likun Xue, Jianming Xu, Zhiqiang Ma, Mohd Talib Latif, Teerachai Amnuaylojaroen, Junsu Gil, Mee-Hye Lee, Juseon Bak, Joowan Kim, Hong Liao, Yugo Kanaya, Xiao Lu, Tatsuya Nagashima, and Ja-Ho Koo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 11575–11596, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-11575-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-11575-2025, 2025
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East Asia and Southeast Asia have been identified as a global hot spot, with the fastest ozone increase. This paper presents the most comprehensive observational review of ozone distributions and evolution over East Asia and Southeast Asia across different spatiotemporal scales in the past two decades, which will have important implications for assessing ozone impacts on public health and crop yields and for developing future ozone control strategies.
Jack D. Warren, Maryann Sargent, James P. Williams, Mark Omara, Christopher C. Miller, Sebastien Roche, Katlyn MacKay, Ethan Manninen, Apisada Chulakadabba, Anthony Himmelberger, Joshua Benmergui, Zhan Zhang, Luis Guanter, Steve Wofsy, and Ritesh Gautam
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 10661–10675, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-10661-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-10661-2025, 2025
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Mitigating anthropogenic methane emissions requires a detailed understanding of emitting facilities. We use observations of methane point sources from the MethaneAIR instrument from 2021–2023 that covered ~80 % of US onshore oil and gas production regions. We attribute these observations to facility types to explore how emissions vary by industrial sectors. Oil and gas facilities make up most point source emissions nationally, but in certain basins other sectors can make up the majority.
Luis Guanter, Jack Warren, Mark Omara, Apisada Chulakadabba, Javier Roger, Maryann Sargent, Jonathan E. Franklin, Steven C. Wofsy, and Ritesh Gautam
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 3857–3872, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-3857-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-3857-2025, 2025
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This study presents a data processing scheme for the detection and quantification of methane emissions using the MethaneAIR airborne spectrometer. We show that the proposed methods enable the detection of smaller plumes (compared with those detectable using other existing methods) and improve the potential of MethaneAIR to survey methane point sources across large regions.
Xiao Lu, Yiming Liu, Jiayin Su, Xiang Weng, Tabish Ansari, Yuqiang Zhang, Guowen He, Yuqi Zhu, Haolin Wang, Ganquan Zeng, Jingyu Li, Cheng He, Shuai Li, Teerachai Amnuaylojaroen, Tim Butler, Qi Fan, Shaojia Fan, Grant L. Forster, Meng Gao, Jianlin Hu, Yugo Kanaya, Mohd Talib Latif, Keding Lu, Philippe Nédélec, Peer Nowack, Bastien Sauvage, Xiaobin Xu, Lin Zhang, Ke Li, Ja-Ho Koo, and Tatsuya Nagashima
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 7991–8028, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7991-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7991-2025, 2025
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This study analyzes summertime ozone trends in East and Southeast Asia derived from a comprehensive observational database spanning from 1995 to 2019, incorporating aircraft observations, ozonesonde data, and measurements from 2500 surface sites. Multiple models are applied to attribute to changes in anthropogenic emissions and climate. The results highlight that increases in anthropogenic emissions are the primary driver of ozone increases both in the free troposphere and at the surface.
Zhenda Sun, Hao Yin, Zhongfeng Pan, Chongyang Li, Xiao Lu, Ke Liu, Youwen Sun, and Cheng Liu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6823–6842, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6823-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6823-2025, 2025
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This study investigates the variability and driving forces of transboundary CO transport flux over the Tibetan Plateau from May 2018 to April 2024. During this period, external CO influx increased by 2.86 Tg yr-1, while internal efflux slightly declined by 1.70 Tg yr-1. The rising influx in recent years is likely linked to the rapid increase in CO concentrations from South Asia.
Lucas A. Estrada, Daniel J. Varon, Melissa Sulprizio, Hannah Nesser, Zichong Chen, Nicholas Balasus, Sarah E. Hancock, Megan He, James D. East, Todd A. Mooring, Alexander Oort Alonso, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Ilse Aben, Sabour Baray, Kevin W. Bowman, John R. Worden, Felipe J. Cardoso-Saldaña, Emily Reidy, and Daniel J. Jacob
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 3311–3330, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-3311-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-3311-2025, 2025
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Reducing emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, is a top policy concern for mitigating anthropogenic climate change. The Integrated Methane Inversion (IMI) is an advanced, cloud-based software that translates satellite observations into actionable emissions data. Here we present IMI version 2.0 with vastly expanded capabilities. These updates enable a wider range of scientific and stakeholder applications from individual basin to global scales with continuous emissions monitoring.
Haofan Wang, Yuejin Li, Yiming Liu, Xiao Lu, Yang Zhang, Qi Fan, Chong Shen, Senchao Lai, Yan Zhou, Tao Zhang, and Dingli Yue
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5233–5250, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5233-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5233-2025, 2025
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This study explores how urban green spaces (UGSs) in Guangzhou influence ozone levels. By using advanced models, we found that natural emissions from these areas can significantly affect air quality. Our results suggest that the design and planning of UGSs should not only consider aesthetics and social factors but also their environmental impacts on air quality.
Shutao Zhao, Yuzhong Zhang, Shuang Zhao, Xinlu Wang, and Daniel J. Varon
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4035–4052, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4035-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4035-2025, 2025
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We target the challenge of detecting methane super-emitters in oil and gas fields, which is critical for mitigating climate change. Traditional satellite-based detectors struggle due to interference from complex surfaces. We developed a novel method using deep transfer learning that improves detection efficiency and accuracy by reducing artifacts and adapting methane knowledge to different regions. Application revealed significant methane emissions, demonstrating the potential of our method.
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.
Shuai Li, Haolin Wang, and Xiao Lu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2725–2743, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2725-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2725-2025, 2025
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Summertime ozone–temperature sensitivity has decreased by 50 % from 3.0 ppbv per K in 1990 to 1.5 ppb per K in 2021 in the US. GEOS-Chem simulations show that anthropogenic nitrogen oxide emission reduction is the dominant driver of ozone–temperature sensitivity decline by influencing both temperature direct and temperature indirect processes. Reduced ozone–temperature sensitivity has decreased ozone enhancement from low to high temperatures by an average of 6.8 ppbv across the US.
Takashi Sekiya, Emanuele Emili, Kazuyuki Miyazaki, Antje Inness, Zhen Qu, R. Bradley Pierce, Dylan Jones, Helen Worden, William Y. Y. Cheng, Vincent Huijnen, and Gerbrand Koren
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2243–2268, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2243-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2243-2025, 2025
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Five global chemical reanalysis datasets were used to assess the relative impacts of assimilating satellite ozone and its precursor measurements on tropospheric ozone analyses for 2010. The multiple reanalysis system comparison allows an evaluation of the dependency of the impacts on different reanalysis systems. The results suggested the importance of satellite ozone and its precursor measurements for improving ozone analysis in the whole troposphere, with varying magnitudes among the systems.
James P. Williams, Mark Omara, Anthony Himmelberger, Daniel Zavala-Araiza, Katlyn MacKay, Joshua Benmergui, Maryann Sargent, Steven C. Wofsy, Steven P. Hamburg, and Ritesh Gautam
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1513–1532, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1513-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1513-2025, 2025
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We utilize peer-reviewed facility-level oil and gas methane emission rate data gathered in prior work to estimate the relative contributions of methane sources emitting at different emission rates in the United States. We find that the majority of total methane emissions in the US oil and gas sector stem from a large number of small sources emitting in aggregate, corroborating findings from several other studies.
Sarah E. Hancock, Daniel J. Jacob, Zichong Chen, Hannah Nesser, Aaron Davitt, Daniel J. Varon, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Nicholas Balasus, Lucas A. Estrada, María Cazorla, Laura Dawidowski, Sebastián Diez, James D. East, Elise Penn, Cynthia A. Randles, John Worden, Ilse Aben, Robert J. Parker, and Joannes D. Maasakkers
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 797–817, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-797-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-797-2025, 2025
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We quantify 2021 methane emissions in South America at up to 25 km × 25 km resolution using satellite methane observations. We find a 55 % upward adjustment to anthropogenic emission inventories, including those reported to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change under the Paris Agreement. Our estimates match inventories for Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay but are much higher for other countries. Livestock emissions (65 % of anthropogenic emissions) show the largest discrepancies.
Zhu Ran, Yanan Hu, Yuanzhe Li, Xiaoya Gao, Can Ye, Shuai Li, Xiao Lu, Yongming Luo, Sasho Gligorovski, and Jiangping Liu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11943–11954, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11943-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11943-2024, 2024
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We report enhanced formation of nitrous acid (HONO) and NOx (NO + NO2) triggered by iron ions during photolysis of neonicotinoid insecticides at the air–water interface. This novel previously overlooked source of atmospheric HONO and NOx may be an important contribution to the global nitrogen cycle and affects atmospheric oxidizing capacity and climate change.
Siting Li, Yiming Liu, Yuqi Zhu, Yinbao Jin, Yingying Hong, Ao Shen, Yifei Xu, Haofan Wang, Haichao Wang, Xiao Lu, Shaojia Fan, and Qi Fan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11521–11544, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11521-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11521-2024, 2024
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This study establishes an inventory of anthropogenic chlorine emissions in China in 2019 with expanded species (HCl, Cl-, Cl2, HOCl) and sources (41 specific sources). The inventory is validated by a modeling study against the observations. This study enhances the understanding of anthropogenic chlorine emissions in the atmosphere, identifies key sources, and provides scientific support for pollution control and climate change.
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
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MethaneSAT is an upcoming satellite mission designed to monitor methane emissions from the oil and gas (O&G) industry globally. Here, we present observations from the first flight campaign of MethaneAIR, a MethaneSAT-like instrument mounted on an aircraft. MethaneAIR can map methane with high precision and accuracy over a typically sized oil and gas basin (~200 km2) in a single flight. This paper demonstrates the capability of the upcoming satellite to routinely track global O&G emissions.
Mark Omara, Anthony Himmelberger, Katlyn MacKay, James P. Williams, Joshua Benmergui, Maryann Sargent, Steven C. Wofsy, and Ritesh Gautam
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 3973–3991, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3973-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3973-2024, 2024
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We review, analyze, and synthesize previous peer-reviewed measurement-based data on facility-level oil and gas methane emissions and use these data to develop a high-resolution spatially explicit inventory of US basin-level and national methane emissions. This work provides an improved assessment of national methane emissions relative to government inventories in support of accurate and comprehensive methane emissions assessment, attribution, and mitigation.
Yujin J. Oak, Daniel J. Jacob, Nicholas Balasus, Laura H. Yang, Heesung Chong, Junsung Park, Hanlim Lee, Gitaek T. Lee, Eunjo S. Ha, Rokjin J. Park, Hyeong-Ahn Kwon, and Jhoon Kim
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5147–5159, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5147-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5147-2024, 2024
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We present an improved NO2 product from GEMS by calibrating it to TROPOMI using machine learning and by reprocessing both satellite products to adopt common NO2 profiles. Our corrected GEMS product combines the high data density of GEMS with the accuracy of TROPOMI, supporting the combined use for analyses of East Asia air quality including emissions and chemistry. This method can be extended to other species and geostationary satellites including TEMPO and Sentinel-4.
Haipeng Lin, Louisa K. Emmons, Elizabeth W. Lundgren, Laura Hyesung Yang, Xu Feng, Ruijun Dang, Shixian Zhai, Yunxiao Tang, Makoto M. Kelp, Nadia K. Colombi, Sebastian D. Eastham, Thibaud M. Fritz, and Daniel J. Jacob
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8607–8624, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8607-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8607-2024, 2024
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Tropospheric ozone is a major air pollutant, a greenhouse gas, and a major indicator of model skill. Global atmospheric chemistry models show large differences in simulations of tropospheric ozone, but isolating sources of differences is complicated by different model environments. By implementing the GEOS-Chem model side by side to CAM-chem within a common Earth system model, we identify and evaluate specific differences between the two models and their impacts on key chemical species.
Laura Hyesung Yang, Daniel J. Jacob, Ruijun Dang, Yujin J. Oak, Haipeng Lin, Jhoon Kim, Shixian Zhai, Nadia K. Colombi, Drew C. Pendergrass, Ellie Beaudry, Viral Shah, Xu Feng, Robert M. Yantosca, Heesung Chong, Junsung Park, Hanlim Lee, Won-Jin Lee, Soontae Kim, Eunhye Kim, Katherine R. Travis, James H. Crawford, and Hong Liao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7027–7039, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7027-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7027-2024, 2024
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The Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) provides hourly measurements of NO2. We use the chemical transport model to find how emissions, chemistry, and transport drive the changes in NO2 observed by GEMS at different times of the day. In winter, the chemistry plays a minor role, and high daytime emissions dominate the diurnal variation in NO2, balanced by transport. In summer, emissions, chemistry, and transport play an important role in shaping the diurnal variation in NO2.
Brian Nathan, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Stijn Naus, Ritesh Gautam, Mark Omara, Daniel J. Varon, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Lucas A. Estrada, Alba Lorente, Tobias Borsdorff, Robert J. Parker, and Ilse Aben
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6845–6863, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6845-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6845-2024, 2024
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Venezuela's Lake Maracaibo region is notoriously hard to observe from space and features intensive oil exploitation, although production has strongly decreased in recent years. We estimate methane emissions using 2018–2020 TROPOMI satellite observations with national and regional transport models. Despite the production decrease, we find relatively constant emissions from Lake Maracaibo between 2018 and 2020, indicating that there could be large emissions from abandoned infrastructure.
Drew C. Pendergrass, Daniel J. Jacob, Yujin J. Oak, Jeewoo Lee, Minseok Kim, Jhoon Kim, Seoyoung Lee, Shixian Zhai, Hitoshi Irie, and Hong Liao
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-172, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-172, 2024
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Fine particles suspended in the atmosphere are a major form of air pollution and an important public health burden. However, measurements of particulate matter are sparse in space and in places like East Asia monitors are established after regulatory policies to improve pollution have changed. In this paper, we use machine learning to fill in the gaps. We train an algorithm to predict pollution at the surface from the atmosphere’s opacity, then produce high resolution maps of data without gaps.
Matthieu Dogniaux, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Daniel J. Varon, and Ilse Aben
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2777–2787, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2777-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2777-2024, 2024
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We analyze Landsat 8 (L8) and Sentinel-2B (S-2B) observations of the 2022 Nord Stream 2 methane leak and show how challenging this case is for usual data analysis methods. We provide customized calibrations for this Nord Stream 2 case and assess that no firm conclusion can be drawn from L8 or S-2B single overpasses. However, if we opportunistically assume that L8 and S-2B results are independent, we find an averaged L8 and S-2B combined methane leak rate of 502 ± 464 t h−1.
Jack H. Bruno, Dylan Jervis, Daniel J. Varon, and Daniel J. Jacob
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2625–2636, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2625-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2625-2024, 2024
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Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and a current high-priority target for short- to mid-term climate change mitigation. Detection of individual methane emitters from space has become possible in recent years, and the volume of data for this task has been rapidly growing, outpacing processing capabilities. We introduce an automated approach, U-Plume, which can detect and quantify emissions from individual methane sources in high-spatial-resolution satellite data.
Hannah Nesser, Daniel J. Jacob, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Alba Lorente, Zichong Chen, Xiao Lu, Lu Shen, Zhen Qu, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Margaux Winter, Shuang Ma, A. Anthony Bloom, John R. Worden, Robert N. Stavins, and Cynthia A. Randles
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5069–5091, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5069-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5069-2024, 2024
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We quantify 2019 methane emissions in the contiguous US (CONUS) at a ≈ 25 km × 25 km resolution using satellite methane observations. We find a 13 % upward correction to the 2023 US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory (GHGI) for 2019, with large corrections to individual states, urban areas, and landfills. This may present a challenge for US climate policies and goals, many of which target significant reductions in methane emissions.
Piyushkumar N. Patel, Jonathan H. Jiang, Ritesh Gautam, Harish Gadhavi, Olga Kalashnikova, Michael J. Garay, Lan Gao, Feng Xu, and Ali Omar
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2861–2883, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2861-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2861-2024, 2024
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Global measurements of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) are essential for understanding aerosol–cloud interactions and predicting climate change. To address this gap, we introduced a remote sensing algorithm that retrieves vertically resolved CCN number concentrations from airborne and spaceborne lidar systems. This innovation offers a global distribution of CCN concentrations from space, facilitating model evaluation and precise quantification of aerosol climate forcing.
Sebastian D. Eastham, Guillaume P. Chossière, Raymond L. Speth, Daniel J. Jacob, and Steven R. H. Barrett
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2687–2703, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2687-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2687-2024, 2024
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Emissions from aircraft are known to cause air quality impacts worldwide, but the scale and mechanisms of this impact are not well understood. This work uses high-resolution computational modeling of the atmosphere to show that air pollution changes from aviation are mostly the result of emissions during cruise (high-altitude) operations, that these impacts are related to how much non-aviation pollution is present, and that prior regional assessments have underestimated these impacts.
Yiming Wang, Haolin Wang, Yujie Qin, Xinqi Xu, Guowen He, Nanxi Liu, Shengjie Miao, Xiao Lu, Haichao Wang, and Shaojia Fan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2267–2285, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2267-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2267-2024, 2024
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We conducted a vertical measurement of winter PM2.5 using a mobile multi-lidar system in four cities. Combined with the surface PM2.5 data, the ERA5 reanalysis data, and GEOS-Chem simulations during Dec 2018–Feb 2019, we found that transport nocturnal PM2.5 enhancement by subsidence (T-NPES) events widely occurred with high frequencies in plains regions in eastern China but happened less often in basin regions like Xi’an and Chengdu. We propose a conceptual model of the T-NPES events.
Kelvin H. Bates, Mathew J. Evans, Barron H. Henderson, and Daniel J. Jacob
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 1511–1524, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-1511-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-1511-2024, 2024
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Accurate representation of rates and products of chemical reactions in atmospheric models is crucial for simulating concentrations of pollutants and climate forcers. We update the widely used GEOS-Chem atmospheric chemistry model with reaction parameters from recent compilations of experimental data and demonstrate the implications for key atmospheric chemical species. The updates decrease tropospheric CO mixing ratios and increase stratospheric nitrogen oxide mixing ratios, among other changes.
Yinbao Jin, Yiming Liu, Xiao Lu, Xiaoyang Chen, Ao Shen, Haofan Wang, Yinping Cui, Yifei Xu, Siting Li, Jian Liu, Ming Zhang, Yingying Ma, and Qi Fan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 367–395, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-367-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-367-2024, 2024
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This study aims to address these issues by evaluating eight independent biomass burning (BB) emission inventories (GFED, FINN1.5, FINN2.5 MOS, FINN2.5 MOSVIS, GFAS, FEER, QFED, and IS4FIRES) using the WRF-Chem model and analyzing their impact on aerosol optical properties (AOPs) and direct radiative forcing (DRF) during wildfire events in peninsular Southeast Asia (PSEA) that occurred in March 2019.
Apisada Chulakadabba, Maryann Sargent, Thomas Lauvaux, Joshua S. Benmergui, Jonathan E. Franklin, Christopher Chan Miller, Jonas S. Wilzewski, Sébastien Roche, Eamon Conway, Amir H. Souri, Kang Sun, Bingkun Luo, Jacob Hawthrone, Jenna Samra, Bruce C. Daube, Xiong Liu, Kelly Chance, Yang Li, Ritesh Gautam, Mark Omara, Jeff S. Rutherford, Evan D. Sherwin, Adam Brandt, and Steven C. Wofsy
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5771–5785, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5771-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5771-2023, 2023
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We show that MethaneAIR, a precursor to the MethaneSAT satellite, demonstrates accurate point source quantification during controlled release experiments and regional observations in 2021 and 2022. Results from our two independent quantification methods suggest the accuracy of our sensor and algorithms is better than 25 % for sources emitting 200 kg h−1 or more. Insights from these measurements help establish the capabilities of MethaneSAT and MethaneAIR.
Guowen He, Cheng He, Haofan Wang, Xiao Lu, Chenglei Pei, Xiaonuan Qiu, Chenxi Liu, Yiming Wang, Nanxi Liu, Jinpu Zhang, Lei Lei, Yiming Liu, Haichao Wang, Tao Deng, Qi Fan, and Shaojia Fan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13107–13124, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13107-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13107-2023, 2023
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We analyze nighttime ozone in the lower boundary layer (up to 500 m) from the 2017–2019 measurements at the Canton Tower and the WRF-CMAQ model. We identify a strong ability of the residual layer to store daytime ozone in the convective mixing layer, investigate the chemical and meteorological factors controlling nighttime ozone in the residual layer, and quantify the contribution of nighttime ozone in the residual layer to both the nighttime and the following day’s surface ozone air quality.
Berend J. Schuit, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Pieter Bijl, Gourav Mahapatra, Anne-Wil van den Berg, Sudhanshu Pandey, Alba Lorente, Tobias Borsdorff, Sander Houweling, Daniel J. Varon, Jason McKeever, Dylan Jervis, Marianne Girard, Itziar Irakulis-Loitxate, Javier Gorroño, Luis Guanter, Daniel H. Cusworth, and Ilse Aben
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9071–9098, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9071-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9071-2023, 2023
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Using two machine learning models, which were trained on TROPOMI methane satellite data, we detect 2974 methane plumes, so-called super-emitters, in 2021. We detect methane emissions globally related to urban areas or landfills, coal mining, and oil and gas production. Using our monitoring system, we identify 94 regions with frequent emissions. For 12 locations, we target high-resolution satellite instruments to enlarge and identify the exact infrastructure responsible for the emissions.
Drew C. Pendergrass, Daniel J. Jacob, Hannah Nesser, Daniel J. Varon, Melissa Sulprizio, Kazuyuki Miyazaki, and Kevin W. Bowman
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 4793–4810, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-4793-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-4793-2023, 2023
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We have built a tool called CHEEREIO that allows scientists to use observations of pollutants or gases in the atmosphere, such as from satellites or surface stations, to update supercomputer models that simulate the Earth. CHEEREIO uses the difference between the model simulations of the atmosphere and real-world observations to come up with a good guess for the actual composition of our atmosphere, the true emissions of various pollutants, and whatever else they may want to study.
Mark Omara, Ritesh Gautam, Madeleine A. O'Brien, Anthony Himmelberger, Alex Franco, Kelsey Meisenhelder, Grace Hauser, David R. Lyon, Apisada Chulakadabba, Christopher Chan Miller, Jonathan Franklin, Steven C. Wofsy, and Steven P. Hamburg
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 3761–3790, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3761-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3761-2023, 2023
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We acquire, integrate, and analyze ~ 6 million geospatial oil and gas infrastructure data records based on information available in the public domain and develop an open-access global database including all the major oil and gas facility types that are important sources of methane emissions. This work helps fulfill a crucial geospatial data need, in support of the assessment, attribution, and mitigation of global oil and gas methane emissions at high resolution.
Nicholas Balasus, Daniel J. Jacob, Alba Lorente, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Robert J. Parker, Hartmut Boesch, Zichong Chen, Makoto M. Kelp, Hannah Nesser, and Daniel J. Varon
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3787–3807, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3787-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3787-2023, 2023
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We use machine learning to remove biases in TROPOMI satellite observations of atmospheric methane, with GOSAT observations serving as a reference. We find that the TROPOMI biases relative to GOSAT are related to the presence of aerosols and clouds, the surface brightness, and the specific detector that makes the observation aboard TROPOMI. The resulting blended TROPOMI+GOSAT product is more reliable for quantifying methane emissions.
Haofan Wang, Jiaxin Qiu, Yiming Liu, Qi Fan, Xiao Lu, Yang Zhang, Kai Wu, Ao Shen, Yifei Xu, Yinbao Jin, Yuqi Zhu, Jiayin Sun, and Haolin Wang
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1309, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1309, 2023
Preprint withdrawn
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This tool improves existing methods by providing temporal and species allocation modules and enabling emission file generation in advance for any time period. The tool is also capable of vertical plane distribution for high altitude emissions and accurately tracks road-related emissions, an area overlooked by other tools. It utilizes 50 % of the CPU capacity for efficient parallel processing during allocation.
Hejun Hu, Haichao Wang, Keding Lu, Jie Wang, Zelong Zheng, Xuezhen Xu, Tianyu Zhai, Xiaorui Chen, Xiao Lu, Wenxing Fu, Xin Li, Limin Zeng, Min Hu, Yuanhang Zhang, and Shaojia Fan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8211–8223, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8211-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8211-2023, 2023
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Nitrate radical chemistry is critical to the degradation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and secondary organic aerosol formation. This work investigated the level, seasonal variation, and trend of nitrate radical reactivity towards volatile organic compounds (kNO3) in Beijing. We show the key role of isoprene and styrene in regulating seasonal variation in kNO3 and rebuild a long-term record of kNO3 based on the reported VOC measurements.
Ruosi Liang, Yuzhong Zhang, Wei Chen, Peixuan Zhang, Jingran Liu, Cuihong Chen, Huiqin Mao, Guofeng Shen, Zhen Qu, Zichong Chen, Minqiang Zhou, Pucai Wang, Robert J. Parker, Hartmut Boesch, Alba Lorente, Joannes D. Maasakkers, and Ilse Aben
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8039–8057, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8039-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8039-2023, 2023
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We compare and evaluate East Asian methane emissions inferred from different satellite observations (GOSAT and TROPOMI). The results show discrepancies over northern India and eastern China. Independent ground-based observations are more consistent with TROPOMI-derived emissions in northern India and GOSAT-derived emissions in eastern China.
Daniel J. Varon, Daniel J. Jacob, Benjamin Hmiel, Ritesh Gautam, David R. Lyon, Mark Omara, Melissa Sulprizio, Lu Shen, Drew Pendergrass, Hannah Nesser, Zhen Qu, Zachary R. Barkley, Natasha L. Miles, Scott J. Richardson, Kenneth J. Davis, Sudhanshu Pandey, Xiao Lu, Alba Lorente, Tobias Borsdorff, Joannes D. Maasakkers, and Ilse Aben
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7503–7520, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7503-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7503-2023, 2023
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We use TROPOMI satellite observations to quantify weekly methane emissions from the US Permian oil and gas basin from May 2018 to October 2020. We find that Permian emissions are highly variable, with diverse economic and activity drivers. The most important drivers during our study period were new well development and natural gas price. Permian methane intensity averaged 4.6 % and decreased by 1 % per year.
Ruijun Dang, Daniel J. Jacob, Viral Shah, Sebastian D. Eastham, Thibaud M. Fritz, Loretta J. Mickley, Tianjia Liu, Yi Wang, and Jun Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 6271–6284, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6271-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6271-2023, 2023
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We use the GEOS-Chem model to better understand the magnitude and trend in free tropospheric NO2 over the contiguous US. Model underestimate of background NO2 is largely corrected by considering aerosol nitrate photolysis. Increase in aircraft emissions affects satellite retrievals by altering the NO2 shape factor, and this effect is expected to increase in future. We show the importance of properly accounting for the free tropospheric background in interpreting NO2 observations from space.
Shixian Zhai, Daniel J. Jacob, Drew C. Pendergrass, Nadia K. Colombi, Viral Shah, Laura Hyesung Yang, Qiang Zhang, Shuxiao Wang, Hwajin Kim, Yele Sun, Jin-Soo Choi, Jin-Soo Park, Gan Luo, Fangqun Yu, Jung-Hun Woo, Younha Kim, Jack E. Dibb, Taehyoung Lee, Jin-Seok Han, Bruce E. Anderson, Ke Li, and Hong Liao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 4271–4281, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4271-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4271-2023, 2023
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Anthropogenic fugitive dust in East Asia not only causes severe coarse particulate matter air pollution problems, but also affects fine particulate nitrate. Due to emission control efforts, coarse PM decreased steadily. We find that the decrease of coarse PM is a major driver for a lack of decrease of fine particulate nitrate, as it allows more nitric acid to form fine particulate nitrate. The continuing decrease of coarse PM requires more stringent ammonia and nitrogen oxides emission controls.
Nadia K. Colombi, Daniel J. Jacob, Laura Hyesung Yang, Shixian Zhai, Viral Shah, Stuart K. Grange, Robert M. Yantosca, Soontae Kim, and Hong Liao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 4031–4044, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4031-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4031-2023, 2023
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Surface ozone, detrimental to human and ecosystem health, is very high and increasing in South Korea. Using a global model of the atmosphere, we found that emissions from South Korea and China contribute equally to the high ozone observed. We found that in the absence of all anthropogenic emissions over East Asia, ozone is still very high, implying that the air quality standard in South Korea is not practically achievable unless this background external to East Asia can be decreased.
Alba Lorente, Tobias Borsdorff, Mari C. Martinez-Velarte, and Jochen Landgraf
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1597–1608, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1597-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1597-2023, 2023
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In the TROPOMI methane data, there are few false methane anomalies that can be misinterpreted as enhancements caused by strong emission sources. These artefacts are caused by features of the underlying surfaces that are not well characterized in the retrieval algorithm. Here we improve the representation of the surface reflectance dependency with wavelength in the forward model, removing the artificial localized CH4 enhancements found in several locations like Siberia, Australia and Algeria.
Xueying Yu, Dylan B. Millet, Daven K. Henze, Alexander J. Turner, Alba Lorente Delgado, A. Anthony Bloom, and Jianxiong Sheng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 3325–3346, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-3325-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-3325-2023, 2023
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We combine satellite measurements with a novel downscaling method to map global methane emissions at 0.1°×0.1° resolution. These fine-scale emission estimates reveal unreported emission hotspots and shed light on the roles of agriculture, wetlands, and fossil fuels for regional methane budgets. The satellite-derived emissions point in particular to missing fossil fuel emissions in the Middle East and to a large emission underestimate in South Asia that appears to be tied to monsoon rainfall.
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.
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.
Javier Gorroño, Daniel J. Varon, Itziar Irakulis-Loitxate, and Luis Guanter
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 89–107, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-89-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-89-2023, 2023
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We present a methane flux rate retrieval methodology using the Sentinel-2 mission, validating the algorithm for different scenes and plumes. The detection limit is 1000–2000 kg h−1 for homogeneous scenes and temporally invariant surfaces and above 5000 kg h−1 for heterogeneous ones. Dominant quantification errors are wind-related or plume mask-related. For heterogeneous scenes, the surface structure underlying the methane plume can become a dominant source of uncertainty.
Zhan Zhang, Evan D. Sherwin, Daniel J. Varon, and Adam R. Brandt
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 7155–7169, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-7155-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-7155-2022, 2022
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This work developed a multi-band–multi-pass–multi-comparison-date Sentinel-2 methane retrieval algorithm, and the method was calibrated by data from a controlled release test. To our knowledge, this is the first study that validates the performance of a Sentinel-2 methane detection algorithm by calibration with a ground-truth testing. It illustrates the potential for additional validation with systematic future experiments wherein algorithms can be tuned to meet different detection expectations.
Randall V. Martin, Sebastian D. Eastham, Liam Bindle, Elizabeth W. Lundgren, Thomas L. Clune, Christoph A. Keller, William Downs, Dandan Zhang, Robert A. Lucchesi, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Robert M. Yantosca, Yanshun Li, Lucas Estrada, William M. Putman, Benjamin M. Auer, Atanas L. Trayanov, Steven Pawson, and Daniel J. Jacob
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 8731–8748, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-8731-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-8731-2022, 2022
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Atmospheric chemistry models must be able to operate both online as components of Earth system models and offline as standalone models. The widely used GEOS-Chem model operates both online and offline, but the classic offline version is not suitable for massively parallel simulations. We describe a new generation of the offline high-performance GEOS-Chem (GCHP) that enables high-resolution simulations on thousands of cores, including on the cloud, with improved access, performance, and accuracy.
Cheng He, Xiao Lu, Haolin Wang, Haichao Wang, Yan Li, Guowen He, Yuanping He, Yurun Wang, Youlang Zhang, Yiming Liu, Qi Fan, and Shaojia Fan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15243–15261, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15243-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15243-2022, 2022
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We report that nocturnal ozone enhancement (NOE) events are observed at a high annual frequency of 41 % over 800 sites in China in 2014–2019 (about 50 % higher than that over Europe or the US). High daytime ozone provides a rich ozone source in the nighttime residual layer, determining the overall high frequency of NOE events in China, and enhanced atmospheric mixing then triggers NOE events by allowing the ozone-rich air in the residual layer to be mixed into the nighttime boundary layer.
Thibaud M. Fritz, Sebastian D. Eastham, Louisa K. Emmons, Haipeng Lin, Elizabeth W. Lundgren, Steve Goldhaber, Steven R. H. Barrett, and Daniel J. Jacob
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 8669–8704, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-8669-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-8669-2022, 2022
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We bring the state-of-the-science chemistry module GEOS-Chem into the Community Earth System Model (CESM). We show that some known differences between results from GEOS-Chem and CESM's CAM-chem chemistry module may be due to the configuration of model meteorology rather than inherent differences in the model chemistry. This is a significant step towards a truly modular Earth system model and allows two strong but currently separate research communities to benefit from each other's advances.
Alba Lorente, Tobias Borsdorff, Mari C. Martinez-Velarte, Andre Butz, Otto P. Hasekamp, Lianghai Wu, and Jochen Landgraf
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6585–6603, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6585-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6585-2022, 2022
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The TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) performs observations over ocean in every orbit, enhancing the monitoring capabilities of methane from space. In the sun glint geometry the mirror-like reflection at the water surface provides a signal that is high enough to retrieve methane with high accuracy and precision. We present 4 years of methane concentrations over the ocean, and we assess its quality. We also show the importance of ocean observations to quantify total CH4 emissions.
Haolin Wang, Xiao Lu, Daniel J. Jacob, Owen R. Cooper, Kai-Lan Chang, Ke Li, Meng Gao, Yiming Liu, Bosi Sheng, Kai Wu, Tongwen Wu, Jie Zhang, Bastien Sauvage, Philippe Nédélec, Romain Blot, and Shaojia Fan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 13753–13782, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13753-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13753-2022, 2022
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We report significant global tropospheric ozone increases in 1995–2017 based on extensive aircraft and ozonesonde observations. Using GEOS-Chem (Goddard Earth Observing System chemistry model) multi-decadal global simulations, we find that changes in global anthropogenic emissions, in particular the rapid increases in aircraft emissions, contribute significantly to the increases in tropospheric ozone and resulting radiative impact.
Lu Shen, Ritesh Gautam, Mark Omara, Daniel Zavala-Araiza, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Tia R. Scarpelli, Alba Lorente, David Lyon, Jianxiong Sheng, Daniel J. Varon, Hannah Nesser, Zhen Qu, Xiao Lu, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Steven P. Hamburg, and Daniel J. Jacob
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 11203–11215, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11203-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11203-2022, 2022
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We use 22 months of TROPOMI satellite observations to quantity methane emissions from the oil (O) and natural gas (G) sector in the US and Canada at the scale of both individual basins as well as country-wide aggregates. We find that O/G-related methane emissions are underestimated in these inventories by 80 % for the US and 40 % for Canada, and 70 % of the underestimate in the US is from five O/G basins, including Permian, Haynesville, Anadarko, Eagle Ford, and Barnett.
Zichong Chen, Daniel J. Jacob, Hannah Nesser, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Alba Lorente, Daniel J. Varon, Xiao Lu, Lu Shen, Zhen Qu, Elise Penn, and Xueying Yu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 10809–10826, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10809-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10809-2022, 2022
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We quantify methane emissions in China and contributions from different sectors by inverse analysis of 2019 TROPOMI satellite observations of atmospheric methane. We find that anthropogenic methane emissions for China are underestimated in the national inventory. Our estimate of emissions indicates a small life-cycle loss rate, implying net climate benefits from the current
coal-to-gasenergy transition in China. However, this small loss rate can be misleading given China's high gas imports.
Daniel J. Jacob, Daniel J. Varon, Daniel H. Cusworth, Philip E. Dennison, Christian Frankenberg, Ritesh Gautam, Luis Guanter, John Kelley, Jason McKeever, Lesley E. Ott, Benjamin Poulter, Zhen Qu, Andrew K. Thorpe, John R. Worden, and Riley M. Duren
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9617–9646, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9617-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9617-2022, 2022
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We review the capability of satellite observations of atmospheric methane to quantify methane emissions on all scales. We cover retrieval methods, precision requirements, inverse methods for inferring emissions, source detection thresholds, and observations of system completeness. We show that current instruments already enable quantification of regional and national emissions including contributions from large point sources. Coverage and resolution will increase significantly in coming years.
Matthias Schneider, Benjamin Ertl, Qiansi Tu, Christopher J. Diekmann, Farahnaz Khosrawi, Amelie N. Röhling, Frank Hase, Darko Dubravica, Omaira E. García, Eliezer Sepúlveda, Tobias Borsdorff, Jochen Landgraf, Alba Lorente, André Butz, Huilin Chen, Rigel Kivi, Thomas Laemmel, Michel Ramonet, Cyril Crevoisier, Jérome Pernin, Martin Steinbacher, Frank Meinhardt, Kimberly Strong, Debra Wunch, Thorsten Warneke, Coleen Roehl, Paul O. Wennberg, Isamu Morino, Laura T. Iraci, Kei Shiomi, Nicholas M. Deutscher, David W. T. Griffith, Voltaire A. Velazco, and David F. Pollard
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4339–4371, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4339-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4339-2022, 2022
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We present a computationally very efficient method for the synergetic use of level 2 remote-sensing data products. We apply the method to IASI vertical profile and TROPOMI total column space-borne methane observations and thus gain sensitivity for the tropospheric methane partial columns, which is not achievable by the individual use of TROPOMI and IASI. These synergetic effects are evaluated theoretically and empirically by inter-comparisons to independent references of TCCON, AirCore, and GAW.
Daniel J. Varon, Daniel J. Jacob, Melissa Sulprizio, Lucas A. Estrada, William B. Downs, Lu Shen, Sarah E. Hancock, Hannah Nesser, Zhen Qu, Elise Penn, Zichong Chen, Xiao Lu, Alba Lorente, Ashutosh Tewari, and Cynthia A. Randles
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 5787–5805, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-5787-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-5787-2022, 2022
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Reducing atmospheric methane emissions is critical to slow near-term climate change. Globally surveying satellite instruments like the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) have unique capabilities for monitoring atmospheric methane around the world. Here we present a user-friendly cloud-computing tool that enables researchers and stakeholders to quantify methane emissions across user-selected regions of interest using TROPOMI satellite observations.
Jonas Hachmeister, Oliver Schneising, Michael Buchwitz, Alba Lorente, Tobias Borsdorff, John P. Burrows, Justus Notholt, and Matthias Buschmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4063–4074, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4063-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4063-2022, 2022
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Sentinel-5P trace gas retrievals rely on elevation data in their calculations. Outdated or inaccurate data can lead to significant errors in e.g. dry-air mole fractions of methane (XCH4). We show that the use of inadequate elevation data leads to strong XCH4 anomalies in Greenland. Similar problems can be expected for other regions with inaccurate elevation data. However, we expect these to be more localized. We show that updating elevation data used in the retrieval solves this issue.
Chenhong Zhou, Fan Wang, Yike Guo, Cheng Liu, Dongsheng Ji, Yuesi Wang, Xiaobin Xu, Xiao Lu, Yan Wang, Gregory Carmichael, and Meng Gao
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2022-187, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2022-187, 2022
Manuscript not accepted for further review
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We develop an eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) model integrating high-resolution meteorological data, satellite retrievals of trace gases, etc. to provide reconstructed daily ground-level O3 over 2005–2021 in China. It can facilitate climatological, ecological, and health research. The dataset is freely available at Zenodo (https://zenodo.org/record/6507706#.Yo8hKujP13g; Zhou, 2022).
Vigneshkumar Balamurugan, Jia Chen, Zhen Qu, Xiao Bi, and Frank N. Keutsch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 7105–7129, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7105-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7105-2022, 2022
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In this study, we investigated the response of secondary pollutants to changes in precursor emissions, focusing on the formation of secondary PM, during the COVID-19 lockdown period. We show that, due to the decrease in primary NOx emissions, atmospheric oxidizing capacity is increased. The nighttime increase in ozone, caused by less NO titration, results in higher NO3 radicals, which contribute significantly to the formation of PM nitrates. O3 should be limited in order to control PM pollution.
John R. Worden, Daniel H. Cusworth, Zhen Qu, Yi Yin, Yuzhong Zhang, A. Anthony Bloom, Shuang Ma, Brendan K. Byrne, Tia Scarpelli, Joannes D. Maasakkers, David Crisp, Riley Duren, and Daniel J. Jacob
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 6811–6841, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-6811-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-6811-2022, 2022
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This paper is intended to accomplish two goals: 1) describe a new algorithm by which remotely sensed measurements of methane or other tracers can be used to not just quantify methane fluxes, but also attribute these fluxes to specific sources and regions and characterize their uncertainties, and 2) use this new algorithm to provide methane emissions by sector and country in support of the global stock take.
Andreas Schneider, Tobias Borsdorff, Joost aan de Brugh, Alba Lorente, Franziska Aemisegger, David Noone, Dean Henze, Rigel Kivi, and Jochen Landgraf
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2251–2275, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2251-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2251-2022, 2022
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This paper presents an extended H₂O/HDO total column dataset from short-wave infrared measurements by TROPOMI including cloudy and clear-sky scenes. Coverage is tremendously increased compared to previous TROPOMI HDO datasets. The new dataset is validated against recent ground-based FTIR measurements from TCCON and against aircraft measurements over the ocean. The use of the new dataset is demonstrated with a case study of a cold air outbreak in January 2020.
Elena Sánchez-García, Javier Gorroño, Itziar Irakulis-Loitxate, Daniel J. Varon, and Luis Guanter
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1657–1674, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1657-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1657-2022, 2022
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This study seeks to present the as-yet-unknown potential use of WorldView-3 for the mapping of methane point source emissions. The proposed retrieval methodology is based on the idea that the spectral channels not affected by methane can be used to predict the methane-affected band through regression analysis. The results show the precise location of 26 independent point emissions over different methane hotspot regions worldwide, which prove the game-changing potential that this mission entails.
Tia R. Scarpelli, Daniel J. Jacob, Shayna Grossman, Xiao Lu, Zhen Qu, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Yuzhong Zhang, Frances Reuland, Deborah Gordon, and John R. Worden
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3235–3249, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3235-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3235-2022, 2022
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We present a spatially explicit version of the national inventories of oil, gas, and coal methane emissions as submitted by individual countries to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2021. We then use atmospheric modeling to compare our inventory emissions to atmospheric methane observations with the goal of identifying potential under- and overestimates of oil–gas methane emissions in the national inventories.
Drew C. Pendergrass, Shixian Zhai, Jhoon Kim, Ja-Ho Koo, Seoyoung Lee, Minah Bae, Soontae Kim, Hong Liao, and Daniel J. Jacob
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1075–1091, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1075-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1075-2022, 2022
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This paper uses a machine learning algorithm to infer high-resolution maps of particulate air quality in eastern China, Japan, and the Korean peninsula, using data from a geostationary satellite along with meteorology. We then perform an extensive evaluation of this inferred air quality and use it to diagnose trends in the region. We hope this paper and the associated data will be valuable to other scientists interested in epidemiology, air quality, remote sensing, and machine learning.
Dianyi Li, Drew Shindell, Dian Ding, Xiao Lu, Lin Zhang, and Yuqiang Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 2625–2638, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2625-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2625-2022, 2022
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In this study, we applied chemical transport model simulation with the latest annual anthropogenic emission inventory to study the long-term trend of ozone-induced crop production losses from 2010 to 2017 in China. We find that overall the ozone-induced crop production loss in China is significant and the annual average economic losses for wheat, rice, maize, and soybean in China are USD 9.55 billion, USD 8.53 billion, USD 2.23 billion, and USD 1.16 billion respectively, over the 8 years.
Lu Shen, Daniel J. Jacob, Mauricio Santillana, Kelvin Bates, Jiawei Zhuang, and Wei Chen
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 1677–1687, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-1677-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-1677-2022, 2022
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The high computational cost of chemical integration is a long-standing limitation in global atmospheric chemistry models. Here we present an adaptive and efficient algorithm that can reduce the computational time of atmospheric chemistry by 50 % and maintain the error below 2 % for important species, inspired by machine learning clustering techniques and traditional asymptotic analysis ideas.
Haiyue Tan, Lin Zhang, Xiao Lu, Yuanhong Zhao, Bo Yao, Robert J. Parker, and Hartmut Boesch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 1229–1249, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1229-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1229-2022, 2022
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Methane is the second most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas. Understanding methane emissions and concentration growth over China in the past decade is important to support its mitigation. This study analyzes the contributions of methane emissions from different regions and sources over the globe to methane changes over China in 2007–2018. Our results show strong international transport influences and emphasize the need of intensive methane measurements covering eastern China.
Xiao Lu, Daniel J. Jacob, Haolin Wang, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Yuzhong Zhang, Tia R. Scarpelli, Lu Shen, Zhen Qu, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Hannah Nesser, A. Anthony Bloom, Shuang Ma, John R. Worden, Shaojia Fan, Robert J. Parker, Hartmut Boesch, Ritesh Gautam, Deborah Gordon, Michael D. Moran, Frances Reuland, Claudia A. Octaviano Villasana, and Arlyn Andrews
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 395–418, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-395-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-395-2022, 2022
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We evaluate methane emissions and trends for 2010–2017 in the gridded national emission inventories for the United States, Canada, and Mexico by inversion of in situ and satellite methane observations. We find that anthropogenic methane emissions for all three countries are underestimated in the national inventories, largely driven by oil emissions. Anthropogenic methane emissions in the US peak in 2014, in contrast to the report of a steadily decreasing trend over 2010–2017 from the US EPA.
Qiansi Tu, Frank Hase, Matthias Schneider, Omaira García, Thomas Blumenstock, Tobias Borsdorff, Matthias Frey, Farahnaz Khosrawi, Alba Lorente, Carlos Alberti, Juan J. Bustos, André Butz, Virgilio Carreño, Emilio Cuevas, Roger Curcoll, Christopher J. Diekmann, Darko Dubravica, Benjamin Ertl, Carme Estruch, Sergio Fabián León-Luis, Carlos Marrero, Josep-Anton Morgui, Ramón Ramos, Christian Scharun, Carsten Schneider, Eliezer Sepúlveda, Carlos Toledano, and Carlos Torres
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 295–317, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-295-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-295-2022, 2022
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We use different methane ground- and space-based remote sensing data sets for investigating the emission strength of three waste disposal sites close to Madrid. We present a method that uses wind-assigned anomalies for deriving emission strengths from satellite data and estimate their uncertainty to 9–14 %. The emission strengths estimated from the remote sensing data sets are significantly larger than the values published in the official register.
Youwen Sun, Hao Yin, Xiao Lu, Justus Notholt, Mathias Palm, Cheng Liu, Yuan Tian, and Bo Zheng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 18589–18608, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18589-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18589-2021, 2021
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This study uses high-resolution nested-grid GEOS-Chem simulation, the eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) machine learning method, and the exposure–response relationship to determine the drivers and evaluate the health risks of the unexpected surface O3 enhancements over the Sichuan Basin in 2020. These unexpected O3 enhancements were induced by meteorological anomalies and caused dramatically high health risks.
Kelvin H. Bates, Daniel J. Jacob, Ke Li, Peter D. Ivatt, Mat J. Evans, Yingying Yan, and Jintai Lin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 18351–18374, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18351-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18351-2021, 2021
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Simple aromatic compounds (benzene, toluene, xylene) have complex gas-phase chemistry that is inconsistently represented in atmospheric models. We compile recent experimental and theoretical insights to develop a new mechanism for gas-phase aromatic oxidation that is sufficiently compact for use in multiscale models. We compare our new mechanism to chamber experiments and other mechanisms, and implement it in a global model to quantify the impacts of aromatic oxidation on tropospheric chemistry.
Sabour Baray, Daniel J. Jacob, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Jian-Xiong Sheng, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Dylan B. A. Jones, A. Anthony Bloom, and Robert McLaren
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 18101–18121, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18101-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18101-2021, 2021
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We use 2010–2015 surface and satellite observations to disentangle methane from anthropogenic and natural sources in Canada. Using a chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem), the mismatch between modelled and observed methane concentrations can be used to infer emissions according to Bayesian statistics. Compared to prior knowledge, we show higher anthropogenic emissions attributed to energy and/or agriculture in Western Canada and lower natural emissions from Boreal wetlands.
Shixian Zhai, Daniel J. Jacob, Jared F. Brewer, Ke Li, Jonathan M. Moch, Jhoon Kim, Seoyoung Lee, Hyunkwang Lim, Hyun Chul Lee, Su Keun Kuk, Rokjin J. Park, Jaein I. Jeong, Xuan Wang, Pengfei Liu, Gan Luo, Fangqun Yu, Jun Meng, Randall V. Martin, Katherine R. Travis, Johnathan W. Hair, Bruce E. Anderson, Jack E. Dibb, Jose L. Jimenez, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Benjamin A. Nault, Jung-Hun Woo, Younha Kim, Qiang Zhang, and Hong Liao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16775–16791, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16775-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16775-2021, 2021
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Geostationary satellite aerosol optical depth (AOD) has tremendous potential for monitoring surface fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Our study explored the physical relationship between AOD and PM2.5 by integrating data from surface networks, aircraft, and satellites with the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model. We quantitatively showed that accurate simulation of aerosol size distributions, boundary layer depths, relative humidity, coarse particles, and diurnal variations in PM2.5 are essential.
Yuqiang Zhang, Drew Shindell, Karl Seltzer, Lu Shen, Jean-Francois Lamarque, Qiang Zhang, Bo Zheng, Jia Xing, Zhe Jiang, and Lei Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16051–16065, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16051-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16051-2021, 2021
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In this study, we use a global chemical transport model to simulate the effects on global air quality and human health due to emission changes in China from 2010 to 2017. By performing sensitivity analysis, we found that the air pollution control policies not only decrease the air pollutant concentration but also bring significant co-benefits in air quality to downwind regions. The benefits for the improved air pollution are dominated by PM2.5.
Liam Bindle, Randall V. Martin, Matthew J. Cooper, Elizabeth W. Lundgren, Sebastian D. Eastham, Benjamin M. Auer, Thomas L. Clune, Hongjian Weng, Jintai Lin, Lee T. Murray, Jun Meng, Christoph A. Keller, William M. Putman, Steven Pawson, and Daniel J. Jacob
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 5977–5997, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-5977-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-5977-2021, 2021
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Atmospheric chemistry models like GEOS-Chem are versatile tools widely used in air pollution and climate studies. The simulations used in such studies can be very computationally demanding, and thus it is useful if the model can simulate a specific geographic region at a higher resolution than the rest of the globe. Here, we implement, test, and demonstrate a new variable-resolution capability in GEOS-Chem that is suitable for simulations conducted on supercomputers.
Mahesh Kumar Sha, Bavo Langerock, Jean-François L. Blavier, Thomas Blumenstock, Tobias Borsdorff, Matthias Buschmann, Angelika Dehn, Martine De Mazière, Nicholas M. Deutscher, Dietrich G. Feist, Omaira E. García, David W. T. Griffith, Michel Grutter, James W. Hannigan, Frank Hase, Pauli Heikkinen, Christian Hermans, Laura T. Iraci, Pascal Jeseck, Nicholas Jones, Rigel Kivi, Nicolas Kumps, Jochen Landgraf, Alba Lorente, Emmanuel Mahieu, Maria V. Makarova, Johan Mellqvist, Jean-Marc Metzger, Isamu Morino, Tomoo Nagahama, Justus Notholt, Hirofumi Ohyama, Ivan Ortega, Mathias Palm, Christof Petri, David F. Pollard, Markus Rettinger, John Robinson, Sébastien Roche, Coleen M. Roehl, Amelie N. Röhling, Constantina Rousogenous, Matthias Schneider, Kei Shiomi, Dan Smale, Wolfgang Stremme, Kimberly Strong, Ralf Sussmann, Yao Té, Osamu Uchino, Voltaire A. Velazco, Corinne Vigouroux, Mihalis Vrekoussis, Pucai Wang, Thorsten Warneke, Tyler Wizenberg, Debra Wunch, Shoma Yamanouchi, Yang Yang, and Minqiang Zhou
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6249–6304, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6249-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6249-2021, 2021
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This paper presents, for the first time, Sentinel-5 Precursor methane and carbon monoxide validation results covering a period from November 2017 to September 2020. For this study, we used global TCCON and NDACC-IRWG network data covering a wide range of atmospheric and surface conditions across different terrains. We also show the influence of a priori alignment, smoothing uncertainties and the sensitivity of the validation results towards the application of advanced co-location criteria.
Lee T. Murray, Eric M. Leibensperger, Clara Orbe, Loretta J. Mickley, and Melissa Sulprizio
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 5789–5823, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-5789-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-5789-2021, 2021
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Chemical-transport models are tools used to study air pollution and inform public policy. However, they are limited by the availability of archived meteorology. Here, we describe how the GEOS-Chem chemical-transport model may now be driven by meteorology archived from a state-of-the-art general circulation model for past and future climates, allowing it to be used to explore the impact of climate change on air pollution and atmospheric composition.
Zhen Qu, Daniel J. Jacob, Lu Shen, Xiao Lu, Yuzhong Zhang, Tia R. Scarpelli, Hannah Nesser, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Joannes D. Maasakkers, A. Anthony Bloom, John R. Worden, Robert J. Parker, and Alba L. Delgado
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 14159–14175, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14159-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14159-2021, 2021
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The recent launch of TROPOMI offers an unprecedented opportunity to quantify the methane budget from a top-down perspective. We use TROPOMI and the more mature GOSAT methane observations to estimate methane emissions and get consistent global budgets. However, TROPOMI shows biases over regions where surface albedo is small and provides less information for the coarse-resolution inversion due to the larger error correlations and spatial variations in the number of observations.
Xuan Wang, Daniel J. Jacob, William Downs, Shuting Zhai, Lei Zhu, Viral Shah, Christopher D. Holmes, Tomás Sherwen, Becky Alexander, Mathew J. Evans, Sebastian D. Eastham, J. Andrew Neuman, Patrick R. Veres, Theodore K. Koenig, Rainer Volkamer, L. Gregory Huey, Thomas J. Bannan, Carl J. Percival, Ben H. Lee, and Joel A. Thornton
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 13973–13996, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13973-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13973-2021, 2021
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Halogen radicals have a broad range of implications for tropospheric chemistry, air quality, and climate. We present a new mechanistic description and comprehensive simulation of tropospheric halogens in a global 3-D model and compare the model results with surface and aircraft measurements. We find that halogen chemistry decreases the global tropospheric burden of ozone by 11 %, NOx by 6 %, and OH by 4 %.
Haipeng Lin, Daniel J. Jacob, Elizabeth W. Lundgren, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Christoph A. Keller, Thibaud M. Fritz, Sebastian D. Eastham, Louisa K. Emmons, Patrick C. Campbell, Barry Baker, Rick D. Saylor, and Raffaele Montuoro
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 5487–5506, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-5487-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-5487-2021, 2021
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Emissions are a central component of atmospheric chemistry models. The Harmonized Emissions Component (HEMCO) is a software component for computing emissions from a user-selected ensemble of emission inventories and algorithms. It allows users to select, add, and scale emissions from different sources through a configuration file with no change to the model source code. We demonstrate the implementation of HEMCO in several models, all sharing the same HEMCO core code and database library.
Yi Yin, Frederic Chevallier, Philippe Ciais, Philippe Bousquet, Marielle Saunois, Bo Zheng, John Worden, A. Anthony Bloom, Robert J. Parker, Daniel J. Jacob, Edward J. Dlugokencky, and Christian Frankenberg
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 12631–12647, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12631-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12631-2021, 2021
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The growth of methane, the second-most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide, has been accelerating in recent years. Using an ensemble of multi-tracer atmospheric inversions constrained by surface or satellite observations, we show that global methane emissions increased by nearly 1 % per year from 2010–2017, with leading contributions from the tropics and East Asia.
Hannah Nesser, Daniel J. Jacob, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Tia R. Scarpelli, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Yuzhong Zhang, and Chris H. Rycroft
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 5521–5534, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5521-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5521-2021, 2021
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Analytical inversions of satellite observations of atmospheric composition can improve emissions estimates and quantify errors but are computationally expensive at high resolutions. We propose two methods to decrease this cost. The methods reproduce a high-resolution inversion at a quarter of the cost. The reduced-dimension method creates a multiscale grid. The reduced-rank method solves the inversion where information content is highest.
Youwen Sun, Hao Yin, Cheng Liu, Emmanuel Mahieu, Justus Notholt, Yao Té, Xiao Lu, Mathias Palm, Wei Wang, Changgong Shan, Qihou Hu, Min Qin, Yuan Tian, and Bo Zheng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 11759–11779, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11759-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11759-2021, 2021
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The variability, sources, and transport of ethane (C2H6) over eastern China from 2015 to 2020 were studied using ground-based Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and GEOS-Chem simulations. C2H6 variability is driven by both meteorological and emission factors. The reduction in C2H6 in recent years over eastern China points to air quality improvement in China.
Gongda Lu, Eloise A. Marais, Tuan V. Vu, Jingsha Xu, Zongbo Shi, James D. Lee, Qiang Zhang, Lu Shen, Gan Luo, and Fangqun Yu
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2021-428, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2021-428, 2021
Revised manuscript not accepted
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Emission controls were imposed in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei in northern China in autumn-winter 2017. We find that regional PM2.5 targets (15 % decrease relative to previous year) were exceeded. Our analysis shows that decline in precursor emissions only leads to less than half (43 %) the improved air quality. Most of the change (57 %) is due to interannual variability in meteorology. Stricter emission controls may be necessary in years with unfavourable meteorology.
Meng Gao, Yang Yang, Hong Liao, Bin Zhu, Yuxuan Zhang, Zirui Liu, Xiao Lu, Chen Wang, Qiming Zhou, Yuesi Wang, Qiang Zhang, Gregory R. Carmichael, and Jianlin Hu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 11405–11421, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11405-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11405-2021, 2021
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Light absorption and radiative forcing of black carbon (BC) is influenced by both BC itself and its interactions with other aerosol chemical compositions. In this study, we used the online coupled WRF-Chem model to examine how emission control measures during the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference affect the mixing state and light absorption of BC and the associated implications for BC-PBL interactions.
Jun Meng, Randall V. Martin, Paul Ginoux, Melanie Hammer, Melissa P. Sulprizio, David A. Ridley, and Aaron van Donkelaar
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 4249–4260, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-4249-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-4249-2021, 2021
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Dust emissions in models, for example, GEOS-Chem, have a strong nonlinear dependence on meteorology, which means dust emission strengths calculated from different resolution meteorological fields are different. Offline high-resolution dust emissions with an optimized global dust strength, presented in this work, can be implemented into GEOS-Chem as offline emission inventory so that it could promote model development by harmonizing dust emissions across simulations of different resolutions.
Xu Feng, Haipeng Lin, Tzung-May Fu, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Jiawei Zhuang, Daniel J. Jacob, Heng Tian, Yaping Ma, Lijuan Zhang, Xiaolin Wang, Qi Chen, and Zhiwei Han
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 3741–3768, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-3741-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-3741-2021, 2021
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WRF-GC is an online coupling of the WRF meteorological model and GEOS-Chem chemical transport model for regional atmospheric chemistry and air quality modeling. In WRF-GC v2.0, we implemented the aerosol–radiation interactions and aerosol–cloud interactions, as well as the capability to nest multiple domains for high-resolution simulations based on the modular framework of WRF-GC v1.0. This allows the GEOS-Chem users to investigate the meteorology–atmospheric chemistry interactions.
Youwen Sun, Hao Yin, Yuan Cheng, Qianggong Zhang, Bo Zheng, Justus Notholt, Xiao Lu, Cheng Liu, Yuan Tian, and Jianguo Liu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 9201–9222, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9201-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9201-2021, 2021
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We quantified the variability, source, and transport of urban CO over the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau (HTP) by using measurement, model simulation, and the analysis of meteorological fields. Urban CO over the HTP is dominated by anthropogenic and biomass burning emissions from local, South Asia and East Asia, and oxidation sources. The decreasing trends in surface CO since 2015 in most cities over the HTP are attributed to the reduction in local and transported CO emissions in recent years.
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Short summary
We quantify methane emissions from individual countries in the Middle East and North Africa by inverse analysis of 2019 TROPOMI satellite observations of atmospheric methane. We show that the ability to simply relate oil/gas emissions to activity metrics is compromised by stochastic nature of local infrastructure and management practices. We find that the industry target for oil/gas methane intensity is achievable through associated gas capture, modern infrastructure, and centralized operations.
We quantify methane emissions from individual countries in the Middle East and North Africa by...
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