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The direct radiative effect (DRE) of aerosols above clouds has been found to be significant over the south-east Atlantic Ocean during the African biomass burning season due to elevated smoke layers absorbing radiation above the cloud deck. So far, global climate models have been unsuccessful in reproducing the high DRE values measured by various satellite instruments. Meanwhile, the radiative effects by aerosols have been identified as the largest source of uncertainty in global climate models. In this paper, three independent satellite datasets of DRE during the biomass burning season in 2006 are compared to constrain the south-east Atlantic radiation budget. The DRE of aerosols above clouds is derived from the spectrometer SCanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric CHartographY (SCIAMACHY), the polarimeter Polarization and Directionality of the Earth's Reflectances (POLDER), and collocated measurements by the spectrometer Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and the imager Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). All three datasets confirm the high DRE values during the biomass season, underlining the relevance of local aerosol effects. Differences between the instruments can be attributed mainly to sampling issues. When these are accounted for, the remaining differences can be explained by a higher cloud optical thickness (COT) derived from POLDER compared to the other instruments and a neglect of aerosol optical thickness (AOT) at shortwave infrared (SWIR) wavelengths in the method used for SCIAMACHY and OMI–MODIS. The higher COT from POLDER by itself can explain the difference found in DRE between POLDER and the other instruments. The AOT underestimation is mainly evident at high values of the aerosol DRE and accounts for about a third of the difference between POLDER and OMI–MODIS DRE. The datasets from POLDER and OMI–MODIS effectively provide lower and upper bounds for the aerosol DRE over clouds over the south-east Atlantic, which can be used to challenge global circulation models (GCMs). Comparisons of model and satellite datasets should also account for sampling issues. The complementary DRE retrievals from OMI–MODIS and POLDER may benefit from upcoming satellite missions that combine spectrometer and polarimeter measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The retrieval of geophysical parameters is increasingly dependent on synergistic use of satellite instruments. More sophisticated parameters can be retrieved and the accuracy of retrievals can be increased when more information is combined. In this paper, a synergistic application of Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), on the Aura platform, and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), on the Aqua platform, Level 1B reflectances is described, enabling the retrieval of the aerosol direct radiative effect (DRE) over clouds using the differential aerosol absorption (DAA) technique. This technique was first developed for reflectances from the SCanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric CHartographY (SCIAMACHY) on the Environmental Satellite (Envisat), which had the unique capability of measuring contiguous radiances from the ultraviolet (UV) at 240 to 1750 nm in the shortwave-infrared (SWIR), at a moderate spectral resolution of 0.2 to 1.5 nm. However, the spatial resolution and global coverage of SCIAMACHY was limited, and Envisat stopped delivering data in 2012. In order to continue the DRE data retrieval, reflectances from OMI and MODIS, flying in formation, were combined from the UV to the SWIR. This resulted in reflectances at a limited but sufficient spectral resolution, available at the OMI pixel grid, which have a much higher spatial resolution and coverage than SCIAMACHY. The combined reflectance spectra allow the retrieval of cloud microphysical parameters in the SWIR, and the subsequent retrieval of aerosol DRE over cloud scenes using the DAA technique. For liquid cloud scenes in the south-east Atlantic region with cloud fraction (CF) >0.3 , the area-averaged instantaneous aerosol DRE over clouds in June to August 2006 was 25 Wm -2 with a standard deviation of 30 Wm -2. The maximum area-averaged instantaneous DRE from OMI–MODIS in August 2006 was 75.6±13 Wm -2. The new aerosol DRE over-cloud dataset from OMI–MODIS is compared to the SCIAMACHY dataset for the period 2006 to 2009, showing a very high correlation. The OMI–MODIS DRE dataset over the Atlantic Ocean is highly correlated to above-cloud AOT measurements from OMI and MODIS. It is related to AOT measurements over Ascension Island in 2016, showing the transport of smoke all the way from its source region in Africa over the Atlantic to Ascension and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a ∼21 -year global dataset from four different satellite sensors with a mid-morning overpass (GOME/ERS-2, SCIAMACHY/ENVISAT, GOME-2/Metop-A, and GOME-2/Metop-B) is compiled to study the long-term tropospheric NO2 patterns and trends. The Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) and GOME-2 data are "corrected" relative to the SCanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric CHartographY (SCIAMACHY) data to produce a self-consistent dataset that covers the period April 1996–September 2017. The highest tropospheric NO2 concentrations are seen over urban, industrialized, and highly populated areas and over ship tracks in the oceans. Tropospheric NO2 has generally decreased during the last 2 decades over the industrialized and highly populated regions of the western world (a total decrease of the order of ∼49 % over the US, the Netherlands, and the UK; ∼36 % over Italy and Japan; and ∼32 % over Germany and France) and increased over developing regions (a total increase of ∼160 % over China and ∼33 % over India). It is suggested here that linear trends cannot be used efficiently worldwide for such long periods. Tropospheric NO2 is very sensitive to socioeconomic changes (e.g., environmental protection policies, economic recession, warfare, etc.) which may cause either short-term changes or even a reversal of the trends. The application of a method capable of detecting the year when a reversal of trends happened shows that tropospheric NO2 concentrations switched from positive to negative trends and vice versa over several regions around the globe. A country-level analysis revealed clusters of countries that exhibit similar positive-to-negative or negative-to-positive trend reversals, while 29 out of a total of 64 examined megacities and large urban agglomerations experienced a trend reversal at some point within the last 2 decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The FRESCO (Fast Retrieval Scheme for Clouds from the Oxygen A band) algorithm is a simple, fast and robust algorithm used to retrieve cloud information in operational satellite data processing. It has been applied to GOME-1 (Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment), SCIAMACHY (Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography), GOME-2 and more recently to TROPOMI (Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument). FRESCO retrieves effective cloud fraction and cloud pressure from measurements in the oxygen A band around 761 nm. In this paper, we propose a new version of the algorithm, called FRESCO-B, which is based on measurements in the oxygen B band around 687 nm. Such a method is interesting for vegetated surfaces where the surface albedo is much lower in the B band than in the A band, which limits the ground contribution to the top-of-atmosphere reflectances. In this study we first perform retrieval simulations. These show that the retrieved cloud pressures from FRESCO-B and FRESCO differ only between -10 and +10 hPa , except for high, thin clouds over vegetation where the difference is larger (about +15 to +30 hPa), with FRESCO-B yielding higher pressure. Next, inter-comparison between FRESCO-B and FRESCO retrievals over 1 month of GOME-2B data reveals that the effective cloud fractions retrieved in the O2 A and B bands are very similar (mean difference of 0.003), while the cloud pressures show a mean difference of 11.5 hPa , with FRESCO-B retrieving higher pressures than FRESCO. This agrees with the simulations and is partly due to deeper photon penetrations of the O2 B band in clouds compared to the O2 A-band photons and partly due to the surface albedo bias in FRESCO. Finally, validation with ground-based measurements shows that the FRESCO-B cloud pressure represents an altitude within the cloud boundaries for clouds that are not too far from the Lambertian reflector model, which occurs in about 50 % of the cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ozone profile retrieval from nadir-viewing satellite instruments operating in the ultraviolet-visible range requires accurate calibration of Level-1 (L1) radiance data. Here we study the effects of calibration on the derived Level-2 (L2) ozone profiles for three versions of SCanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric ChartograpHY (SCIAMACHY) L1 data: version 7 (v7), version 7 with m-factors (v7mfac) and version 8 (v8). We retrieve nadir ozone profiles from the SCIAMACHY instrument that flew on board Envisat using the Ozone ProfilE Retrieval Algorithm (OPERA) developed at KNMI with a focus on stratospheric ozone. We study and assess the quality of these profiles and compare retrieved L2 products from L1 SCIAMACHY data versions from the years 2003 to 2011 without further radiometric correction. From validation of the profiles against ozone sonde measurements, we find that the v8 performs better than v7 and v7mfac due to correction for the scan-angle dependency of the instrument's optical degradation. Validation for the years 2003 and 2009 with ozone sondes shows deviations of SCIAMACHY ozone profiles of 0.8-15% in the stratosphere (corresponding to pressure range ~100-10 hPa) and 2.5-100% in the troposphere (corresponding to pressure range ~1000-100 hPa), depending on the latitude and the L1 version used. Using L1 v8 for the years 2003-2011 leads to deviations of ~1-11% in stratospheric ozone and ~1-45% in tropospheric ozone. The SCIAMACHY L1 v8 data can still be improved upon in the 265-330 nm range used for ozone profile retrieval. The slit function can be improved with a spectral shift and squeeze, which leads to a few percent residue reduction compared to reference solar irradiance spectra. Furthermore, studies of the ratio of measured to simulated reflectance spectra show that a bias correction in the reflectance for wavelengths below 300 nm appears to be necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) is a push-broom imaging spectrometer, observing solar radiation backscattered by the Earth's atmosphere and surface. The incoming radiation is detected using a static imaging CCD (charge-coupled device) detector array with no moving parts, as opposed to most of the previous satellite spectrometers, which used a moving mirror to scan the Earth in the acrosstrack direction. The field of view (FoV) of detector pixels is the solid angle from which radiation is observed, averaged over the integration time of a measurement. The OMI FoV is not quadrangular, which is common for scanning instruments, but rather super-Gaussian shaped and overlapping with the FoV of neighbouring pixels. This has consequences for pixel-area-dependent applications, like cloud fraction products, and visualisation. The shapes and sizes of OMI FoVs were determined preflight by theoretical and experimental tests but never verified after launch. In this paper the OMI FoV is characterised using collocated MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) reflectance measurements. MODIS measurements have a much higher spatial resolution than OMI measurements and spectrally overlap at 469 nm. The OMI FoV was verified by finding the highest correlation between MODIS and OMI reflectances in cloud-free scenes, assuming a 2-D super-Gaussian function with varying size and shape to represent the OMI FoV. Our results show that the OMPIXCOR product 75FoV corner coordinates are accurate as the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of a super-Gaussian FoV model when this function is assumed. The softness of the function edges, modelled by the super-Gaussian exponents, is different in both directions and is view angle dependent. The optimal overlap function between OMI and MODIS reflectances is scene dependent and highly dependent on time differences between overpasses, especially with clouds in the scene. For partially clouded scenes, the optimal overlap function was represented by super-Gaussian exponents around 1 or smaller, which indicates that this function is unsuitable to represent the overlap sensitivity function in these cases. This was especially true for scenes before 2008, when the time differences between Aqua and Aura overpasses was about 15 min, instead of 8 min after 2008. During the time between overpasses, clouds change the scene reflectance, reducing the correlation and influencing the shape of the optimal overlap function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We study the intensity and degree of linear polarization of reflected solar radiation at the top of the atmosphere within two carbon dioxide bands and one oxygen absorption band in the near-infrared. In particular, we are interested in the sensitivity of the degree of linear polarization and intensity to changes of aerosol and cirrus cloud layer heights, microphysical properties, and surface albedo. For the simulations we use spectral response functions representative of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO). Inside the O2A band at 760nm and strong CO2 band at 2060nm we find a strong influence of the aerosol and cirrus cloud layer height on the degree of linear polarization. An increase of the aerosol or cirrus cloud layer height can lead either to a decrease or increase of the polarization within the band, depending on the microphysical and optical properties of the scatterers, surface albedo, and absorption strength in the bands. The results for the O2A band also indicate that even over land OCO enables an estimation of the height of an aerosol or cirrus cloud layer. Inside the weak CO2 band at 1610nm the influence of aerosol or cirrus cloud layer heights is lower as compared to the O2A band and CO2 band at 2060nm, due to the relatively stronger surface influence. Here an increase of aerosol or cirrus cloud layer height leads to an increase of the degree of linear polarization even in case of low surface albedo and for weakly polarizing scatterers. For the weak CO2 band at 1610nm we also study the influence of the aerosol or cirrus cloud layer height on the column CO2 estimate and the errors resulting from ignoring polarization in simulations of backscatter measurements by space-based instruments such as OCO. Depending on the surface albedo, misinterpretations of the height of atmospheric scatterers might strongly affect the column CO2 estimates. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]