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Satellite measurements from the thermal Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI), the Measurements of OZone and water vapor by in-service AIrbus airCraft (MOZAIC), as well as observations from ground based stations, are used to assess the tropospheric ozone (O3) variability during the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM). Six years [2008-2013] of IASI data analysis reveals the ability of the instrument to detect the onset and the progression of the monsoon reflected by a decrease in the tropospheric [0-6]km O3 column due to the EASM, and to reproduce this decrease from one year to the other. Focusing on the period of May-August 2011, taken as an example year, IASI data show clear inverse relationship between tropospheric [0-6] km O3 on one hand and meteorological parameters such as cloud cover, relative humidity and wind speed, on the other hand. Aircraft data from the MOZAIC project at Hyderabad, Nanjing and Guangzhou are used to validate the IASI data and to assess the effect of the monsoon on the vertical distribution of the tropospheric O3 at different locations. Results show good agreement with a correlation coefficient of 0.74 between the [0-6] km O3 column derived from IASI and MOZAIC. The aircraft data show a decrease in the tropospheric O3 that is more important in the free troposphere than in the boundary layer and at Hyderabad than at the other two Chinese cities. Ground station data at different locations in India and China show a spatiotemporal dependence on meteorology during the monsoon, with decrease up to 22 ppbv in Hyderabad, and up to 5 ppbv in the North China Plain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we assess how daily ozone (O3) measurements from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) on MetOp-A platform can contribute to the analyses of the processes driving O3 variability in the troposphere and the stratosphere and, in the future, to the monitoring of long-term trends. The time development of O3 during the first 6 years of IASI (2008-2013) operation is investigated with multivariate regressions separately in four different layers (ground-300, 300-150, 150-25, 25-3 hPa), by adjusting to the daily time series averaged in 20° zonal bands, seasonal and linear trend terms along with important geophysical drivers of O3 variation (e.g. solar flux, quasi biennial oscillations). The regression model is shown to perform generally very well with a strong dominance of the annual harmonic terms and significant contributions from O3 drivers, in particular in the equatorial region where the QBO and the solar flux contribution dominate. More particularly, despite the short period of IASI dataset available to now, two noticeable statistically significant apparent trends are inferred from the daily IASI measurements: a positive trend in the upper stratosphere (e.g. 1.74 ± 0.77 DU yr-1 between 30-50° S) which is consistent with the turnaround for stratospheric O3 recovery, and a negative trend in the troposphere at the mid-and high northern latitudes (e.g. -0.26 ± 0.11 DU yr-1 between 30-50° N), especially during summer and probably linked to the impact of decreasing ozone precursor emissions. The impact of the high temporal sampling of IASI on the uncertainty in the determination of O3 trend has been further explored by performing multivariate regressions on IASI monthly averages and on ground-based FTIR measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present global distributions of C2H2 and hydrogen cyanide (HCN) total columns derived from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) for the years 2008-2010. These distributions are obtained with a fast method allowing to retrieve C2H2 abundance globally with a 5% precision and HCN abundance in the tropical (subtropical) belt with a 10% (25%) precision. IASI data are compared for validation purposes with ground-based Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer measurements at four selected stations. We show that there is an overall agreement between the ground-based and space measurements with correlation coefficients for daily mean measurements ranging from 0.28 to 0.81, depending on the site. Global C2H2 and subtropical HCN abundances retrieved from IASI spectra show the expected seasonality linked to variations in the anthropogenic emissions and seasonal biomass burning activity, as well as exceptional events, and are in good agreement with previous spaceborne studies. Total columns simulated by the Model for Ozone and Related Chemical Tracers, version 4 (MOZART-4) are compared to the ground-based FTIR measurements at the four selected stations. The model is able to capture the seasonality in the two species in most of the cases, with correlation coefficients for daily mean measurements ranging from 0.50 to 0.86, depending on the site. IASI measurements are also compared to the distributions from MOZART-4. Seasonal cycles observed from satellite data are reasonably well reproduced by the model with correlation coefficients ranging from -0.31 to 0.93 for C2H2 daily means, and from 0.09 to 0.86 for HCN daily means, depending on the considered region. However, the anthropogenic (biomass burning) emissions used in the model seem to be overestimated (underestimated), and a negative global mean bias of 1% (16%) of the model relative to the satellite observations was found for C2H2 (HCN). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the wake of the June 2011 Nabro eruption, large stratospheric plumes were observed by several instruments up to altitudes of 21 km, much higher than initial reported injection heights. It has been debated whether deep convection associated with the Asian Summer Monsoon anticyclone played a vital role in the vertical transport of the plume. Here we present a new and fast SO2 height retrieval algorithm for observations of the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI). A comprehensive validation with forward trajectories and coincident CALIOP measurements is presented which indicates an accuracy better than 2 km for plumes below 20 km and SO2 columns up to the 1DU level. We use this new product to analyse the Nabro eruption. Our findings indicate an initial plume located mainly between 15 and 17 km for which the lower parts underwent in succession rapid descent and uplift, within the Asian Monsoon anticyclone circulation, up to the stable thermal tropopause between 16 and 18 km, from where it slowly ascended further into the stratosphere. Evidence is presented that emissions in the first week of the eruption also contributed to the stratospheric sulfur input. This includes a second eruption between 15 and 17 km on the 16th and continuous emissions in the mid-troposphere of which some were also entrained and lifted within the anticyclonic circulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ammonia (NH3) emissions in the atmosphere have increased substantially over the past decades, largely because of intensive livestock production and use of fertilizers. As a short-lived species, NH3 is highly variable in the atmosphere and its concentration is generally small, except near local sources. While ground-based measurements are possible, they are challenging and sparse. Advanced infrared sounders in orbit have recently demonstrated their capability to measure NH3, offering a new tool to refine global and regional budgets. In this paper we describe an improved retrieval scheme of NH3 total columns from the measurements of the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI). It exploits the hyperspectral character of this instrument by using an extended spectral range (800-1200 cm-1) where NH3 is optically active. This scheme consists of the calculation of a dimensionless spectral index from the IASI level 1C radiances, which is subsequently converted to a total NH3 column using look-up tables built from forward radiative transfer model simulations. We show how to retrieve the NH3 total columns from IASI quasi-globally and twice daily above both land and sea without large computational resources and with an improved detection limit. The retrieval also includes error characterization of the retrieved columns. Five years of IASI measurements (1 November 2007 to 31 October 2012) have been processed to acquire the first global and multiple-year data set of NH3 total columns, which are evaluated and compared to similar products from other retrieval methods. Spatial distributions from the five years data set are provided and analyzed at global and regional scales. In particular, we show the ability of this method to identify smaller emission sources than those previously reported, as well as transport patterns over the ocean. The five-year time series is further examined in terms of seasonality and interannual variability (in particular as a function of fire activity) separately for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the wake of the June 2011 Nabro eruption, large stratospheric plumes were observed by several instruments up to altitudes of 21 km, much higher than initial reported injection heights. It has been debated whether the anticyclone associated with Asian Summer Monsoon played a vital role in the vertical transport of the plume. Here we present a new and fast SO2 height retrieval algorithm for observations of the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI). A comprehensive validation with forward trajectories and coincident CALIOP measurements is presented which indicates an accuracy better than 2 km for plumes below 20km and SO2 columns up to the 1DU level. We use this new product to analyse the Nabro eruption. Our findings indicate an initial plume located mainly between 15 and 17 km for which the lower parts underwent in succession rapid descent and uplift, within the Asian Monsoon anticyclone circulation, up to the stable thermal tropopause between 16 and 18 km, from where it slowly ascended further into the stratosphere. Evidence is presented that emissions in the first week of the eruption also contributed to the stratospheric sulfur input. This includes a second eruption between 15 and 17 km on the 16th and continuous emissions in the mid-troposphere of which some were also entrained and lifted within the anticyclonic circulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ammonia (NH3) emissions in the atmosphere have strongly increased in the past decades, largely because of the intensive livestock production and use of fertilizers. As a short-lived species, NH3 is highly variable in the atmosphere and its concentration is generally small, except in and close to local source areas. While ground-based measurements are possible, they are challenging and sparse. Advanced infrared sounders in orbit have recently demonstrated their capability to measure NH3, offering a new tool to refine global and regional budgets. In this paper we describe an improved retrieval scheme of NH3 total columns from the measurements of the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI). It exploits the hyperspectral character of this instrument by using an extended spectral range (800-1200 cm-1) where NH3 is optically active. This scheme consists of the calculation of a dimensionless spectral index from the IASI level1C radiances, which is subsequently converted to a total NH3 column using look-up-tables built from forward radiative transfer model simulations. We show how to retrieve the NH3 total columns from IASI quasi-globally and twice daily, above both land and sea, without large computational resources and with an improved detection limit. The retrieval also provides error characterization on the retrieved columns. Five years of IASI measurements (1 November 2007 to 31 October 2012) have been processed to acquire the first global and multiple-year dataset of NH3 total columns, which are evaluated and compared to similar products from other retrieval methods. Spatial distributions from the five years dataset are provided and analyzed at global and regional scales. We show in particular the ability of this method to identify smaller emission sources than those reported previously, as well as transport patterns above sea. The five year time series is further examined in terms of seasonality and inter-annual variability (in particular as a function of fire activity) separately for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In July 2010, several hundred forest and peat fires broke out across central Russia during its hottest summer on record. Here, we analyze these wildfires using observations of the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI). Carbon monoxide (CO), ammonia (NH3) and formic acid (HCOOH) total columns are presented for the year 2010. Maximum total columns were found to be one order (for CO and HCOOH) and two orders (for NH3) of magnitude larger than typical background values. The temporal evolution of NH3 and HCOOH enhancement ratios relative to CO are presented. Evidence of secondary formation of HCOOH is found, with enhancement ratios exceeding reported emission ratios in fresh plumes. We estimate the total emitted masses for the period July-August 2010 over the center of western Russia; they are 19-33 Tg (CO), 0.7-2.6 Tg (NH3) and 0.9- 3.9 Tg (HCOOH). For NH3 and HCOOH, these quantities are comparable to what is emitted in the course of a whole year by all extratropical forest fires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An eight-year long reanalysis of atmospheric composition data covering the period 2003-2010 was constructed as part of the FP7-funded Monitoring Atmospheric Composition and Climate project by assimilating satellite data into a global model and data assimilation system. This reanalysis provides fields of chemically reactive gases, namely carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen oxides, and formaldehyde, as well as aerosols and greenhouse gases globally at a horizontal resolution of about 80 km for both the troposphere and the stratosphere. This paper describes the assimilation system for the reactive gases and presents validation results for the reactive gas analysis fields to document the data set and to give a first indication of its quality. Tropospheric CO values from the MACC reanalysis are on average 10-20% lower than routine observations from commercial aircrafts over airports through most of the troposphere, and have larger negative biases in the boundary layer at urban sites affected by air pollution, possibly due to an underestimation of CO or precursor emissions. Stratospheric ozone fields from the MACC reanalysis agree with ozonesondes and ACE-FTS data to within ±10% in most seasons and regions. In the troposphere the reanalysis shows biases of -5% to +10% with respect to ozonesondes and aircraft data in the extratropics, but has larger negative biases in the tropics. Area-averaged total column ozone agrees with ozone fields from a multi-sensor reanalysis data set to within a few percent. NO2 fields from the reanalysis show the right seasonality over polluted urban areas of the NH and over tropical biomass burning areas, but underestimate wintertime NO2 maxima over anthropogenic pollution regions and overestimate NO2 in northern and southern Africa during the tropical biomass burning seasons. Tropospheric HCHO is well simulated in the MACC reanalysis even though no satellite data are assimilated. It shows good agreement with independent SCIAMACHY retrievals over regions dominated by biogenic emissions with some anthropogenic input, such as the eastern US and China, and also over African regions influenced by biogenic sources and biomass burning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To further our understanding of the effects of biomass burning emissions on atmospheric composition, the Quantifying the impact of BOReal forest fires on Tropospheric oxidants over the Atlantic using Aircraft and Satellites (BORTAS) campaign was conducted on 12 July to 3 August 2011 during the Boreal forest fire season in Canada. The simultaneous aerial, ground and satellite measurement campaign sought to record instances of Boreal biomass burning to measure the tropospheric volume mixing ratios (VMRs) of short- and long-lived trace molecular species from biomass burning emissions. The goal was to investigate the connection between the composition and the distribution of these pyrogenic outflows and their resulting perturbation to atmospheric chemistry, with particular focus on oxidant species to determine the overall impact on the oxidizing capacity of the free troposphere. Measurements of pyrogenic trace species in Boreal biomass burning plumes were made by the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS) onboard the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) SCISAT-1 satellite during the BORTAS campaign. Even though most biomass burning smoke is typically confined to the boundary layer, emissions are often injected directly into the upper troposphere via fire-related convective processes, thus allowing space-borne instruments to measure these pyrogenic outflows. An extensive set of 15 molecules, CH3OH, CH4, C2H2, C2H6, C3H6O, CO, HCN, HCOOH, HNO3, H2CO, NO, NO2, OCS, O3 and PAN have been analyzed. Included in this analysis is the calculation of age-dependent sets of enhancement ratios for each of the species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In July 2010, several hundred forest and peat fires broke out across Central Russia during its hottest summer on record. Here, we analyze these wildfires using observations of the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI). Carbon monoxide (CO), ammonia (NH3) and formic acid (HCOOH) total columns are presented for the year 2010. Maximum total columns have been observed reaching over 40 (for CO and HCOOH) and 200 (for NH3) times higher than typical background values. The temporal evolution of NH3 and HCOOH enhancement ratios relative to CO are presented. Strong evidence of secondary formation of HCOOH is found, with enhancement ratios exceeding 10 times reported emission ratios in fresh plumes. We estimate the total emitted masses for the period July-August 2010 over the center of Western Russia; they are 19-33Tg (CO), 0.7-2.6Tg (NH3) and 0.9-3.9Tg (HCOOH). For NH3 and HCOOH, these quantities are comparable to what is emitted in the course of a whole year by all extratropical forest fires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sulphur dioxide (SO2) fluxes of active degassing volcanoes are routinely measured with ground-based equipment to characterize and monitor volcanic activity. SO2 of un-monitored volcanoes or from explosive volcanic eruptions, can be measured with satellites. However, remote-sensing methods based on absorption spectroscopy generally provide integrated amounts of already dispersed plumes of SO2 and satellite derived flux estimates are rarely reported. Here we review a number of different techniques to derive volcanic SO2 fluxes using satellite measurements of dispersed and large-scale plumes of SO2 and investigate the temporal evolution of the total emissions of SO2 for three very different volcanic events in 2011: Puyehue-Cordón Caulle (Chile), Nyamulagira (DR Congo) and Nabro (Eritrea). High spectral resolution satellite instruments operating both in the UV-visible (OMI/Aura and GOME-2/MetOp-A) and thermal infrared (IASI/MetOp-A) spectral ranges, and mul-tispectral satellite instruments operating in the thermal infrared (MODIS/Terra-Aqua) are used. We show that satellite data can provide fluxes with a sampling of a day or less (few hours in the best case). Generally the flux results from the different methods are consistent, and we discuss the advantages and weaknesses of each technique. Although the primary objective of this study is the calculation of SO2 fluxes, it also enables to assess the consistency of the SO2 products from the different sensors used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using an extended cavity diode laser referenced to a femtosecond frequency comb, the P(11) absorption line in the ν+ ν combination band of the most abundant isotopologue of pure acetylene was studied at temperatures of 296, 240, 200, 175, 165, 160, 155, and 150 K to determine pressure-dependent line shape parameters at these temperatures. The laser emission profile, the instrumental resolution, is a Lorentz function characterized by a half width at half the maximum emission (HWHM) of 8.3×10 cm (or 250 kHz) for these measurements. Six collision models were tested in fitting the experimental data: Voigt, speed-dependent Voigt, Rautian-Sobel'man, Galatry, and two Rautian-Galatry hybrid models (with and without speed-dependence). Only the speed-dependent Voigt model was able to fit the data to the experimental noise level at all temperatures and for pressures between 3 and nearly 360 torr. The variations of the speed-dependent Voigt profile line shape parameters with temperature were also characterized, and this model accurately reproduces the observations over their entire range of temperature and pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we retrieve atmospheric HDO, H2O concentrations and their ratio δD from IASI radiances spectra. Our method relies on an existing radiative transfer model (Atmosphit) and an optimal estimation inversion scheme, but goes further than our previous work by explicitly considering correlations between the two species. A global HDO and H2O a priori profile together with a covariance matrix were built from daily LMDz-iso model simulations of HDO and H2O profiles over the whole globe and a whole year. The retrieval parameters are described and characterized in terms of errors. We show that IASI is mostly sensitive to &deltaD in the middle troposphere and allows retrieving &deltaD for an integrated 3-6 km column with an error of 38% on an individual measurement basis. We examine the performance of the retrieval to capture the temporal (seasonal and short-term) and spatial variations of &deltaD for one year of measurement at two dedicated sites (Darwin and Izaña) and a latitudinal band from -60° to 60° for a 15 day period in January. We report a generally good agreement between IASI and the model and indicate the capabilities of IASI to reproduce the large scale variations of &deltaD (seasonal cycle and latitudinal gradient) with good accuracy. In particular, we show that there is no systematic significant bias in the retrieved &deltaD values in comparison with the model, and that the retrieved variability is similar to the one in the model even though there are certain local differences. Moreover, the noticeable differences between IASI and the model are briefly examined and suggest modeling issues instead of retrieval effects. Finally, the results further reveal the unprecedented capabilities of IASI to capture shortterm variations in &deltaD, highlighting the added value of the sounder for monitoring hydrological processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous carbon monoxide (CO) total column densities above the UNAM campus in Mexico City have been derived from solar absorption infrared spectroscopic measurements since October 2007. Its diurnal evolution is used in the present study in conjunction with other ground-based and satellite data to develop a top-down emission estimate of the annual CO emission of the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA). The growth-rate of the total column around noon under low ventilation conditions is calculated and allows us to derive the average surface emission-flux at UNAM, while similar measurements taken at the edge of the MCMA in Tecamac provides information on background CO levels in the Mexico basin. Based on 3yrof measurements, CO column measurements from the IASI satellite instrument are used to reconstruct the spatial distribution of this anthropogenic pollutant over the MCMA. The agreement between the measured columns of the satellite and ground-based measurements is excellent, particularly when a comparison strategy based on time-displaced air masses is used. The annual emission of the Mexico Megacity is estimated to be (2.15±0.5)Tgyr-1 for the year 2008, while the official inventory for that year reported 1.6Tgyr-1. The difference is slightly higher than the conservative uncertainty estimated in this work suggesting that the emission might be underestimated by the conventional bottom-up method. A larger discrepancy is found in the spatial distribution of the emissions, when comparing the emission flux over UNAM (derived from the ground-based measurement) with that of the inventory integrated over a representative area. The methodology presented here represents a new and useful strategy to evaluate the contribution of megacities to the global anthropogenic gas emissions. Additionally, three different strategies to compare ground and space-based measurements above an inhomogeneous and strongly contaminated area like Mexico City are presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]