Articles | Volume 10, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3117-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3117-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
31 Aug 2017
Research article |
| 31 Aug 2017
Estimating trends in atmospheric water vapor and temperature time series over Germany
Fadwa Alshawaf
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
German Research Centre for Geosciences GFZ, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Kyriakos Balidakis
Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformation Science, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany
Galina Dick
German Research Centre for Geosciences GFZ, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Stefan Heise
German Research Centre for Geosciences GFZ, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Jens Wickert
German Research Centre for Geosciences GFZ, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformation Science, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany
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Fadwa Alshawaf, Galina Dick, Stefan Heise, Tzvetan Simeonov, Sibylle Vey, Torsten Schmidt, and Jens Wickert
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2016-151, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2016-151, 2016
Revised manuscript not accepted
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In this work, we use time series from GNSS, European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis (ERA-Interim) data, and meteorological measurements to evaluate climate evolution in Central Europe. We monitor different atmospheric variables such as temperature, PWV, precipitation, and snow cover. The results show an increasing trend the water vapor time series that are correlated with the trend the temperature tme series. The average increase of water vapor is about 0.3–0.6 mm/decade .
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Tropospheric gradients provide information on the moisture distribution, whereas ZTDs provide the absolute amount of moisture through integrated water vapor. When TGs are assimilated with ZTDs, it helps the model actuate the moisture fields, correcting its dynamics. In our research, we show evidence that in particular regions with very few GNSS stations, the assimilation of gradients on top of ZTDs can provide the same impact as the assimilation of only ZTDs with dense coverage of GNSS stations.
Yuanxin Pan, Grzegorz Kłopotek, Laura Crocetti, Rudi Weinacker, Tobias Sturn, Linda See, Galina Dick, Gregor Möller, Markus Rothacher, Ian McCallum, Vicente Navarro, and Benedikt Soja
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4303–4316, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4303-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4303-2024, 2024
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Crowdsourced smartphone GNSS data were processed with a dedicated data processing pipeline and could produce millimeter-level accurate estimates of zenith total delay (ZTD) – a critical atmospheric variable. This breakthrough not only demonstrates the feasibility of using ubiquitous devices for high-precision atmospheric monitoring but also underscores the potential for a global, cost-effective tropospheric monitoring network.
Rohith Thundathil, Florian Zus, Galina Dick, and Jens Wickert
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Ladina Steiner, Holger Schmithüsen, Jens Wickert, and Olaf Eisen
The Cryosphere, 17, 4903–4916, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4903-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4903-2023, 2023
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Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 21–39, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-21-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-21-2022, 2022
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Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 5127–5138, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5127-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5127-2021, 2021
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Within the MOSAiC expedition, GNSS was used to monitor variations in atmospheric water vapor. Based on 15 months of continuously tracked data, coordinates and hourly zenith total delays (ZTDs) were determined using kinematic precise point positioning. The derived ZTD values agree within few millimeters with ERA5 and terrestrial GNSS and VLBI stations. The derived integrated water vapor corresponds to the frequently launched radiosondes (0.08 ± 0.04 kg m−2, rms of the differences of 1.47 kg m−2).
Chaiyaporn Kitpracha, Robert Heinkelmann, Markus Ramatschi, Kyriakos Balidakis, Benjamin Männel, and Harald Schuh
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2021-87, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2021-87, 2021
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In this study, we expected to learn what are the potential effects of GNSS atmospheric delays from this unique experiment. The results show that the instrument effects on GNSS zenith delays were mitigated by using the same instrument. The radome causes unexpected bias of GNSS zenith delays in this study. Additionally, multipath effects at low-elevation observations degraded the tropospheric east gradients.
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The paper focuses on the analyses of the global occurrence of equatorial plasma bubble events using S4 data that were calculated from GPS radio occultation measurements of the FormoSat-3/COSMIC mission. The advantage in using radio occultation data is that we get information not only on the occurrence and intensity of the equatorial bubble events, but also on the altitude distribution. We analyzed a 10.5-year time series of COSMIC data and demonstrated a strong dependence on the solar cycle.
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Application of global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs) for atmospheric remote sensing (GNSS meteorology) is a well-established field in both research and operation in Europe. This review covers the state of the art in GNSS meteorology in Europe. It discusses 1) advances in GNSS processing techniques and tropospheric products, 2) use in numerical weather prediction and nowcasting, and 3) climate research.
Jan Douša, Galina Dick, Michal Kačmařík, Radmila Brožková, Florian Zus, Hugues Brenot, Anastasia Stoycheva, Gregor Möller, and Jan Kaplon
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GNSS products provide observations of atmospheric water vapour. Advanced tropospheric products focus on ultra-fast and high-resolution zenith total delays (ZTDs), horizontal gradients and slant delays, all suitable for rapid-cycle numerical weather prediction (NWP) and severe weather event monitoring. The GNSS4SWEC Benchmark provides a complex data set for developing and assessing these products, with initial focus on reference ZTDs and gradients derived from several NWP and dense GNSS networks.
Fadwa Alshawaf, Galina Dick, Stefan Heise, Tzvetan Simeonov, Sibylle Vey, Torsten Schmidt, and Jens Wickert
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2016-151, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2016-151, 2016
Revised manuscript not accepted
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In this work, we use time series from GNSS, European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis (ERA-Interim) data, and meteorological measurements to evaluate climate evolution in Central Europe. We monitor different atmospheric variables such as temperature, PWV, precipitation, and snow cover. The results show an increasing trend the water vapor time series that are correlated with the trend the temperature tme series. The average increase of water vapor is about 0.3–0.6 mm/decade .
T. Ning, J. Wang, G. Elgered, G. Dick, J. Wickert, M. Bradke, M. Sommer, R. Querel, and D. Smale
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 79–92, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-79-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-79-2016, 2016
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Integrated water vapour (IWV) obtained from GNSS is to be developed into a GRUAN data product. In addition to the actual measurement, this data product needs to provide an estimate of the measurement uncertainty at the same time resolution as the actual measurement. The method developed in the paper fulfils the requirement by assigning a specific uncertainty to each data point. The method is also valuable for all applications of GNSS IWV data in atmospheric research and weather forecast.
S. Steinke, S. Eikenberg, U. Löhnert, G. Dick, D. Klocke, P. Di Girolamo, and S. Crewell
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 2675–2692, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-2675-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-2675-2015, 2015
M. Shangguan, S. Heise, M. Bender, G. Dick, M. Ramatschi, and J. Wickert
Ann. Geophys., 33, 55–61, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-33-55-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-33-55-2015, 2015
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We present validation results covering 184 days of SIWV (slant-integrated water vapor) observed by a ground-based GPS receiver and a WVR (water vapor radiometer). SIWV data from GPS and WVR generally show good agreement, and the relation between their differences and possible influential factors are analyzed. The differences in SIWV show a relative elevation dependence. Besides the elevation, dependencies between the atmospheric humidity conditions, temperature and differences in SIWV are found.
F. Zus, G. Beyerle, S. Heise, T. Schmidt, and J. Wickert
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amtd-7-12719-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amtd-7-12719-2014, 2014
Preprint withdrawn
M. Shangguan, M. Bender, M. Ramatschi, G. Dick, J. Wickert, A. Raabe, and R. Galas
Ann. Geophys., 31, 1491–1505, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-31-1491-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-31-1491-2013, 2013
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Subject: Gases | Technique: Remote Sensing | Topic: Data Processing and Information Retrieval
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We develop and demonstrate a fast forward function emulator for remote sensing of greenhouse gases. These forward functions are computationally expensive to evaluate, and as such the key challenge for many satellite missions in their data processing is the time used in these evaluations. Our method is fast and accurate enough, less than 1 % relative error, so that it could be safely used in operational processing.
Alistair Bell, Eric Sauvageat, Gunter Stober, Klemens Hocke, and Axel Murk
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 555–567, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-555-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-555-2025, 2025
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Hardware and software developments have been made on a 22 GHz microwave radiometer for the measurement of middle-atmospheric water vapour near Bern, Switzerland. Previous measurements dating back to 2010 have been re-calibrated and an improved optimal estimation retrieval performed on these measurements, giving a 13-year dataset. Measurements made with new and improved instrumental hardware are used to correct previous measurements, which show better agreement than the non-corrected dataset.
Alexandre Danjou, Grégoire Broquet, Andrew Schuh, François-Marie Bréon, and Thomas Lauvaux
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 533–554, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-533-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-533-2025, 2025
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We study the capacity of XCO2 spaceborne imagery to estimate urban CO2 emissions with synthetic data. We define automatic and standard methods and objective criteria for image selection. The wind variability and urban emission budget guide the emission estimation error. Images with low wind variability and high urban emissions account for 47 % of images and give a bias in the emission estimation of −7 % and a spread of 56 %. Other images give a bias of −31 % and a spread of 99 %.
Yiguo Pang, Longfei Tian, Denghui Hu, Shuang Gao, and Guohua Liu
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 455–470, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-455-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-455-2025, 2025
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The spatial adjacency of methane point sources can result in plume overlapping, presenting challenges for quantification from space. A separation and quantification method combining the Gaussian plume model and the integrated mass enhancement method is proposed. A modern parameter estimation technique is introduced to separate the overlapping plumes from satellite observations. The proposed method is evaluated with synthesized observations and real satellite observations.
Michael Weimer, Michael Hilker, Stefan Noël, Max Reuter, Michael Buchwitz, Blanca Fuentes Andrade, Rüdiger Lang, Bernd Sierk, Yasjka Meijer, Heinrich Bovensmann, John P. Burrows, and Hartmut Bösch
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3857, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3857, 2025
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Optical detectors have a maximum signal (saturation). Exceedance means that the measurement has to be discarded. We investigate where saturation will occur for the future European satellite mission dedicated to CO2 Monitoring (CO2M) and strategies to avoid saturation. It impacts coverage and precision, both important for estimation of local CO2 emissions. We find that taking two pictures per sampling should be sufficient to avoid saturation for CO2M with some impact on the CO2 precision.
Maximilian Reuter, Michael Hilker, Stefan Noël, Antonio Di Noia, Michael Weimer, Oliver Schneising, Michael Buchwitz, Heinrich Bovensmann, John P. Burrows, Hartmut Bösch, and Ruediger Lang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 241–264, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-241-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-241-2025, 2025
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Carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) are the main anthropogenic greenhouse gases. The European Copernicus CO2 monitoring satellite mission CO2M will provide measurements of their atmospheric concentrations, but the accuracy requirements are demanding and conventional retrieval methods computationally expensive. We present a new retrieval algorithm based on artificial neural networks that has the potential to meet the stringent requirements of the CO2M mission with minimal computational effort.
Luis Guanter, Jack Warren, Mark Omara, Apisada Chulakadabba, Javier Roger, Maryann Sargent, Jonathan E. Franklin, Steven C. Wofsy, and Ritesh Gautam
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3577, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3577, 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 than other existing methods, and that improves the potential of MethaneAIR to survey methane point sources across large regions
Xiaoyi Zhao, Vitali Fioletov, Debora Griffin, Chris McLinden, Ralf Staebler, Cristian Mihele, Kevin Strawbridge, Jonathan Davies, Ihab Abboud, Sum Chi Lee, Alexander Cede, Martin Tiefengraber, and Robert Swap
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6889–6912, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6889-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6889-2024, 2024
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This study explores differences between remote sensing and in situ instruments in terms of their vertical, horizontal, and temporal sampling differences. Understanding and resolving these differences are critical for future analyses linking satellite, ground-based remote sensing, and in situ observations in air quality monitoring. It shows that the meteorological conditions (wind directions, speed, and boundary layer conditions) will strongly affect the agreement between the two measurements.
Leon Kuhn, Steffen Beirle, Sergey Osipov, Andrea Pozzer, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6485–6516, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6485-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6485-2024, 2024
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This paper presents a new machine learning model that allows us to compute NO2 concentration profiles from satellite observations. A neural network was trained on synthetic data from the regional chemistry and transport model WRF-Chem. This is the first model of its kind. We present a thorough model validation study, covering various seasons and regions of the world.
Swathi Maratt Satheesan, Kai-Uwe Eichmann, John P. Burrows, Mark Weber, Ryan Stauffer, Anne M. Thompson, and Debra Kollonige
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6459–6484, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6459-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6459-2024, 2024
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CHORA, an advanced cloud convective differential technique, enhances the accuracy of tropospheric-ozone retrievals. Unlike the traditional Pacific cloud reference sector scheme, CHORA introduces a local-cloud reference sector and an alternative approach (CLCT) for precision. Analysing monthly averaged TROPOMI data from 2018 to 2022 and validating with SHADOZ ozonesonde data, CLCT outperforms other methods and so is the preferred choice, especially in future geostationary satellite missions.
Minqiang Zhou, Pucai Wang, Bart Dils, Bavo Langerock, Geoff Toon, Christian Hermans, Weidong Nan, Qun Cheng, and Martine De Mazière
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6385–6396, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6385-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6385-2024, 2024
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Solar absorption spectra near 2967 cm−1 recorded by a ground-based FTIR with a high spectral resolution of 0.0035 cm-1 are applied to retrieve C3H8 columns for the first time in Xianghe, China, within the NDACC-IRWG. The mean and standard deviation of the C3H8 columns are 1.80 ± 0.81 (1σ) × 1015 molec. cm-2. Good correlations are found between C3H8 and other non-methane hydrocarbons, such as C2H6 (R = 0.84) and C2H2 (R = 0.79), as well as between C3H8 and CO (R = 0.72).
Janek Gödeke, Andreas Richter, Kezia Lange, Peter Maaß, Hyunkee Hong, Hanlim Lee, and Junsung Park
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3145, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3145, 2024
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The Korean Geostationary Environmental Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) monitors trace gases over Asia, e.g., NO2. GEMS provides hourly data, improving the time-resolution compared to the daily overpasses by other satellites. For the prediction of hourly surface NO2 over Korea from GEMS observations and meteorological data, this study shows that machine learning models benefit from this higher time-resolution. This is achieved by using observations from previous hours as additional inputs.
Farrer Owsley-Brown, Martin J. Wooster, Mark J. Grosvenor, and Yanan Liu
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6247–6264, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6247-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6247-2024, 2024
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Landscape fires produce vast amounts of smoke, affecting the atmosphere locally and globally. Whether a fire is flaming or smouldering strongly impacts the rate at which smoke is produced as well as its composition. This study tested two methods to determine these combustion phases in laboratory fires and compared them to the smoke emitted. One of these methods improved estimates of smoke emission significantly. This suggests potential for improvement in global emission estimates.
Sora Seo, Pieter Valks, Ronny Lutz, Klaus-Peter Heue, Pascal Hedelt, Víctor Molina García, Diego Loyola, Hanlim Lee, and Jhoon Kim
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6163–6191, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6163-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6163-2024, 2024
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In this study, we developed an advanced retrieval algorithm for tropospheric NO2 columns from geostationary satellite spectrometers and applied it to GEMS measurements. The DLR GEMS NO2 retrieval algorithm follows the heritage from previous and existing algorithms, but improved approaches are applied to reflect the specific features of geostationary satellites. The DLR GEMS NO2 retrievals demonstrate a good capability for monitoring diurnal variability with a high spatial resolution.
Theodore K. Koenig, François Hendrick, Douglas Kinnison, Christopher F. Lee, Michel Van Roozendael, and Rainer Volkamer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5911–5934, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5911-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5911-2024, 2024
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Atmospheric bromine destroys ozone, impacts oxidation capacity, and oxidizes mercury into its toxic form. We constrain bromine by remote sensing of BrO from a mountaintop. Previous measurements retrieved two to three pieces of information vertically; we apply new methods to get five and a half vertically and two more in time. We compare with aircraft measurements to validate the methods and look at variations in BrO over the Pacific.
Kavitha Mottungan, Chayan Roychoudhury, Vanessa Brocchi, Benjamin Gaubert, Wenfu Tang, Mohammad Amin Mirrezaei, John McKinnon, Yafang Guo, David W. T. Griffith, Dietrich G. Feist, Isamu Morino, Mahesh K. Sha, Manvendra K. Dubey, Martine De Mazière, Nicholas M. Deutscher, Paul O. Wennberg, Ralf Sussmann, Rigel Kivi, Tae-Young Goo, Voltaire A. Velazco, Wei Wang, and Avelino F. Arellano Jr.
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5861–5885, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5861-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5861-2024, 2024
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A combination of data analysis techniques is introduced to separate local and regional influences on observed levels of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and methane from an established ground-based remote sensing network. We take advantage of the covariations in these trace gases to identify the dominant type of sources driving these levels. Applying these methods in conjunction with existing approaches to other datasets can better address uncertainties in identifying sources and sinks.
Chia-Pang Kuo and Christian Kummerow
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5637–5653, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5637-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5637-2024, 2024
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A small satellite about the size of a shoe box, named TEMPEST, carries only a microwave sensor and is designed to measure the water cycle of the Earth from space in an economical way compared with traditional satellites, which have additional infrared sensors. To overcome the limitation, extra infrared signals from GOES-R ABI are combined with TEMPEST microwave measurements. Compared with ground observations, improved humidity information is extracted from the merged TEMPEST and ABI signals.
Carley D. Fredrickson, Scott J. Janz, Lok N. Lamsal, Ursula A. Jongebloed, Joshua L. Laughner, and Joel A. Thornton
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-158, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-158, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for AMT
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We present an analysis of high-resolution remote sensing measurements of nitrogen-containing trace gases emitted by wildfires. The measurements were made using an instrument on the NASA ER-2 aircraft in the summer of 2019. We find that time-resolved fire intensity is critical to quantify trace gas emissions over a fire’s entire lifespan. These findings have implications for improving air pollution forecasts downwind of wildfires using computer models of atmospheric chemistry and meteorology.
Mickaël Bacles, Jonathan Améric, and Vincent Guidard
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2941, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2941, 2024
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Sulfur dioxide emitted during volcanic eruptions can be hazardous for aviation safety. A recent development aims at improving the forecasts of volcanic sulfur dioxide quantities made by the MOCAGE chemistry transport model. Both TROPOMI and IASI instruments are assimilated in the model. We focus on the eruption event of the La Soufrière Saint-Vincent volcano in April 2021. The combined assimilation of IASI and TROPOMI observations always leads to a better analyses and forecasts.
Bavo Langerock, Martine De Mazière, Filip Desmet, Pauli Heikkinen, Rigel Kivi, Mahesh Kumar Sha, Corinne Vigouroux, Minqiang Zhou, Gopala Khrisna Darbha, and Mohmmed Talib
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2764, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2764, 2024
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Ground-based Fourier-transform interferometer instruments have been used for many decades to measure direct solar light in the infrared to obtain high-resolution spectra from which atmospheric gas profile concentrations can be derived. It is shown that the typical processing chain used to derive atmospheric gas columns can be sensitive to relatively small shortenings of the recorded interferograms. Low-resolution recordings, used in more recent years, are more sensitive to such adaptations.
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.
Matthieu Dogniaux and Cyril Crevoisier
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5373–5396, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5373-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5373-2024, 2024
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Many CO2-observing satellite concepts, with very different design choices and trade-offs, are expected to be put into orbit during the upcoming decade. This work uses numerical simulations to explore the impact of critical design parameters on the performance of upcoming CO2-observing satellite concepts.
Francesca Vittorioso, Vincent Guidard, and Nadia Fourrié
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5279–5299, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5279-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5279-2024, 2024
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The future Meteosat Third Generation Infrared Sounder (MTG-IRS) will represent a major innovation for the monitoring of the chemical state of the atmosphere. MTG-IRS will have the advantage of being based on a geostationary platform and acquiring data with a high temporal frequency. This work aims to evaluate its potential impact over Europe within a chemical transport model (MOCAGE). The results indicate that the assimilation of these data always has a positive impact on ozone analysis.
Matthias Schneider, Kinya Toride, Farahnaz Khosrawi, Frank Hase, Benjamin Ertl, Christopher J. Diekmann, and Kei Yoshimura
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5243–5259, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5243-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5243-2024, 2024
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Despite its importance for extreme weather and climate feedbacks, atmospheric convection is not well constrained. This study assesses the potential of novel tropospheric water vapour isotopologue satellite observations for improving the analyses of convective events. We find that the impact of the isotopologues is small for stable atmospheric conditions but significant for unstable conditions, which have the strongest societal impacts (e.g. storms and flooding).
Mengyao Liu, Ronald van der A, Michiel van Weele, Lotte Bryan, Henk Eskes, Pepijn Veefkind, Yongxue Liu, Xiaojuan Lin, Jos de Laat, and Jieying Ding
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5261–5277, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5261-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5261-2024, 2024
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A new divergence method was developed and applied to estimate methane emissions from TROPOMI observations over the Middle East, where it is typically challenging for a satellite to measure methane due to its complicated orography and surface albedo. Our results show the potential of TROPOMI to quantify methane emissions from various sources rather than big emitters from space after objectively excluding the artifacts in the retrieval.
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.
Xianzhong Duan, Ming Chang, Guotong Wu, Suping Situ, Shengjie Zhu, Qi Zhang, Yibo Huangfu, Weiwen Wang, Weihua Chen, Bin Yuan, and Xuemei Wang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4065–4079, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4065-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4065-2024, 2024
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Accurately estimating biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emissions in forest ecosystems has been challenging. This research presents a framework that utilizes drone-based lidar, photogrammetry, and image recognition technologies to identify plant species and estimate BVOC emissions. The largest cumulative isoprene emissions were found in the Myrtaceae family, while those of monoterpenes were from the Rubiaceae family.
Fengxin Xie, Tao Ren, Changying Zhao, Yuan Wen, Yilei Gu, Minqiang Zhou, Pucai Wang, Kei Shiomi, and Isamu Morino
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3949–3967, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3949-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3949-2024, 2024
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This study demonstrates a new machine learning approach to efficiently and accurately estimate atmospheric carbon dioxide levels from satellite data. Rather than using traditional complex physics-based retrieval methods, neural network models are trained on simulated data to rapidly predict CO2 concentrations directly from satellite spectral measurements.
Steffen Beirle and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3439–3453, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3439-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3439-2024, 2024
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We present a new method for estimating emissions and lifetimes for nitrogen oxides emitted from large cities by using satellite NO2 observations combined with wind fields. The estimate is based on the simultaneous evaluation of the downwind plumes for opposing wind directions. This allows us to derive seasonal mean emissions and lifetimes for 100 cities around the globe.
Qiurun Yu, Dylan Jervis, and Yi Huang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3347–3366, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3347-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3347-2024, 2024
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This study estimated the effects of aerosols on GHGSat satellite methane retrieval and investigated the performance of simultaneously retrieving aerosol and methane information using a multi-angle viewing method. Results suggested that the performance of GHGSat methane retrieval improved when aerosols were considered, and the multi-angle viewing method is insensitive to the satellite angle setting. This performance assessment is useful for improving future GHGSat-like instruments.
Zhonghua He, Ling Gao, Miao Liang, and Zhao-Cheng Zeng
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2937–2956, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2937-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2937-2024, 2024
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Using Gaofen-5B satellite data, this study detected 93 methane plume events from 32 coal mines in Shanxi, China, with emission rates spanning from 761.78 ± 185.00 to 12729.12 ± 4658.13 kg h-1, showing significant variability among sources. This study highlights Gaofen-5B’s capacity for monitoring large methane point sources, offering valuable support in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Heesung Chong, Gonzalo González Abad, Caroline R. Nowlan, Christopher Chan Miller, Alfonso Saiz-Lopez, Rafael P. Fernandez, Hyeong-Ahn Kwon, Zolal Ayazpour, Huiqun Wang, Amir H. Souri, Xiong Liu, Kelly Chance, Ewan O'Sullivan, Jhoon Kim, Ja-Ho Koo, William R. Simpson, François Hendrick, Richard Querel, Glen Jaross, Colin Seftor, and Raid M. Suleiman
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2873–2916, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2873-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2873-2024, 2024
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We present a new bromine monoxide (BrO) product derived using radiances measured from OMPS-NM on board the Suomi-NPP satellite. This product provides nearly a decade of global stratospheric and tropospheric column retrievals, a feature that is currently rare in publicly accessible datasets. Both stratospheric and tropospheric columns from OMPS-NM demonstrate robust performance, exhibiting good agreement with ground-based observations collected at three stations (Lauder, Utqiagvik, and Harestua).
Norbert Glatthor, Thomas von Clarmann, Bernd Funke, Maya García-Comas, Udo Grabowski, Michael Höpfner, Sylvia Kellmann, Michael Kiefer, Alexandra Laeng, Andrea Linden, Manuel López-Puertas, and Gabriele P. Stiller
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2849–2871, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2849-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2849-2024, 2024
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We present global atmospheric methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) distributions retrieved from measurements of the MIPAS instrument on board the Environmental Satellite (Envisat) during 2002 to 2012. Monitoring of these gases is of scientific interest because both of them are strong greenhouse gases. We analyze the latest, improved version of calibrated MIPAS measurements. Further, we apply a new retrieval scheme leading to an improved CH4 and N2O data product .
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.
Anna Vaughan, Gonzalo Mateo-García, Luis Gómez-Chova, Vít Růžička, Luis Guanter, and Itziar Irakulis-Loitxate
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2583–2593, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2583-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2583-2024, 2024
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Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that has been responsible for around 25 % of global warming since the industrial revolution. Consequently identifying and mitigating methane emissions comprise an important step in combating the climate crisis. We develop a new deep learning model to automatically detect methane plumes from satellite images and demonstrate that this can be applied to monitor large methane emissions resulting from the oil and gas industry.
Stefan Noël, Michael Buchwitz, Michael Hilker, Maximilian Reuter, Michael Weimer, Heinrich Bovensmann, John P. Burrows, Hartmut Bösch, and Ruediger Lang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2317–2334, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2317-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2317-2024, 2024
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FOCAL-CO2M is one of the three operational retrieval algorithms which will be used to derive XCO2 and XCH4 from measurements of the forthcoming European CO2M mission. We present results of applications of FOCAL-CO2M to simulated spectra, from which confidence is gained that the algorithm is able to fulfil the challenging requirements on systematic errors for the CO2M mission (spatio-temporal bias ≤ 0.5 ppm for XCO2 and ≤ 5 ppb for XCH4).
Marvin Knapp, Ralph Kleinschek, Sanam N. Vardag, Felix Külheim, Helge Haveresch, Moritz Sindram, Tim Siegel, Bruno Burger, and André Butz
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2257–2275, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2257-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2257-2024, 2024
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Imaging carbon dioxide (CO2) plumes of anthropogenic sources from planes and satellites has proven valuable for detecting emitters and monitoring climate mitigation efforts. We present the first images of CO2 plumes taken with a ground-based spectral camera, observing a coal-fired power plant as a validation target. We develop a technique to find the source emission strength with an hourly resolution, which reasonably agrees with the expected emissions under favorable conditions.
Karl Voglmeier, Voltaire A. Velazco, Luca Egli, Julian Gröbner, Alberto Redondas, and Wolfgang Steinbrecht
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2277–2294, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2277-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2277-2024, 2024
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Comparison between total ozone column (TOC) measurements from ground-based Dobson and Brewer spectrophotometers generally reveals seasonally varying differences of a few percent. This study recommends a new TOC retrieval approach, which effectively eliminates these seasonally varying differences by applying new ozone absorption cross sections, appropriate slit functions for the Dobson instrument, and climatological values for the effective ozone temperature.
Jihanne El Haouari, Jean-Michel Gaucel, Christelle Pittet, Jean-Yves Tourneret, and Herwig Wendt
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2404.05298, https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2404.05298, 2024
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This paper explores new techniques based on sparse representations for estimating the spectral response functions of high-resolution spectrometers. The method is highly competitive with commonly used parametric models yielding more accurate estimates while accounting for wavelength dependence. The resulting normalized estimation errors of the spectrometer spectral responses are less than 1 %, which will allow better quantification of trace gas concentrations at the Earth surface.
Cited articles
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Short summary
In this paper, we aimed at estimating climatic trends using precipitable water vapor time series and surface measurements of air temperature in Germany. We used GNSS, ERA-Interim, and synoptic data. The results show mainly a positive trend in precipitable water vapor and temperature with an increase in the trend when moving to northeastern Germany.
In this paper, we aimed at estimating climatic trends using precipitable water vapor time series...
