Articles | Volume 10, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-759-2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-759-2017
Research article
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07 Mar 2017
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 07 Mar 2017

Structural uncertainty in air mass factor calculation for NO2 and HCHO satellite retrievals

Alba Lorente, K. Folkert Boersma, Huan Yu, Steffen Dörner, Andreas Hilboll, Andreas Richter, Mengyao Liu, Lok N. Lamsal, Michael Barkley, Isabelle De Smedt, Michel Van Roozendael, Yang Wang, Thomas Wagner, Steffen Beirle, Jin-Tai Lin, Nickolay Krotkov, Piet Stammes, Ping Wang, Henk J. Eskes, and Maarten Krol

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Cited articles

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Short summary
Choices and assumptions made to represent the state of the atmosphere introduce an uncertainty of 42 % in the air mass factor calculation in trace gas satellite retrievals in polluted regions. The AMF strongly depends on the choice of a priori trace gas profile, surface albedo data set and the correction method to account for clouds and aerosols. We call for well-designed validation exercises focusing on situations when AMF structural uncertainty has the highest impact on satellite retrievals.
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