Articles | Volume 14, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2827-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2827-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
12 Apr 2021
Research article |
| 12 Apr 2021
| 12 Apr 2021
Spectroscopic imaging of sub-kilometer spatial structure in lower-tropospheric water vapor
David R. Thompson
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91103, USA
Brian H. Kahn
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91103, USA
Philip G. Brodrick
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91103, USA
Matthew D. Lebsock
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91103, USA
Mark Richardson
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91103, USA
Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 90095, USA
Robert O. Green
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91103, USA
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Juan M. Socuellamos, Raquel Rodriguez Monje, Matthew D. Lebsock, Ken B. Cooper, and Pavlos Kollias
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Brian Kahn, Cameron Bertossa, Xiuhong Chen, Brian Drouin, Erin Hokanson, Xianglei Huang, Tristan L'Ecuyer, Kyle Mattingly, Aronne Merrelli, Tim Michaels, Nate Miller, Federico Donat, Tiziano Maestri, and Michele Martinazzo
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Preprint archived
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A cloud detection mask algorithm is developed for the upcoming Polar Radiant Energy in the Far Infrared Experiment (PREFIRE) satellite mission to be launched by NASA in May 2024. The cloud mask is compared to "truth" and is capable of detecting over 90 % of all clouds globally tested with simulated data, and about 87 % of all clouds in the Arctic region.
María Gonçalves Ageitos, Vincenzo Obiso, Ron L. Miller, Oriol Jorba, Martina Klose, Matt Dawson, Yves Balkanski, Jan Perlwitz, Sara Basart, Enza Di Tomaso, Jerónimo Escribano, Francesca Macchia, Gilbert Montané, Natalie M. Mahowald, Robert O. Green, David R. Thompson, and Carlos Pérez García-Pando
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8623–8657, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8623-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8623-2023, 2023
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Dust aerosols affect our climate differently depending on their mineral composition. We include dust mineralogy in an atmospheric model considering two existing soil maps, which still have large associated uncertainties. The soil data and the distribution of the minerals in different aerosol sizes are key to our model performance. We find significant regional variations in climate-relevant variables, which supports including mineralogy in our current models and the need for improved soil maps.
Richard M. Schulte, Matthew D. Lebsock, and John M. Haynes
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3531–3546, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3531-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3531-2023, 2023
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In order to constrain climate models and better understand how clouds might change in future climates, accurate satellite estimates of cloud liquid water content are important. The satellite currently best suited to this purpose, CloudSat, is not sensitive enough to detect some non-raining low clouds. In this study we show that information from two other satellite instruments, MODIS and CALIOP, can be combined to provide cloud water estimates for many of the clouds that are missed by CloudSat.
Mark T. Richardson, Brian H. Kahn, and Peter Kalmus
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7699–7717, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7699-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7699-2023, 2023
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Convection over land often triggers hours after a satellite last passed overhead and measured the state of the atmosphere, and during those hours the atmosphere can change greatly. Here we show that it is possible to reconstruct most of those changes by using weather forecast winds to predict where warm and moist air parcels will travel. The results can be used to better predict where precipitation is likely to happen in the hours after satellite measurements.
Kevin M. Smalley, Matthew D. Lebsock, Ryan Eastman, Mark Smalley, and Mikael K. Witte
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 8197–8219, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8197-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8197-2022, 2022
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Qing Yue, Eric J. Fetzer, Likun Wang, Brian H. Kahn, Nadia Smith, John M. Blaisdell, Kerry G. Meyer, Mathias Schreier, Bjorn Lambrigtsen, and Irina Tkatcheva
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Mark T. Richardson, David R. Thompson, Marcin J. Kurowski, and Matthew D. Lebsock
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 117–129, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-117-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-117-2022, 2022
Short summary
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Sunlight can pass diagonally through the atmosphere, cutting through the 3-D water vapour field in a way that
smears2-D maps of imaging spectroscopy vapour retrievals. In simulations we show how this smearing is
towardsor
away fromthe Sun, so calculating
across the solar direction allows sub-kilometre information about water vapour's spatial scaling to be calculated. This could be tested by airborne campaigns and used to obtain new information from upcoming spaceborne data products.
Richard J. Roy, Matthew Lebsock, and Marcin J. Kurowski
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6443–6468, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6443-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6443-2021, 2021
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This study describes the potential capabilities of a hypothetical spaceborne radar to observe water vapor within clouds.
Mark T. Richardson, David R. Thompson, Marcin J. Kurowski, and Matthew D. Lebsock
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 5555–5576, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5555-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5555-2021, 2021
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Modern and upcoming hyperspectral imagers will take images with spatial resolutions as fine as 20 m. They can retrieve column water vapour, and we show evidence that from these column measurements you can get statistics of planetary boundary layer (PBL) water vapour. This is important information for climate models that need to account for sub-grid mixing of water vapour near the surface in their PBL schemes.
Longlei Li, Natalie M. Mahowald, Ron L. Miller, Carlos Pérez García-Pando, Martina Klose, Douglas S. Hamilton, Maria Gonçalves Ageitos, Paul Ginoux, Yves Balkanski, Robert O. Green, Olga Kalashnikova, Jasper F. Kok, Vincenzo Obiso, David Paynter, and David R. Thompson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 3973–4005, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3973-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3973-2021, 2021
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For the first time, this study quantifies the range of the dust direct radiative effect due to uncertainty in the soil mineral abundance using all currently available information. We show that the majority of the estimated direct radiative effect range is due to uncertainty in the simulated mass fractions of iron oxides and thus their soil abundance, which is independent of the model employed. We therefore prove the necessity of considering mineralogy for understanding dust–climate interactions.
Jakob Borchardt, Konstantin Gerilowski, Sven Krautwurst, Heinrich Bovensmann, Andrew K. Thorpe, David R. Thompson, Christian Frankenberg, Charles E. Miller, Riley M. Duren, and John Philip Burrows
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 1267–1291, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1267-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1267-2021, 2021
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The AVIRIS-NG hyperspectral imager has been used successfully to identify and quantify anthropogenic methane sources utilizing different retrieval and inversion methods. Here, we examine the adaption and application of the WFM-DOAS algorithm to AVIRIS-NG measurements to retrieve local methane column enhancements, compare the results with other retrievals, and quantify the uncertainties resulting from the retrieval method. Additionally, we estimate emissions from five detected methane plumes.
Macey W. Sandford, David R. Thompson, Robert O. Green, Brian H. Kahn, Raffaele Vitulli, Steve Chien, Amruta Yelamanchili, and Winston Olson-Duvall
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 7047–7057, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-7047-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-7047-2020, 2020
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We demonstrate an onboard cloud-screening approach to significantly reduce the amount of cloud-contaminated data transmitted from orbit. We have produced location-specific models that improve performance by taking into account the unique cloud statistics in different latitudes. We have shown that screening clouds based on their location or surface type will improve the ability for a cloud-screening tool to improve the volume of usable science data.
Luis Millán, Richard Roy, and Matthew Lebsock
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 5193–5205, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5193-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5193-2020, 2020
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This paper describes the feasibility of using a differential absorption radar technique for the remote sensing of total column water vapor from a spaceborne platform.
Mark Richardson, Matthew D. Lebsock, James McDuffie, and Graeme L. Stephens
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 4947–4961, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4947-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4947-2020, 2020
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We previously combined CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation) lidar data and reflected-sunlight measurements from OCO-2 (Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2) for information about low clouds over oceans. The satellites are no longer formation-flying, so this work is a step towards getting new information about these clouds using only OCO-2. We can rapidly and accurately identify liquid oceanic clouds and obtain their height better than a widely used passive sensor.
Siraput Jongaramrungruang, Christian Frankenberg, Georgios Matheou, Andrew K. Thorpe, David R. Thompson, Le Kuai, and Riley M. Duren
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 6667–6681, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6667-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6667-2019, 2019
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This paper demonstrates the use of high-resolution 2-D plume imagery from airborne remote sensing retrievals to quantify methane point-source emissions. It shows significant improvements on the flux estimates without the need for direct wind speed measurements. This paves the way for enhanced flux estimates in future field campaign and space-based observations to better understand the magnitude and distribution of various point sources of methane.
Daniel H. Cusworth, Daniel J. Jacob, Daniel J. Varon, Christopher Chan Miller, Xiong Liu, Kelly Chance, Andrew K. Thorpe, Riley M. Duren, Charles E. Miller, David R. Thompson, Christian Frankenberg, Luis Guanter, and Cynthia A. Randles
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 5655–5668, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5655-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5655-2019, 2019
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We examine the potential for global detection of methane plumes from individual point sources with the new generation of spaceborne imaging spectrometers scheduled for launch in 2019–2025. We perform methane retrievals on simulated scenes with varying surfaces and atmospheric methane concentrations. Our results suggest that imaging spectrometers in space could play a transformative role in the future for quantifying methane emissions from point sources on a global scale.
Alexandre Guillaume, Brian H. Kahn, Eric J. Fetzer, Qing Yue, Gerald J. Manipon, Brian D. Wilson, and Hook Hua
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 4361–4377, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-4361-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-4361-2019, 2019
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A method is described to classify cloud mixtures of cloud top types, termed cloud scenes, using cloud type classification derived from the CloudSat radar. The scale dependence of the cloud scenes is quantified. The cloud scenes are used to assess the characteristics of spatially collocated Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) thermodynamic-phase and ice cloud property retrievals within scenes of varying cloud type complexity.
Luis F. Millán, Matthew D. Lebsock, and Joao Teixeira
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 8491–8502, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-8491-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-8491-2019, 2019
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The synergy of the collocated Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) provides daily global estimates of marine boundary layer water vapor. AMSR provides the total column water vapor, while MODIS provides the water vapor above the cloud layers. The difference between the two gives the vapor between the surface and the cloud top, which may be interpreted as the boundary layer water vapor.
Brian D. Bue, David R. Thompson, Shubhankar Deshpande, Michael Eastwood, Robert O. Green, Vijay Natraj, Terry Mullen, and Mario Parente
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 2567–2578, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2567-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2567-2019, 2019
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Imaging spectrometers provide valuable remote measurements of Earth's surface and atmosphere. These measurements rely on computationally expensive radiative transfer models (RTMs). Spectrometers produce too much data to process with RTMs directly, requiring approximations that trade accuracy for speed. We demonstrate that neural networks can quickly emulate RTM calculations more accurately than current approaches, enabling the application of more sophisticated RTMs than current methods permit.
Jui-Lin Frank Li, Mark Richardson, Wei-Liang Lee, Eric Fetzer, Graeme Stephens, Jonathan Jiang, Yulan Hong, Yi-Hui Wang, Jia-Yuh Yu, and Yinghui Liu
The Cryosphere, 13, 969–980, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-969-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-969-2019, 2019
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Observed summer Arctic sea ice retreat has been faster than simulated by the average CMIP5 models, most of which exclude falling ice particles from their radiative calculations.
We use controlled CESM1-CAM5 simulations to show for the first time that snowflakes' radiative effects can accelerate sea ice retreat. September retreat rates are doubled above current CO2 levels, highlighting falling ice radiative effects as a high priority for inclusion in future modelling of the Arctic.
Mark Richardson, Jussi Leinonen, Heather Q. Cronk, James McDuffie, Matthew D. Lebsock, and Graeme L. Stephens
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 1717–1737, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1717-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1717-2019, 2019
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We retrieve cloud properties, including geometric thickness, by combining hyperspectral Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) A-band measurements with CALIPSO lidar. This uses cloudy scene data that are not used in OCO-2's main mission, which is aimed at clear-sky atmospheric CO2 abundance. This is the first retrieval using such hyperspectral information and promises to provide a unique constraint on the properties of low liquid clouds over the ocean.
Daniel T. McCoy, Paul R. Field, Gregory S. Elsaesser, Alejandro Bodas-Salcedo, Brian H. Kahn, Mark D. Zelinka, Chihiro Kodama, Thorsten Mauritsen, Benoit Vanniere, Malcolm Roberts, Pier L. Vidale, David Saint-Martin, Aurore Voldoire, Rein Haarsma, Adrian Hill, Ben Shipway, and Jonathan Wilkinson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 1147–1172, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-1147-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-1147-2019, 2019
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The largest single source of uncertainty in the climate sensitivity predicted by global climate models is how much low-altitude clouds change as the climate warms. Models predict that the amount of liquid within and the brightness of low-altitude clouds increase in the extratropics with warming. We show that increased fluxes of moisture into extratropical storms in the midlatitudes explain the majority of the observed trend and the modeled increase in liquid water within these storms.
Richard J. Roy, Matthew Lebsock, Luis Millán, Robert Dengler, Raquel Rodriguez Monje, Jose V. Siles, and Ken B. Cooper
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 6511–6523, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-6511-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-6511-2018, 2018
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The measurement of water vapor profiles inside clouds with high spatial resolution represents an outstanding problem in atmospheric remote sensing. Here we present measurements from a proof-of-concept millimeter-wave (170 GHz) cloud radar aimed at filling this observational gap, and demonstrate the ability to retrieve in-cloud water vapor profiles with high precision and resolution. This technology could meaningfully impact future satellite-based measurements of water vapor.
Jussi Leinonen, Matthew D. Lebsock, Simone Tanelli, Ousmane O. Sy, Brenda Dolan, Randy J. Chase, Joseph A. Finlon, Annakaisa von Lerber, and Dmitri Moisseev
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 5471–5488, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-5471-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-5471-2018, 2018
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We developed a technique for inferring the physical properties (amount, size and density) of falling snow from radar observations made using multiple different frequencies. We tested this method using measurements from airborne radar and compared the results to direct measurements from another aircraft, as well as ground-based radar. The results demonstrate that multifrequency radars have significant advantages over those with a single frequency in determining the snow size and density.
Brian H. Kahn, Hanii Takahashi, Graeme L. Stephens, Qing Yue, Julien Delanoë, Gerald Manipon, Evan M. Manning, and Andrew J. Heymsfield
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 10715–10739, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10715-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10715-2018, 2018
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The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) satellite instrument shows statistically significant global trends in ice cloud properties between September 2002 and August 2016. The trends are not explained by known AIRS instrument limitations. Significant differences in the ice cloud particle size is found between convective clouds and thin ice clouds in the tropics. These results will be a useful benchmark for other studies of global ice cloud properties.
Jesse Dorrestijn, Brian H. Kahn, João Teixeira, and Fredrick W. Irion
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 2717–2733, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2717-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2717-2018, 2018
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Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) satellite observations are used to quantify the scale-dependent variance of temperature and water vapor in the atmosphere. The scale dependence is much more variable than previously thought, using a new methodology based on individual satellite swaths. A break in the scale dependence is found to vary from less than 100 to greater than 1000 km. These new variance scaling results are of high importance for improving climate GCM subgrid parameterizations.
Mark Richardson and Graeme L. Stephens
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 1515–1528, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1515-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1515-2018, 2018
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This study analyses how much information can be obtained about liquid clouds over oceans using measurements of reflected sunlight by the OCO-2 satellite. We find that using 75 of the 853 functioning oxygen A-band channels is sufficient to retrieve cloud optical depth, and the height and thickness of the cloud in terms of atmospheric pressure coordinates, to better than 3 hPa.
David R. Thompson, Brian H. Kahn, Robert O. Green, Steve A. Chien, Elizabeth M. Middleton, and Daniel Q. Tran
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 1019–1030, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1019-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1019-2018, 2018
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The distribution of ice and liquid particles in clouds (i.e., their thermodynamic phase) has a large impact on Earth's climate. We report a global high spatial resolution survey of cloud phase based on a decade of data from the Hyperion orbital imaging spectrometer. Seasonal and latitudinal trends corroborate observations by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS). Most variance observed at climate model grid scales of 100 km is explained by spatial structure at finer spatial resolutions.
Fredrick W. Irion, Brian H. Kahn, Mathias M. Schreier, Eric J. Fetzer, Evan Fishbein, Dejian Fu, Peter Kalmus, R. Chris Wilson, Sun Wong, and Qing Yue
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 971–995, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-971-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-971-2018, 2018
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We describe a new algorithm for the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) that uses its thermal infrared spectra directly rather than using “cloud-clearing.” By additionally modelling clouds within an AIRS field-of-view, we retrieve temperature and water vapor profiles on the AIRS ~13.5 km horizontal footprint (at nadir) rather than the ~45 km footprint of cloud-cleared spectra. Initial validation is presented, and avenues for future development are discussed.
Andrew K. Thorpe, Christian Frankenberg, David R. Thompson, Riley M. Duren, Andrew D. Aubrey, Brian D. Bue, Robert O. Green, Konstantin Gerilowski, Thomas Krings, Jakob Borchardt, Eric A. Kort, Colm Sweeney, Stephen Conley, Dar A. Roberts, and Philip E. Dennison
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 3833–3850, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3833-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3833-2017, 2017
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At local scales emissions of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are highly uncertain. The AVIRIS-NG imaging spectrometer maps large regions and generates high-spatial-resolution CH4 and CO2 concentration maps from anthropogenic and natural sources. Examples include CH4 from a processing plant, tank, pipeline leak, seep, mine vent shafts, and CO2 from power plants. This demonstrates a greenhouse gas monitoring capability that targets the two dominant anthropogenic climate-forcing agents.
Sven Krautwurst, Konstantin Gerilowski, Haflidi H. Jonsson, David R. Thompson, Richard W. Kolyer, Laura T. Iraci, Andrew K. Thorpe, Markus Horstjann, Michael Eastwood, Ira Leifer, Samuel A. Vigil, Thomas Krings, Jakob Borchardt, Michael Buchwitz, Matthew M. Fladeland, John P. Burrows, and Heinrich Bovensmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 3429–3452, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3429-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3429-2017, 2017
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This study investigates a subset of data collected during the CO2 and Methane EXperiment (COMEX) in 2014. It focuses on airborne measurements to quantify the emissions from landfills in the Los Angeles Basin. Airborne remote sensing data have been used to estimate the emission rate of one particular landfill on four different days. The results have been compared to airborne in situ measurements. Airborne imaging spectroscopy has been used to identify emission hotspots across the landfill.
Brian H. Kahn, Georgios Matheou, Qing Yue, Thomas Fauchez, Eric J. Fetzer, Matthew Lebsock, João Martins, Mathias M. Schreier, Kentaroh Suzuki, and João Teixeira
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 9451–9468, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9451-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9451-2017, 2017
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The global-scale patterns of subtropical marine boundary layer clouds are investigated with coincident NASA A-train satellite and reanalysis data. This study is novel in that all data are used at the finest spatial and temporal resolution possible. Our results are consistent with surface-based data and suggest that the combination of satellite and reanalysis data sets have potential to add to the global context of our understanding of the subtropical cumulus-dominated marine boundary layer.
Luis Millán, Matthew Lebsock, Nathaniel Livesey, and Simone Tanelli
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 2633–2646, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2633-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2633-2016, 2016
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We discuss the theoretical capabilities of a radar technique to measure profiles of water vapor in cloudy/precipitating areas. The method uses two radar pulses at different frequencies near the 183 GHz H2O absorption line to determine water vapor profiles by measuring the differential absorption on and off the line. Results of inverting synthetic data assuming a satellite radar are presented.
L. Wu, H. Su, R. G. Fovell, T. J. Dunkerton, Z. Wang, and B. H. Kahn
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 14041–14053, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-14041-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-14041-2015, 2015
D. R. Thompson, I. Leifer, H. Bovensmann, M. Eastwood, M. Fladeland, C. Frankenberg, K. Gerilowski, R. O. Green, S. Kratwurst, T. Krings, B. Luna, and A. K. Thorpe
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 4383–4397, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4383-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4383-2015, 2015
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We discuss principles for real-time infrared spectral signature detection and measurement, and report performance onboard the NASA Airborne Visible Infrared Spectrometer - Next Generation (AVIRIS-NG). We describe a case study of the NASA/ESA CO2 and MEthane eXperiment (COMEX), a multi-platform campaign to measure CH4 plumes released from anthropogenic sources including oil and gas infrastructure. AVIRIS-NG successfully detected CH4 plumes in concert with other in situ and remote instruments.
M. D. Lebsock, K. Suzuki, L. F. Millán, and P. M. Kalmus
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 3631–3645, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-3631-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-3631-2015, 2015
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This paper describes the feasibility of using a differential absorption radar technique for the remote sensing of water vapor within clouds near the Earth surface from a spaceborne platform. The proposed methodology is shown to be theoretically achievable and complimentary to existing water vapor remote sensing methods.
S. Sanghavi, M. Lebsock, and G. Stephens
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 3601–3616, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-3601-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-3601-2015, 2015
J. Leinonen, M. D. Lebsock, S. Tanelli, K. Suzuki, H. Yashiro, and Y. Miyamoto
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 3493–3517, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-3493-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-3493-2015, 2015
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Using multiple frequencies in cloud and precipitation radars enables them to be both sensitive enough to detect thin clouds and to penetrate heavy precipitation, profiling the entire vertical structure of the atmospheric component of the water cycle. Here, we evaluate the performance of a potential future three-frequency space-based radar system by simulating its observations using data from a high-resolution global atmospheric model.
L. Millán, M. Lebsock, N. Livesey, S. Tanelli, and G. Stephens
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 3959–3970, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-3959-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-3959-2014, 2014
M. M. Schreier, B. H. Kahn, K. Sušelj, J. Karlsson, S. C. Ou, Q. Yue, and S. L. Nasiri
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 3573–3587, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-3573-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-3573-2014, 2014
B. H. Kahn, F. W. Irion, V. T. Dang, E. M. Manning, S. L. Nasiri, C. M. Naud, J. M. Blaisdell, M. M. Schreier, Q. Yue, K. W. Bowman, E. J. Fetzer, G. C. Hulley, K. N. Liou, D. Lubin, S. C. Ou, J. Susskind, Y. Takano, B. Tian, and J. R. Worden
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 399–426, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-399-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-399-2014, 2014
Related subject area
Subject: Gases | Technique: Remote Sensing | Topic: Data Processing and Information Retrieval
Assimilation of volcanic sulfur dioxide products from IASI and TROPOMI into the chemical transport model MOCAGE: case study of the 2021 La Soufrière Saint Vincent eruption with the March 2022 version of MOCAGE
In-flight estimation of instrument spectral response functions using sparse representations
Robustness of atmospheric trace gas retrievals obtained from low-spectral-resolution Fourier transform infrared absorption spectra under variations of interferogram length
Retrieval of NO2 profiles from 3 years of Pandora MAX-DOAS measurements in Toronto, Canada
A channel selection methodology for enhancing volcanic SO2 monitoring using FY-3E/HIRAS-II hyperspectral data
Predictions of failed satellite retrieval of air quality using machine learning
Deep transfer learning method for seasonal TROPOMI XCH4 albedo correction
Global retrieval of TROPOMI tropospheric HCHO and NO2 columns with improved consistency based on the updated Peking University OMI NO2 algorithm
Tightening-up methane plume source rate estimation in EnMAP and PRISMA images
Quantitative estimate of several sources of uncertainty in drone-based methane emission measurements
Implementation and application of an improved phase spectrum determination scheme for Fourier transform spectrometry
Improved detection of global NOx emissions from shipping in Sentinel-5P TROPOMI data
Remote sensing of lower-middle-thermosphere temperatures using the N2 Lyman–Birge–Hopfield (LBH) bands
Retrievals of water vapour and temperature exploiting the far-infrared: application to aircraft observations in preparation for the FORUM mission
Global decadal measurements of methanol, ethene, ethyne, and HCN from the Cross-track Infrared Sounder
Forward model emulator for atmospheric radiative transfer using Gaussian processes and cross validation
Developments on a 22 GHz microwave radiometer and reprocessing of 13-year time series for water vapour studies
Optimal selection of satellite XCO2 images for urban CO2 emission monitoring
Separating and quantifying facility-level methane emissions with overlapping plumes for spaceborne methane monitoring
A study of measurement scenarios for the future CO2M mission: avoidance of detector saturation and the impact on XCO2 retrievals
Retrieving the atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane from the European Copernicus CO2M satellite mission using artificial neural networks
Surface reflectance biases in XCH4 retrievals from the 2.3 μm band are enhanced in the presence of aerosols
Remote sensing of methane point sources with the MethaneAIR airborne spectrometer
The differences between remote sensing and in situ air pollutant measurements over the Canadian oil sands
NitroNet – a machine learning model for the prediction of tropospheric NO2 profiles from TROPOMI observations
Improved convective cloud differential (CCD) tropospheric ozone from S5P-TROPOMI satellite data using local cloud fields
Atmospheric propane (C3H8) column retrievals from ground-based FTIR observations in Xianghe, China
Hourly surface nitrogen dioxide retrieval from GEMS tropospheric vertical column densities: Benefit of using time-contiguous input features for machine learning models
Can the remote sensing of combustion phase improve estimates of landscape fire smoke emission rate and composition?
Tropospheric NO2 retrieval algorithm for geostationary satellite instruments: applications to GEMS
Troposphere–stratosphere-integrated bromine monoxide (BrO) profile retrieval over the central Pacific Ocean
Local and regional enhancements of CH4, CO, and CO2 inferred from TCCON column measurements
Merging TEMPEST microwave and GOES-16 geostationary IR soundings for improved water vapor profiles
Remote Sensing Estimates of Time-Resolved HONO and NO2 Emission Rates and Lifetimes in Wildfires
Methane retrieval from MethaneAIR using the CO2 proxy approach: a demonstration for the upcoming MethaneSAT mission
Mapping the CO2 total column retrieval performance from shortwave infrared measurements: synthetic impacts of the spectral resolution, signal-to-noise ratio, and spectral band selection
Assessment of the contribution of the Meteosat Third Generation Infrared Sounder (MTG-IRS) for the characterisation of ozone over Europe
Assessing the potential of free-tropospheric water vapour isotopologue satellite observations for improving the analyses of convective events
Current potential of CH4 emission estimates using TROPOMI in the Middle East
A bias-corrected GEMS geostationary satellite product for nitrogen dioxide using machine learning to enforce consistency with the TROPOMI satellite instrument
Estimation of biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emissions in forest ecosystems using drone-based lidar, photogrammetry, and image recognition technologies
Fast retrieval of XCO2 over east Asia based on Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) spectral measurements
A new method for estimating megacity NOx emissions and lifetimes from satellite observations
Accounting for the effect of aerosols in GHGSat methane retrieval
A survey of methane point source emissions from coal mines in Shanxi province of China using AHSI on board Gaofen-5B
Global retrieval of stratospheric and tropospheric BrO columns from the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite Nadir Mapper (OMPS-NM) on board the Suomi-NPP satellite
IMK–IAA MIPAS retrieval version 8: CH4 and N2O
Report on Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2B observations of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline methane leak
U-Plume: automated algorithm for plume detection and source quantification by satellite point-source imagers
CH4Net: a deep learning model for monitoring methane super-emitters with Sentinel-2 imagery
Mickaël Bacles, Jonathan Améric, and Vincent Guidard
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 2659–2680, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2659-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2659-2025, 2025
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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 chemistry transport model developed at Météo-France by assimilated infrared and ultraviolet satellite instruments. We focus on the eruption event of the La Soufrière Saint Vincent volcano in April 2021. The combined assimilation of these observations always leads to better analyses and forecasts.
Jihanne El Haouari, Jean-Michel Gaucel, Christelle Pittet, Jean-Yves Tourneret, and Herwig Wendt
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 2573–2590, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2573-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2573-2025, 2025
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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 for better quantification of trace gas concentrations at the Earth surface.
Bavo Langerock, Martine De Mazière, Filip Desmet, Pauli Heikkinen, Rigel Kivi, Mahesh Kumar Sha, Corinne Vigouroux, Minqiang Zhou, Gopala Krishna Darbha, and Mohmmed Talib
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 2439–2446, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2439-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2439-2025, 2025
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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.
Ramina Alwarda, Kristof Bognar, Xiaoyi Zhao, Vitali Fioletov, Jonathan Davies, Sum Chi Lee, Debora Griffin, Alexandru Lupu, Udo Frieß, Alexander Cede, Yushan Su, and Kimberly Strong
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 2397–2423, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2397-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2397-2025, 2025
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Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a pollutant with a short lifetime and large variability, but there are limited measurements of its distribution in the lower atmosphere. We present a new 3-year dataset of NO2 vertical profiles in Toronto, Canada, and evaluate it using NO2 from satellite and surface monitoring networks and simulations by an air quality forecast model. We quantify and explain the differences among the datasets to provide information that can be used to understand NO2 variability.
Xinyu Li, Lin Zhu, Hongfu Sun, Jun Li, Ximing Lv, Chengli Qi, and Huanhuan Yan
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 2333–2352, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2333-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2333-2025, 2025
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This paper proposes a novel methodology for selecting sulfur-dioxide-sensitive channels from FY-3E/HIRAS-II hyperspectral IR atmospheric sensors to quantitatively monitor volcanic sulfur dioxide. This methodology considers the interference of atmospheric temperature, humidity, and surface temperature with sulfur dioxide detection and retrieval, laying the groundwork for developing a more accurate and flexible volcanic sulfur dioxide retrieval algorithm under different atmospheric conditions.
Edward Malina, Jure Brence, Jennifer Adams, Jovan Tanevski, Sašo Džeroski, Valentin Kantchev, and Kevin W. Bowman
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 1689–1715, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1689-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1689-2025, 2025
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The large fleet of Earth observation satellites in orbit currently generate huge volumes of data, requiring significant computational resources to process these data in a timely manner. We present a method for predicting poor-quality measurements using machine learning. We find that machine learning methods can accurately predict poor-quality measurements and remove them from the processing chain, saving time and computational resources.
Alexander C. Bradley, Barbara Dix, Fergus Mackenzie, J. Pepijn Veefkind, and Joost A. de Gouw
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 1675–1687, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1675-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1675-2025, 2025
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Currently, measurement of methane from the TROPOMI satellite is biased with respect to surface reflectance. This study demonstrates a new method of correcting for this bias on a seasonal timescale to allow for differences in surface reflectance in areas of intense agriculture where growing seasons may introduce a reflectance bias. We have successfully implemented this technique in the Denver–Julesburg basin, where agriculture and methane extraction infrastructure is often co-located.
Yuhang Zhang, Huan Yu, Isabelle De Smedt, Jintai Lin, Nicolas Theys, Michel Van Roozendael, Gaia Pinardi, Steven Compernolle, Ruijing Ni, Fangxuan Ren, Sijie Wang, Lulu Chen, Jos Van Geffen, Mengyao Liu, Alexander M. Cede, Martin Tiefengraber, Alexis Merlaud, Martina M. Friedrich, Andreas Richter, Ankie Piters, Vinod Kumar, Vinayak Sinha, Thomas Wagner, Yongjoo Choi, Hisahiro Takashima, Yugo Kanaya, Hitoshi Irie, Robert Spurr, Wenfu Sun, and Lorenzo Fabris
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 1561–1589, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1561-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1561-2025, 2025
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We developed an advanced algorithm for global retrieval of TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) HCHO and NO2 vertical column densities with much improved consistency. Sensitivity tests demonstrate the complexity and nonlinear interactions of auxiliary parameters in the air mass factor calculation. An improved agreement is found with measurements from a global ground-based instrument network. The scientific retrieval provides a useful source of information for studies combining HCHO and NO2.
Elyes Ouerghi, Thibaud Ehret, Gabriele Facciolo, Enric Meinhardt, Rodolphe Marion, and Jean-Michel Morel
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1075, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1075, 2025
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Reducing methane emissions is essential to tackle climate change. In this paper, we introduce MetFluxNet, a deep learning model for methane plume source rate estimation. This model is trained on a new synthetic dataset designed to avoid network overfit. MetFluxNet can accurately estimate low source rates even in the case of heterogeneous backgrounds. To demonstrate its reliability for real-world plume estimation, we validated its predictions on real plumes with known source rates.
Tannaz H. Mohammadloo, Matthew Jones, Bas van de Kerkhof, Kyle Dawson, Brendan J. Smith, Stephen Conley, Abigail Corbett, and Rutger IJzermans
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 1301–1324, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1301-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1301-2025, 2025
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Methane is a potent greenhouse gas. Trustable detection and quantification of methane emissions at facility level are critical for identifying the largest sources and prioritizing them for repair. We provide a systematic analysis of several sources of uncertainty in drone-based methane emission surveys based on theoretical considerations and historical data sets. We provide guidelines for industry on how to avoid or minimize errors in drone-based methane emission quantification surveys.
Frank Hase, Paolo Castracane, Angelika Dehn, Omaira Elena García, David W. T. Griffith, Lukas Heizmann, Nicholas B. Jones, Tomi Karppinen, Rigel Kivi, Martine de Mazière, Justus Notholt, and Mahesh Kumar Sha
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 1257–1267, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1257-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1257-2025, 2025
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The primary measurement result delivered by a Fourier transform spectrometer is an interferogram, and the spectrum required for further analysis needs to be calculated from the interferogram by Fourier analysis. The paper deals with technical aspects of this process and shows how the reconstruction of the spectrum can be optimized.
Miriam Latsch, Andreas Richter, John P. Burrows, and Hartmut Bösch
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-107, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-107, 2025
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This study presents our advanced methods to better detect ship-related nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions in TROPOMI satellite data. By applying filtering techniques, we identify numerous global shipping routes, including previously undetectable ones, and emissions from offshore platforms. Additionally, we compare the filtered satellite data with CAMS global model data to estimate the differences between observed and modelled NO2 emissions.
Richard Eastes, J. Scott Evans, Quan Gan, William McClintock, and Jerry Lumpe
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 921–928, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-921-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-921-2025, 2025
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Temperature is essential to understanding the thermosphere. Most temperature measurements have been indirect or had large uncertainties, especially in the lower-middle thermosphere, where data are rarely available. Since October 2018, NASA’s GOLD mission has produced disk images of neutral temperatures near 160 km at locations over the Americas and Atlantic Ocean. This paper discusses both temperature retrieval techniques and issues in interpreting GOLD’s images of thermospheric temperatures.
Sanjeevani Panditharatne, Helen Brindley, Caroline Cox, Richard Siddans, Jonathan Murray, Laura Warwick, and Stuart Fox
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 717–735, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-717-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-717-2025, 2025
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Observations from the upcoming European Space Agency’s Far-Infrared Outgoing Radiation Understanding and Monitoring (FORUM) satellite are theorised to be highly sensitive to distributions of water vapour within Earth’s atmosphere. We exploit this sensitivity and extend the Infrared Microwave Sounding retrieval scheme for use on observations from FORUM. This scheme is evaluated on both simulated and observed measurements and shows good agreement with references of the atmospheric state.
Kelley C. Wells, Dylan B. Millet, Jared F. Brewer, Vivienne H. Payne, Karen E. Cady-Pereira, Rick Pernak, Susan Kulawik, Corinne Vigouroux, Nicholas Jones, Emmanuel Mahieu, Maria Makarova, Tomoo Nagahama, Ivan Ortega, Mathias Palm, Kimberly Strong, Matthias Schneider, Dan Smale, Ralf Sussmann, and Minqiang Zhou
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 695–716, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-695-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-695-2025, 2025
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Atmospheric volatile organic compounds (VOCs) affect both air quality and climate. Satellite measurements can help us to assess and predict their global impacts. We present new decadal (2012–2023) measurements of four key VOCs – methanol, ethene, ethyne, and hydrogen cyanide (HCN) – from the Cross-track Infrared Sounder. The measurements reflect emissions from major forests, wildfires, and industry and provide new information to advance understanding of these sources and their changes over time.
Otto Lamminpää, Jouni Susiluoto, Jonathan Hobbs, James McDuffie, Amy Braverman, and Houman Owhadi
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 673–694, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-673-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-673-2025, 2025
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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.
Peter Somkuti, Greg M. McGarragh, Christopher O'Dell, Antonio Di Noia, Leif Vogel, Sean Crowell, Lesley E. Ott, and Hartmut Bösch
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-145, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-145, 2025
Revised manuscript accepted for AMT
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In space-based estimates of atmospheric methane concentrations, one can often observe biases that look like imprints of surface features. We performed realistic simulation experiments and find the root cause to be unaccounted aerosols. Since good knowledge of aerosols is difficult to achieve for operational science data processing, we conclude that a comprehensive surface bias correction scheme is highly important for missions utilizing the 2.3 µm spectral band for methane retrievals.
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.
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.
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Short summary
Concentrations of water vapor in the atmosphere vary dramatically over space and time. Mapping this variability can provide insights into atmospheric processes that help us understand atmospheric processes in the Earth system. Here we use a new measurement strategy based on imaging spectroscopy to map atmospheric water vapor concentrations at very small spatial scales. Experiments demonstrate the accuracy of this technique and some initial results from an airborne remote sensing experiment.
Concentrations of water vapor in the atmosphere vary dramatically over space and time. Mapping...
