Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
AMT
Articles | Volume 16, issue 21
Articles | Volume 16, issue 21
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5287-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5287-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 16, issue 21
Research article
 | 
08 Nov 2023
Research article |  | 08 Nov 2023

To new heights by flying low: comparison of aircraft vertical NO2 profiles to model simulations and implications for TROPOMI NO2 retrievals

Tobias Christoph Valentin Werner Riess, Klaas Folkert Boersma, Ward Van Roy, Jos de Laat, Enrico Dammers, and Jasper van Vliet

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5287-2023-supplement

Data sets

criess374/no2_aircraft_campaign_2021: Initial release (v0.0.0) T. C. V. W. Riess https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7928291

TROPOMI ATBD of the Total and Tropospheric NO2 Data Products J. H. G. M. Van Geffen, H. J. Eskes, K. F. Boersma, J. D. Maasakkers, and J. P. Veefkind https://s5phub.copernicus.eu/dhus/#/home

Comparing Sentinel-5P TROPOMI NO2 column observations with the CAMS regional air quality ensemble (https://www.temis.nl/airpollution/no2col/no2_euro_tropomi_cams.php) J. Douros, H. Eskes, J. van Geffen, K. F. Boersma, S. Compernolle, G. Pinardi, A.-M. Blechschmidt, V.-H. Peuch, A. Colette, and P. Veefkind https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-509-2023

CAMS European air quality forecasts METEO FRANCE, MET Norway, IEK, IEP-NRI, KNMI, TNO, FMI, ENEA, and BSC https://ads.atmosphere.copernicus.eu/cdsapp#!/dataset/cams-europe-air-quality-forecasts?tab=form

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Short summary
Satellite retrievals of trace gases require prior knowledge of the vertical distribution of the pollutant, which is usually obtained from models. Using aircraft-measured vertical NO2 profiles over the North Sea in summer 2021, we evaluate the Transport Model 5 profiles used in the TROPOMI NO2 retrieval. We conclude that driven by the low horizontal resolution and the overestimated vertical mixing, resulting NO2 columns are 20 % too low. This has important implications for emission estimates.
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