Articles | Volume 16, issue 21
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5287-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5287-2023
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

Related authors

Improved monitoring of shipping NO2 with TROPOMI: decreasing NOx emissions in European seas during the COVID-19 pandemic
Tobias Christoph Valentin Werner Riess, Klaas Folkert Boersma, Jasper van Vliet, Wouter Peters, Maarten Sneep, Henk Eskes, and Jos van Geffen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1415–1438, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1415-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1415-2022, 2022
Short summary

Related subject area

Subject: Gases | Technique: Remote Sensing | Topic: Validation and Intercomparisons
5 years of Sentinel-5P TROPOMI operational ozone profiling and geophysical validation using ozonesonde and lidar ground-based networks
Arno Keppens, Serena Di Pede, Daan Hubert, Jean-Christopher Lambert, Pepijn Veefkind, Maarten Sneep, Johan De Haan, Mark ter Linden, Thierry Leblanc, Steven Compernolle, Tijl Verhoelst, José Granville, Oindrila Nath, Ann Mari Fjæraa, Ian Boyd, Sander Niemeijer, Roeland Van Malderen, Herman G. J. Smit, Valentin Duflot, Sophie Godin-Beekmann, Bryan J. Johnson, Wolfgang Steinbrecht, David W. Tarasick, Debra E. Kollonige, Ryan M. Stauffer, Anne M. Thompson, Angelika Dehn, and Claus Zehner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3969–3993, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3969-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3969-2024, 2024
Short summary
Using a portable FTIR spectrometer to evaluate the consistency of Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) measurements on a global scale: the Collaborative Carbon Column Observing Network (COCCON) travel standard
Benedikt Herkommer, Carlos Alberti, Paolo Castracane, Jia Chen, Angelika Dehn, Florian Dietrich, Nicholas M. Deutscher, Matthias Max Frey, Jochen Groß, Lawson Gillespie, Frank Hase, Isamu Morino, Nasrin Mostafavi Pak, Brittany Walker, and Debra Wunch
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3467–3494, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3467-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3467-2024, 2024
Short summary
Comparison of the H2O, HDO and δD stratospheric climatologies between the MIPAS-ESA V8, MIPAS-IMK V5 and ACE-FTS V4.1/4.2 satellite datasets
Karen De Los Ríos, Paulina Ordoñez, Gabriele P. Stiller, Piera Raspollini, Marco Gai, Kaley A. Walker, Cristina Peña-Ortiz, and Luis Acosta
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3401–3418, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3401-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3401-2024, 2024
Short summary
TROPESS-CrIS CO single-pixel vertical profiles: intercomparisons with MOPITT and model simulations for 2020 western US wildfires
Ming Luo, Helen M. Worden, Robert D. Field, Kostas Tsigaridis, and Gregory S. Elsaesser
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2611–2624, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2611-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2611-2024, 2024
Short summary
TOLNet validation of satellite ozone profiles in the troposphere: impact of retrieval wavelengths
Matthew S. Johnson, Alexei Rozanov, Mark Weber, Nora Mettig, John Sullivan, Michael J. Newchurch, Shi Kuang, Thierry Leblanc, Fernando Chouza, Timothy A. Berkoff, Guillaume Gronoff, Kevin B. Strawbridge, Raul J. Alvarez, Andrew O. Langford, Christoph J. Senff, Guillaume Kirgis, Brandi McCarty, and Larry Twigg
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2559–2582, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2559-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2559-2024, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Beirle, S., Platt, U., von Glasow, R., Wenig, M., and Wagner, T.: Estimate of nitrogen oxide emissions from shipping by satellite remote sensing, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, 4–7, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004GL020312, 2004. a
Beirle, S., Borger, C., Dörner, S., Li, A., Hu, Z., Liu, F., Wang, Y., and Wagner, T.: Pinpointing nitrogen oxide emissions from space, Science Advances, 5, eaax9800, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aax9800, 2019. a
Boersma, K. F., Eskes, H. J., and Brinksma, E. J.: Error analysis for tropospheric NO2 retrieval from space, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 109, D04311, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003jd003962, 2004. a
Boersma, K. F., Jacob, D. J., Bucsela, E. J., Perring, A. E., Dirksen, R., van der A, R. J., Yantosca, R. M., Park, R. J., Wenig, M. O., Bertram, T. H., and Cohen, R. C.: Validation of OMI tropospheric NO2 observations during INTEX-B and application to constrain NOx emissions over the eastern United States and Mexico, Atmos. Environ., 42, 4480–4497 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2008.02.004, 2008. a
Boersma, K. F., Eskes, H. J., Richter, A., De Smedt, I., Lorente, A., Beirle, S., van Geffen, J. H. G. M., Zara, M., Peters, E., Van Roozendael, M., Wagner, T., Maasakkers, J. D., van der A, R. J., Nightingale, J., De Rudder, A., Irie, H., Pinardi, G., Lambert, J.-C., and Compernolle, S. C.: Improving algorithms and uncertainty estimates for satellite NO2 retrievals: results from the quality assurance for the essential climate variables (QA4ECV) project, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 6651–6678, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-6651-2018, 2018. a
Download
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.