Articles | Volume 16, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-89-2023
© Author(s) 2023. 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-16-89-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| Highlight paper
| 
10 Jan 2023
Research article | Highlight paper |
| 10 Jan 2023
| 10 Jan 2023
Understanding the potential of Sentinel-2 for monitoring methane point emissions
Research Institute of Water and Environmental Engineering (IIAMA), Universitat Politècnica de València, València, Spain
Daniel J. Varon
School of Engineering and Applied Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, 02138, USA
Itziar Irakulis-Loitxate
Research Institute of Water and Environmental Engineering (IIAMA), Universitat Politècnica de València, València, Spain
United Nations Environment Programme, Paris, France
Luis Guanter
Research Institute of Water and Environmental Engineering (IIAMA), Universitat Politècnica de València, València, Spain
Environmental Defense Fund, Reguliersgracht 79, 1017 LN Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Related authors
Javier Roger, Luis Guanter, Javier Gorroño, and Itziar Irakulis-Loitxate
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1333–1346, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1333-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1333-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Methane emissions can be identified using remote sensing, but surface-related structures disturb detection. In this work, a variation of the matched filter method that exploits a large fraction of the near-infrared range (1000–2500 nm) is applied. In comparison to the raw matched filter, it reduces background noise and strongly attenuates the surface-related artifacts, which leads to a greater detection capability. We propose this variation as a standard methodology for methane detection.
Berend J. Schuit, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Pieter Bijl, Gourav Mahapatra, Anne-Wil van den Berg, Sudhanshu Pandey, Alba Lorente, Tobias Borsdorff, Sander Houweling, Daniel J. Varon, Jason McKeever, Dylan Jervis, Marianne Girard, Itziar Irakulis-Loitxate, Javier Gorroño, Luis Guanter, Daniel H. Cusworth, and Ilse Aben
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9071–9098, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9071-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9071-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Using two machine learning models, which were trained on TROPOMI methane satellite data, we detect 2974 methane plumes, so-called super-emitters, in 2021. We detect methane emissions globally related to urban areas or landfills, coal mining, and oil and gas production. Using our monitoring system, we identify 94 regions with frequent emissions. For 12 locations, we target high-resolution satellite instruments to enlarge and identify the exact infrastructure responsible for the emissions.
Lucas A. Estrada, Daniel J. Varon, Melissa Sulprizio, Hannah Nesser, Zichong Chen, Nicholas Balasus, Sarah E. Hancock, Megan He, James D. East, Todd A. Mooring, Alexander Oort Alonso, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Ilse Aben, Sabour Baray, Kevin W. Bowman, John R. Worden, Felipe J. Cardoso-Saldaña, Emily Reidy, and Daniel J. Jacob
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2700, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2700, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Reducing methane emissions, a powerful greenhouse gas, is a top policy concern for mitigating anthropogenic climate change. The Integrated Methane Inversion (IMI) is an advanced, cloud-based software that translates satellite observations into actionable emissions data. Here we present IMI version 2.0 with vastly expanded capabilities. These updates enable a wider range of scientific and stakeholder applications from regional to global scales and allow continuous emissions monitoring.
Shutao Zhao, Yuzhong Zhang, Shuang Zhao, Xinlu Wang, and Daniel J. Varon
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2565, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2565, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We target at the challenge of detecting methane super-emitters in oil and gas fields, which is critical for mitigating climate change. Traditional satellite-based detectors struggle due to interference from complex surfaces. We developed a novel method using deep-transfer-learning that improves detection efficiency and accuracy by reducing artifacts and adapting methane knowledge to different regions. Application revealed significant methane emissions, demonstrating the potential of our method.
Sarah E. Hancock, Daniel Jacob, Zichong Chen, Hannah Nesser, Aaron Davitt, Daniel J. Varon, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Nicholas Balasus, Lucas A. Estrada, James D. East, Elise Penn, Cynthia A. Randles, John Worden, Ilse Aben, Robert J. Parker, and Joannes D. Maasakkers
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1763, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1763, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We quantify 2021 methane emissions in South America at up to 25 km × 25 km resolution using satellite methane observations. We find a 55 % upward correction to the national anthropogenic inventories reported to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) under the Paris Agreement. Our estimates match inventories for Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay but are much higher for other countries. Livestock emissions (65 % of anthropogenic emissions) show the largest discrepancies.
Brian Nathan, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Stijn Naus, Ritesh Gautam, Mark Omara, Daniel J. Varon, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Lucas A. Estrada, Alba Lorente, Tobias Borsdorff, Robert J. Parker, and Ilse Aben
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6845–6863, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6845-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6845-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Venezuela's Lake Maracaibo region is notoriously hard to observe from space and features intensive oil exploitation, although production has strongly decreased in recent years. We estimate methane emissions using 2018–2020 TROPOMI satellite observations with national and regional transport models. Despite the production decrease, we find relatively constant emissions from Lake Maracaibo between 2018 and 2020, indicating that there could be large emissions from abandoned infrastructure.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Russell Doughty, Yujie Wang, Jennifer Johnson, Nicholas Parazoo, Troy Magney, Zoe Pierrat, Xiangming Xiao, Luis Guanter, Philipp Köhler, Christian Frankenberg, Peter Somkuti, Shuang Ma, Yuanwei Qin, Sean Crowell, and Berrien Moore III
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.22541/essoar.168167172.20799710/v1, https://doi.org/10.22541/essoar.168167172.20799710/v1, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Here we present a novel model of global photosynthesis, ChloFluo, which uses spaceborne chlorophyll fluorescence to estimate the amount of photosynthetically active radiation absorbed by chlorophyll. Potential uses of our model are to advance our understanding of the timing and magnitude of photosynthesis, its effect on atmospheric carbon dioxide fluxes, and vegetation response to climate events and change.
Javier Roger, Luis Guanter, Javier Gorroño, and Itziar Irakulis-Loitxate
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1333–1346, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1333-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1333-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Methane emissions can be identified using remote sensing, but surface-related structures disturb detection. In this work, a variation of the matched filter method that exploits a large fraction of the near-infrared range (1000–2500 nm) is applied. In comparison to the raw matched filter, it reduces background noise and strongly attenuates the surface-related artifacts, which leads to a greater detection capability. We propose this variation as a standard methodology for methane detection.
Berend J. Schuit, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Pieter Bijl, Gourav Mahapatra, Anne-Wil van den Berg, Sudhanshu Pandey, Alba Lorente, Tobias Borsdorff, Sander Houweling, Daniel J. Varon, Jason McKeever, Dylan Jervis, Marianne Girard, Itziar Irakulis-Loitxate, Javier Gorroño, Luis Guanter, Daniel H. Cusworth, and Ilse Aben
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9071–9098, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9071-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9071-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Using two machine learning models, which were trained on TROPOMI methane satellite data, we detect 2974 methane plumes, so-called super-emitters, in 2021. We detect methane emissions globally related to urban areas or landfills, coal mining, and oil and gas production. Using our monitoring system, we identify 94 regions with frequent emissions. For 12 locations, we target high-resolution satellite instruments to enlarge and identify the exact infrastructure responsible for the emissions.
Drew C. Pendergrass, Daniel J. Jacob, Hannah Nesser, Daniel J. Varon, Melissa Sulprizio, Kazuyuki Miyazaki, and Kevin W. Bowman
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 4793–4810, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-4793-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-4793-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We have built a tool called CHEEREIO that allows scientists to use observations of pollutants or gases in the atmosphere, such as from satellites or surface stations, to update supercomputer models that simulate the Earth. CHEEREIO uses the difference between the model simulations of the atmosphere and real-world observations to come up with a good guess for the actual composition of our atmosphere, the true emissions of various pollutants, and whatever else they may want to study.
Nicholas Balasus, Daniel J. Jacob, Alba Lorente, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Robert J. Parker, Hartmut Boesch, Zichong Chen, Makoto M. Kelp, Hannah Nesser, and Daniel J. Varon
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3787–3807, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3787-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3787-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We use machine learning to remove biases in TROPOMI satellite observations of atmospheric methane, with GOSAT observations serving as a reference. We find that the TROPOMI biases relative to GOSAT are related to the presence of aerosols and clouds, the surface brightness, and the specific detector that makes the observation aboard TROPOMI. The resulting blended TROPOMI+GOSAT product is more reliable for quantifying methane emissions.
Daniel J. Varon, Daniel J. Jacob, Benjamin Hmiel, Ritesh Gautam, David R. Lyon, Mark Omara, Melissa Sulprizio, Lu Shen, Drew Pendergrass, Hannah Nesser, Zhen Qu, Zachary R. Barkley, Natasha L. Miles, Scott J. Richardson, Kenneth J. Davis, Sudhanshu Pandey, Xiao Lu, Alba Lorente, Tobias Borsdorff, Joannes D. Maasakkers, and Ilse Aben
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7503–7520, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7503-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7503-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We use TROPOMI satellite observations to quantify weekly methane emissions from the US Permian oil and gas basin from May 2018 to October 2020. We find that Permian emissions are highly variable, with diverse economic and activity drivers. The most important drivers during our study period were new well development and natural gas price. Permian methane intensity averaged 4.6 % and decreased by 1 % per year.
Zichong Chen, Daniel J. Jacob, Ritesh Gautam, Mark Omara, Robert N. Stavins, Robert C. Stowe, Hannah Nesser, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Alba Lorente, Daniel J. Varon, Xiao Lu, Lu Shen, Zhen Qu, Drew C. Pendergrass, and Sarah Hancock
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 5945–5967, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5945-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5945-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We quantify methane emissions from individual countries in the Middle East and North Africa by inverse analysis of 2019 TROPOMI satellite observations of atmospheric methane. We show that the ability to simply relate oil/gas emissions to activity metrics is compromised by stochastic nature of local infrastructure and management practices. We find that the industry target for oil/gas methane intensity is achievable through associated gas capture, modern infrastructure, and centralized operations.
Zhan Zhang, Evan D. Sherwin, Daniel J. Varon, and Adam R. Brandt
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 7155–7169, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-7155-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-7155-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This work developed a multi-band–multi-pass–multi-comparison-date Sentinel-2 methane retrieval algorithm, and the method was calibrated by data from a controlled release test. To our knowledge, this is the first study that validates the performance of a Sentinel-2 methane detection algorithm by calibration with a ground-truth testing. It illustrates the potential for additional validation with systematic future experiments wherein algorithms can be tuned to meet different detection expectations.
Lu Shen, Ritesh Gautam, Mark Omara, Daniel Zavala-Araiza, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Tia R. Scarpelli, Alba Lorente, David Lyon, Jianxiong Sheng, Daniel J. Varon, Hannah Nesser, Zhen Qu, Xiao Lu, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Steven P. Hamburg, and Daniel J. Jacob
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 11203–11215, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11203-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11203-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We use 22 months of TROPOMI satellite observations to quantity methane emissions from the oil (O) and natural gas (G) sector in the US and Canada at the scale of both individual basins as well as country-wide aggregates. We find that O/G-related methane emissions are underestimated in these inventories by 80 % for the US and 40 % for Canada, and 70 % of the underestimate in the US is from five O/G basins, including Permian, Haynesville, Anadarko, Eagle Ford, and Barnett.
Zichong Chen, Daniel J. Jacob, Hannah Nesser, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Alba Lorente, Daniel J. Varon, Xiao Lu, Lu Shen, Zhen Qu, Elise Penn, and Xueying Yu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 10809–10826, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10809-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10809-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We quantify methane emissions in China and contributions from different sectors by inverse analysis of 2019 TROPOMI satellite observations of atmospheric methane. We find that anthropogenic methane emissions for China are underestimated in the national inventory. Our estimate of emissions indicates a small life-cycle loss rate, implying net climate benefits from the current
coal-to-gasenergy transition in China. However, this small loss rate can be misleading given China's high gas imports.
Daniel J. Jacob, Daniel J. Varon, Daniel H. Cusworth, Philip E. Dennison, Christian Frankenberg, Ritesh Gautam, Luis Guanter, John Kelley, Jason McKeever, Lesley E. Ott, Benjamin Poulter, Zhen Qu, Andrew K. Thorpe, John R. Worden, and Riley M. Duren
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9617–9646, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9617-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9617-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We review the capability of satellite observations of atmospheric methane to quantify methane emissions on all scales. We cover retrieval methods, precision requirements, inverse methods for inferring emissions, source detection thresholds, and observations of system completeness. We show that current instruments already enable quantification of regional and national emissions including contributions from large point sources. Coverage and resolution will increase significantly in coming years.
Daniel J. Varon, Daniel J. Jacob, Melissa Sulprizio, Lucas A. Estrada, William B. Downs, Lu Shen, Sarah E. Hancock, Hannah Nesser, Zhen Qu, Elise Penn, Zichong Chen, Xiao Lu, Alba Lorente, Ashutosh Tewari, and Cynthia A. Randles
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 5787–5805, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-5787-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-5787-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Reducing atmospheric methane emissions is critical to slow near-term climate change. Globally surveying satellite instruments like the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) have unique capabilities for monitoring atmospheric methane around the world. Here we present a user-friendly cloud-computing tool that enables researchers and stakeholders to quantify methane emissions across user-selected regions of interest using TROPOMI satellite observations.
Elena Sánchez-García, Javier Gorroño, Itziar Irakulis-Loitxate, Daniel J. Varon, and Luis Guanter
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1657–1674, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1657-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1657-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This study seeks to present the as-yet-unknown potential use of WorldView-3 for the mapping of methane point source emissions. The proposed retrieval methodology is based on the idea that the spectral channels not affected by methane can be used to predict the methane-affected band through regression analysis. The results show the precise location of 26 independent point emissions over different methane hotspot regions worldwide, which prove the game-changing potential that this mission entails.
Luis Guanter, Cédric Bacour, Andreas Schneider, Ilse Aben, Tim A. van Kempen, Fabienne Maignan, Christian Retscher, Philipp Köhler, Christian Frankenberg, Joanna Joiner, and Yongguang Zhang
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 5423–5440, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5423-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5423-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) is an electromagnetic signal emitted by plants in the red and far-red parts of the spectrum. It has a functional link to photosynthesis and can be measured by satellite instruments, which makes it an important variable for the remote monitoring of the photosynthetic activity of vegetation ecosystems around the world. In this contribution we present a SIF dataset derived from the new Sentinel-5P TROPOMI missions.
David R. Lyon, Benjamin Hmiel, Ritesh Gautam, Mark Omara, Katherine A. Roberts, Zachary R. Barkley, Kenneth J. Davis, Natasha L. Miles, Vanessa C. Monteiro, Scott J. Richardson, Stephen Conley, Mackenzie L. Smith, Daniel J. Jacob, Lu Shen, Daniel J. Varon, Aijun Deng, Xander Rudelis, Nikhil Sharma, Kyle T. Story, Adam R. Brandt, Mary Kang, Eric A. Kort, Anthony J. Marchese, and Steven P. Hamburg
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 6605–6626, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6605-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6605-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The Permian Basin (USA) is the world’s largest oil field. We use tower- and aircraft-based approaches to measure how methane emissions in the Permian Basin changed throughout 2020. In early 2020, 3.3 % of the region’s gas was emitted; then in spring 2020, the loss rate temporarily dropped to 1.9 % as oil price crashed. We find this short-term reduction to be a result of reduced well development, less gas flaring, and fewer abnormal events despite minimal reductions in oil and gas production.
Daniel J. Varon, Dylan Jervis, Jason McKeever, Ian Spence, David Gains, and Daniel J. Jacob
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 2771–2785, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2771-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2771-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Satellites can detect methane emissions by measuring sunlight reflected from the Earth's surface and atmosphere. Here we show that the European Space Agency's Sentinel-2 twin satellites can be used to monitor anomalously large methane point sources around the world, with global coverage every 2–5 days and 20 m spatial resolution. We demonstrate this previously unreported capability through high-frequency Sentinel-2 monitoring of two strong methane point sources in Algeria and Turkmenistan.
Dylan Jervis, Jason McKeever, Berke O. A. Durak, James J. Sloan, David Gains, Daniel J. Varon, Antoine Ramier, Mathias Strupler, and Ewan Tarrant
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 2127–2140, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2127-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2127-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We describe how the GHGSat-D demonstration satellite is designed and operated in order to measure greenhouse gas emissions from different types of industrial facilities. The distinguishing features of GHGSat-D, or
Claire, are its compact size (< 15 kg) and high spatial resolution (< 50 m). We give a mathematical model of the instrument and describe the techniques used to infer a methane concentration from a measurement of the sunlight that has reflected off the Earth's surface.
Gregory Duveiller, Federico Filipponi, Sophia Walther, Philipp Köhler, Christian Frankenberg, Luis Guanter, and Alessandro Cescatti
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 1101–1116, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-1101-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-1101-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence is a valuable indicator of vegetation productivity, but our capacity to measure it from space using satellite remote techniques has been hampered by a lack of spatial detail. Based on prior knowledge of how ecosystems should respond to growing conditions in some modelling along with ancillary satellite observations, we provide here a new enhanced dataset with higher spatial resolution that better represents the spatial patterns of vegetation growth over land.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Daniel J. Varon, Daniel J. Jacob, Jason McKeever, Dylan Jervis, Berke O. A. Durak, Yan Xia, and Yi Huang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 5673–5686, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-5673-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-5673-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas emitted from numerous human activities. Space-based observation of point sources would be a cost-effective monitoring solution, but the resolution of most current and planned methane-observing satellites is too coarse to resolve individual emitters. We simulate fine-resolution (50 m) satellite observations of methane plumes as would be measured by GHGSat (to be launched in 2019) and show that such data can usefully quantify large methane point sources.
P. Köhler, L. Guanter, and J. Joiner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 2589–2608, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-2589-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-2589-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
The paper presents recent developments for the retrieval of sun-induced fluorescence (SIF) from medium spectral resolution space-borne spectrometers such as the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME-2) and the Scanning Imaging Absorption SpectroMeter for Atmospheric ChartographY (SCIAMACHY). Beside using simulated radiances to evaluate the retrieval performance, the method has also been used to estimate SIF at 740 nm using real spectra from GOME-2 and for the first time, from SCIAMACHY.
L. Guanter, I. Aben, P. Tol, J. M. Krijger, A. Hollstein, P. Köhler, A. Damm, J. Joiner, C. Frankenberg, and J. Landgraf
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 1337–1352, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-1337-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-1337-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
This paper investigates the potential of the upcoming TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) instrument for the retrieval of the chlorophyll fluorescence signal emitted in the 650–850nm spectral range by the photosynthetic machinery of green plants. We find that TROPOMI will allow substantial improvements in the space monitoring of fluorescence with respect to current spaceborne instruments such as GOME-2 and SCIAMACHY.
J. Joiner, L. Guanter, R. Lindstrot, M. Voigt, A. P. Vasilkov, E. M. Middleton, K. F. Huemmrich, Y. Yoshida, and C. Frankenberg
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 2803–2823, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2803-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2803-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Subject: Gases | Technique: Remote Sensing | Topic: Validation and Intercomparisons
Validation of ACE-FTS version 5.2 ozone data with ozonesonde measurements
Intercomparison of long-term ground-based measurements of total, tropospheric, and stratospheric ozone at Lauder, New Zealand
First evaluation of the GEMS glyoxal products against TROPOMI and ground-based measurements
Validation of GEMS tropospheric NO2 columns and their diurnal variation with ground-based DOAS measurements
Using open-path dual-comb spectroscopy to monitor methane emissions from simulated grazing cattle
Greenhouse gas column observations from a portable spectrometer in Uganda
Independent validation of IASI/MetOp-A LMD and RAL CH4 products using CAMS model, in situ profiles, and ground-based FTIR measurements
Joint spectral retrievals of ozone with Suomi NPP CrIS augmented by S5P/TROPOMI
An evaluation of atmospheric absorption models at millimetre and sub-millimetre wavelengths using airborne observations
Validation of the version 4.5 MAESTRO ozone and NO2 measurements
Applicability of the inverse dispersion method to measure emissions from animal housings
5 years of Sentinel-5P TROPOMI operational ozone profiling and geophysical validation using ozonesonde and lidar ground-based networks
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
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
TROPESS-CrIS CO single-pixel vertical profiles: intercomparisons with MOPITT and model simulations for 2020 western US wildfires
TOLNet validation of satellite ozone profiles in the troposphere: impact of retrieval wavelengths
An uncertainty methodology for solar occultation flux measurements: ammonia emissions from livestock production
Validation of Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS) chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22) in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere
First validation of high-resolution satellite-derived methane emissions from an active gas leak in the UK
Diurnal variations of NO2 tropospheric vertical column density over the Seoul Metropolitan Area from the Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS): seasonal differences and impacts of varying a priori NO2 profile data
Ship- and aircraft-based XCH4 over oceans as a new tool for satellite validation
Validation of 12 years (2008–2019) of IASI-CO with IAGOS aircraft observations
Single-blind test of nine methane-sensing satellite systems from three continents
Water vapor measurements inside clouds and storms using a differential absorption radar
Evaluation of the first year of Pandora NO2 measurements over Beijing and application to satellite validation
Validation of MUSES NH3 observations from AIRS and CrIS against aircraft measurements from DISCOVER-AQ and a surface network in the Magic Valley
Benchmarking data-driven inversion methods for the estimation of local CO2 emissions from XCO2 and NO2 satellite images
Performance and sensitivity of column-wise and pixel-wise methane retrievals for imaging spectrometers
Methane point source quantification using MethaneAIR: a new airborne imaging spectrometer
Evaluation of total ozone measurements from Geostationary Environmental Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS)
To new heights by flying low: comparison of aircraft vertical NO2 profiles to model simulations and implications for TROPOMI NO2 retrievals
Local comparisons of tropospheric ozone: vertical soundings at two neighbouring stations in southern Bavaria
Ground-based Multi-AXis Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) observations of NO2 and H2CO at Kinshasa and comparisons with TROPOMI observations
Total column ozone trends from the NASA Merged Ozone time series 1979 to 2021 showing latitude-dependent ozone recovery dates (1994 to 1998)
The SPARC water vapour assessment II: biases and drifts of water vapour satellite data records with respect to frost point hygrometer records
Vicarious calibration of the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) short-wave infrared (SWIR) module over the Railroad Valley Playa
First-time comparison between NO2 vertical columns from Geostationary Environmental Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) and Pandora measurements
A blended TROPOMI+GOSAT satellite data product for atmospheric methane using machine learning to correct retrieval biases
Evaluating the consistency between OCO-2 and OCO-3 XCO2 estimates derived from the NASA ACOS version 10 retrieval algorithm
OLCI-A/B tandem phase: evaluation of FLuorescence EXplorer (FLEX)-like radiances and estimation of systematic differences between OLCI-A and OLCI-FLEX
Multi-parameter dynamical diagnostics for upper tropospheric and lower stratospheric studies
An approach to track instrument calibration and produce consistent products with the version-8 total column ozone algorithm (V8TOZ)
Satellite remote-sensing capability to assess tropospheric-column ratios of formaldehyde and nitrogen dioxide: case study during the Long Island Sound Tropospheric Ozone Study 2018 (LISTOS 2018) field campaign
Validation of Sentinel-5P TROPOMI tropospheric NO2 products by comparison with NO2 measurements from airborne imaging DOAS, ground-based stationary DOAS, and mobile car DOAS measurements during the S5P-VAL-DE-Ruhr campaign
Evaluation of open- and closed-path sampling systems for the determination of emission rates of NH3 and CH4 with inverse dispersion modeling
Performance of AIRS ozone retrieval over the central Himalayas: use of ozonesonde and other satellite datasets
Solar occultation measurement of mesospheric ozone by SAGE III/ISS: impact of variations along the line of sight caused by photochemistry
TROPOMI/S5P Total Column Water Vapor validation against AERONET ground-based measurements
Assessing the consistency of satellite-derived upper tropospheric humidity measurements
A comparison of carbon monoxide retrievals between the MOPITT satellite and Canadian high-Arctic ground-based NDACC and TCCON FTIR measurements
Jiansheng Zou, Kaley A. Walker, Patrick E. Sheese, Chris D. Boone, Ryan M. Stauffer, Anne M. Thompson, and David W. Tarasick
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6983–7005, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6983-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6983-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Ozone measurements from the ACE-FTS satellite instrument have been compared to worldwide balloon-borne ozonesonde profiles using pairs of closely spaced profiles and monthly averaged profiles. ACE-FTS typically measures more ozone in the stratosphere by up to 10 %. The long-term stability of the ACE-FTS ozone data is good, exhibiting small (but non-significant) drifts of less than 3 % per decade in the stratosphere. Lower in the profiles, the calculated drifts are larger (up to 10 % per decade).
Robin Björklund, Corinne Vigouroux, Peter Effertz, Omaira E. García, Alex Geddes, James Hannigan, Koji Miyagawa, Michael Kotkamp, Bavo Langerock, Gerald Nedoluha, Ivan Ortega, Irina Petropavlovskikh, Deniz Poyraz, Richard Querel, John Robinson, Hisako Shiona, Dan Smale, Penny Smale, Roeland Van Malderen, and Martine De Mazière
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6819–6849, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6819-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6819-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Different ground-based ozone measurements from the last 2 decades at Lauder are compared to each other. We want to know why different trends have been observed in the stratosphere. Also, the quality and relevance of tropospheric datasets need to be evaluated. While remaining drifts are still present, our study explains roughly half of the differences in observed trends in previous studies and shows the necessity for continuous review and improvement of the measurements.
Eunjo S. Ha, Rokjin J. Park, Hyeong-Ahn Kwon, Gitaek T. Lee, Sieun D. Lee, Seunga Shin, Dong-Won Lee, Hyunkee Hong, Christophe Lerot, Isabelle De Smedt, Thomas Danckaert, Francois Hendrick, and Hitoshi Irie
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6369–6384, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6369-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6369-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we evaluated the GEMS glyoxal products by comparing them with TROPOMI and MAX-DOAS measurements. GEMS and TROPOMI VCDs present similar spatial distributions. Monthly variations in GEMS VCDs and TROPOMI and MAX-DOAS VCDs differ in northeastern Asia, which we attributed to a polluted reference spectrum and high NO2 concentrations. GEMS glyoxal products with unparalleled temporal resolution would enrich our understanding of VOC emissions and diurnal variation.
Kezia Lange, Andreas Richter, Tim Bösch, Bianca Zilker, Miriam Latsch, Lisa K. Behrens, Chisom M. Okafor, Hartmut Bösch, John P. Burrows, Alexis Merlaud, Gaia Pinardi, Caroline Fayt, Martina M. Friedrich, Ermioni Dimitropoulou, Michel Van Roozendael, Steffen Ziegler, Simona Ripperger-Lukosiunaite, Leon Kuhn, Bianca Lauster, Thomas Wagner, Hyunkee Hong, Donghee Kim, Lim-Seok Chang, Kangho Bae, Chang-Keun Song, Jong-Uk Park, and Hanlim Lee
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6315–6344, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6315-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6315-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Instruments for air quality observations on geostationary satellites provide multiple observations per day and allow for the analysis of the diurnal variation of important air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2) over large areas. The South Korean instrument GEMS, launched in February 2020, is the first instrument in geostationary orbit and covers a large part of Asia. Our investigations show the observed diurnal evolution of NO2 at different measurement sites.
Chinthaka Weerasekara, Lindsay C. Morris, Nathan A. Malarich, Fabrizio R. Giorgetta, Daniel I. Herman, Kevin C. Cossel, Nathan R. Newbury, Clenton E. Owensby, Stephen M. Welch, Cosmin Blaga, Brett D. DePaola, Ian Coddington, Brian R. Washburn, and Eduardo A. Santos
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6107–6117, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6107-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6107-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Most methane emissions during the life cycle of beef cattle occur during the grazing phase. Measuring methane in grazing systems is difficult due to the high mobility and low density of animals. This work investigates if dual-comb spectroscopy can measure methane emissions from small cattle herds. An enhancement of 10 nmol mol-1 methane above the atmospheric background was measured, equivalent to 20 head located 60 m away. The calculated methane flux was within 5 % of the actual release rate.
Neil Humpage, Hartmut Boesch, William Okello, Jia Chen, Florian Dietrich, Mark F. Lunt, Liang Feng, Paul I. Palmer, and Frank Hase
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5679–5707, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5679-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5679-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We used a Bruker EM27/SUN spectrometer within an automated weatherproof enclosure to measure greenhouse gas column concentrations over a 3-month period in Jinja, Uganda. The portability of the EM27/SUN allows us to evaluate satellite and model data in locations not covered by traditional validation networks. This is of particular value in tropical Africa, where extensive terrestrial ecosystems are a significant store of carbon and play a key role in the atmospheric budgets of CO2 and CH4.
Bart Dils, Minqiang Zhou, Claude Camy-Peyret, Martine De Mazière, Yannick Kangah, Bavo Langerock, Pascal Prunet, Carmine Serio, Richard Siddans, and Brian Kerridge
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5491–5524, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5491-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5491-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The paper discusses two very distinct methane products from the IASI instrument aboard the MetOp-A satellite. One (referred to as LMD NLISv8.3) uses a machine-learning approach, while the other (RALv2.0) uses a more conventional optimal estimation approach. We used a variety of model and independent reference measurement data to assess both products' overall quality, their differences, and specific aspects of each product that would benefit from further analysis by the product development teams.
Edward Malina, Kevin W. Bowman, Valentin Kantchev, Le Kuai, Thomas P. Kurosu, Kazuyuki Miyazaki, Vijay Natraj, Gregory B. Osterman, Fabiano Oyafuso, and Matthew D. Thill
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5341–5371, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5341-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5341-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Characterizing the distribution of ozone in the atmosphere is a challenging problem, with current Earth observation satellites using either thermal infrared (TIR) or ultraviolet (UV) instruments, sensitive to different portions of the atmosphere, making it difficult to gain a full picture. In this work, we combine measurements from the TIR and UV instruments Suomi NPP CrIS and Sentinel-5P/TROPOMI to improve sensitivity through the whole atmosphere and improve knowledge of ozone distribution.
Stuart Fox, Vinia Mattioli, Emma Turner, Alan Vance, Domenico Cimini, and Donatello Gallucci
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4957–4978, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4957-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4957-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Airborne observations are used to evaluate two models for absorption and emission by atmospheric gases, including water vapour and oxygen, at microwave and sub-millimetre wavelengths. These models are needed for the Ice Cloud Imager (ICI) on the next generation of European polar-orbiting weather satellites, which measures at frequencies up to 664 GHz. Both models can provide a good match to measurements from airborne radiometers and are sufficiently accurate for use with ICI.
Paul S. Jeffery, James R. Drummond, C. Thomas McElroy, Kaley A. Walker, and Jiansheng Zou
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2115, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2115, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The MAESTRO instrument has been monitoring ozone and NO2 since February 2004. A new version of these data products has recently been released; however, these new products must be validated against other datasets to ensure their validity. This study presents such an assessment, using measurements from eleven satellite instruments to characterize the new MAESTRO products. In the stratosphere, good agreement is found for ozone and acceptable agreement is found for NO2 with these other datasets.
Marcel Bühler, Christoph Häni, Albrecht Neftel, Patrice Bühler, Christof Ammann, and Thomas Kupper
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4649–4658, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4649-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4649-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Methane was released from an artificial source inside a barn to test the applicability of the inverse dispersion method (IDM). Multiple open-path concentration devices and ultrasonic anemometers were used at the site. It is concluded that, for the present study case, the effect of a building and a tree in the main wind axis led to a systematic underestimation of the IDM-derived emission rate probably due to deviations in the wind field and turbulent dispersion from the ideal assumptions.
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
Short summary
The Sentinel-5P satellite operated by the European Space Agency has carried the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) around the Earth since October 2017. This mission also produces atmospheric ozone profile data which are described in detail for May 2018 to April 2023. Independent validation using ground-based reference measurements demonstrates that the operational ozone profile product mostly fully and at least partially complies with all mission requirements.
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
Short summary
The Total Carbon Column Observing Network is a network of ground-based Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometers used mainly for satellite validation. To ensure the highest-quality validation data, the network needs to be highly consistent. This is a major challenge, which so far is solved by site comparisons with airborne in situ measurements. In this work, we describe the use of a portable FTIR spectrometer as a travel standard for evaluating the consistency of TCCON sites.
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
Short summary
This study examines newer versions of H2O and HDO retrievals from Envisat/MIPAS and SCISAT/ACE-FTS. Results reveal a better agreement in stratospheric H2O profiles than in HDO profiles. The H2O tape recorder signal is consistent across databases, but δD tape recorder composites show differences that impact the interpretation of water vapour transport. These findings enhance the need for intercomparisons to refine our insights.
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
Short summary
The TROPESS CrIS single-pixel CO profile retrievals are compared to the MOPITT CO products in steps of adjusting them to the common a priori assumptions. The two data sets are found to agree within 5 %. We also demonstrated and analyzed the proper steps in evaluating GISS ModelE CO simulations using satellite CO retrieval products for the western US wildfire events in September 2020.
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
Short summary
Monitoring tropospheric ozone (O3), a harmful pollutant negatively impacting human health, is primarily done using ground-based measurements and ozonesondes. However, these observation types lack the coverage to fully understand tropospheric O3. Satellites can retrieve tropospheric ozone with near-daily global coverage; however, they are known to have biases and errors. This study uses ground-based lidars to validate multiple satellites' ability to observe tropospheric O3.
Johan Mellqvist, Nathalia T. Vechi, Charlotte Scheutz, Marc Durif, Francois Gautier, John Johansson, Jerker Samuelsson, Brian Offerle, and Samuel Brohede
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2465–2479, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2465-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2465-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The solar occultation flux method retrieves ammonia gas columns from the solar spectrum. Emissions are obtained by multiplying the integrated plume concentration by the wind speed profile. The methodology for uncertainty estimation was established considering an error budget with systematic and random components, resulting in an expanded uncertainty in the range of 20 % to 30 %. The method was validated in a controlled release, and its application was demonstrated in different farms.
Felicia Kolonjari, Patrick E. Sheese, Kaley A. Walker, Chris D. Boone, David A. Plummer, Andreas Engel, Stephen A. Montzka, David E. Oram, Tanja Schuck, Gabriele P. Stiller, and Geoffrey C. Toon
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2429–2449, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2429-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2429-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The Canadian Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier transform spectrometer (ACE-FTS) satellite instrument is currently providing the only vertically resolved chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22) measurements from space. This study assesses the most current ACE-FTS HCFC-22 data product in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, as well as modelled HCFC-22 from a 39-year run of the Canadian Middle Atmosphere Model (CMAM39) in the same region.
Emily Dowd, Alistair J. Manning, Bryn Orth-Lashley, Marianne Girard, James France, Rebecca E. Fisher, Dave Lowry, Mathias Lanoisellé, Joseph R. Pitt, Kieran M. Stanley, Simon O'Doherty, Dickon Young, Glen Thistlethwaite, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Emanuel Gloor, and Chris Wilson
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1599–1615, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1599-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1599-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We provide the first validation of the satellite-derived emission estimates using surface-based mobile greenhouse gas surveys of an active gas leak detected near Cheltenham, UK. GHGSat’s emission estimates broadly agree with the surface-based mobile survey and steps were taken to fix the leak, highlighting the importance of satellite data in identifying emissions and helping to reduce our human impact on climate change.
Seunghwan Seo, Si-Wan Kim, Kyoung-Min Kim, Andreas Richter, Kezia Lange, John Philip Burrows, Junsung Park, Hyunkee Hong, Hanlim Lee, Ukkyo Jeong, and Jhoon Kim
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-33, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-33, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for AMT
Short summary
Short summary
Over the Seoul Metropolitan Area, GEMS tropospheric NO2 vertical column densities (NO2 TropVCD) show distinct seasonal characteristics, including the absolute values and diurnal patterns. Also, varying a priori data have the substantial impacts on the GEMS NO2 TropVCD. The a priori data from different CTMs resulted in differences of up to 19.2 %. Notably, diurnal patterns of VCDs are similar for all datasets, although theri a priori data exhibit contrasting diurnal patterns.
Astrid Müller, Hiroshi Tanimoto, Takafumi Sugita, Prabir K. Patra, Shin-ichiro Nakaoka, Toshinobu Machida, Isamu Morino, André Butz, and Kei Shiomi
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1297–1316, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1297-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1297-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Satellite CH4 observations with high accuracy are needed to understand changes in atmospheric CH4 concentrations. But over oceans, reference data are limited. We combine various ship and aircraft observations with the help of atmospheric chemistry models to derive observation-based column-averaged mixing ratios of CH4 (obs. XCH4). We discuss three different approaches and demonstrate the applicability of the new reference dataset for carbon cycle studies and satellite evaluation.
Brice Barret, Pierre Loicq, Eric Le Flochmoën, Yasmine Bennouna, Juliette Hadji-Lazaro, Daniel Hurtmans, and Bastien Sauvage
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-30, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-30, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Atmospheric profiles of carbon monoxide (CO) retrieved from the IASI spaceborne sensor with the SOFRID and FORLI algorithms are validated against airborne data from the IAGOS Infrastructure for 2008–2020. 8500 daily observations at 33 airports allow a comprehensive spatio-temporal evaluation of the IASI-CO products. They are globally underestimating IAGOS-CO with stronger bias in the mid-upper troposphere south of Bangkok for SOFRID and in the lower troposphere north of Philadelphia for FORLI.
Evan D. Sherwin, Sahar H. El Abbadi, Philippine M. Burdeau, Zhan Zhang, Zhenlin Chen, Jeffrey S. Rutherford, Yuanlei Chen, and Adam R. Brandt
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 765–782, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-765-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-765-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Countries and companies increasingly rely on a growing fleet of satellites to find large emissions of climate-warming methane, particularly from oil and natural gas systems across the globe. We independently assessed the performance of nine such systems by releasing controlled, undisclosed amounts of methane as satellites passed overhead. The tested systems produced reliable detection and quantification results, including the smallest-ever emission detected from space in such a test.
Luis F. Millán, Matthew D. Lebsock, Ken B. Cooper, Jose V. Siles, Robert Dengler, Raquel Rodriguez Monje, Amin Nehrir, Rory A. Barton-Grimley, James E. Collins, Claire E. Robinson, Kenneth L. Thornhill, and Holger Vömel
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 539–559, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-539-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-539-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we describe and validate a new technique in which three radar tones are used to estimate the water vapor inside clouds and precipitation. This instrument flew on board NASA's P-3 aircraft during the Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Snowstorms (IMPACTS) campaign and the Synergies Of Active optical and Active microwave Remote Sensing Experiment (SOA2RSE) campaign.
Ouyang Liu, Zhengqiang Li, Yangyan Lin, Cheng Fan, Ying Zhang, Kaitao Li, Peng Zhang, Yuanyuan Wei, Tianzeng Chen, Jiantao Dong, and Gerrit de Leeuw
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 377–395, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-377-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-377-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a trace gas which is important for atmospheric chemistry and may affect human health. To understand processes leading to harmful concentrations, it is important to monitor NO2 concentrations near the surface and higher up. To this end, a Pandora instrument has been installed in Beijing. An overview of the first year of data shows the large variability on diurnal to seasonal timescales and how this is affected by wind speed and direction and chemistry.
Karen E. Cady-Pereira, Xuehui Guo, Rui Wang, April B. Leytem, Chase Calkins, Elizabeth Berry, Kang Sun, Markus Müller, Armin Wisthaler, Vivienne H. Payne, Mark W. Shephard, Mark A. Zondlo, and Valentin Kantchev
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 15–36, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-15-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-15-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Ammonia is a significant precursor of PM2.5 particles and thus contributes to poor air quality in many regions. Furthermore, ammonia concentrations are rising due to the increase of large-scale, intensive agricultural activities. Here we evaluate satellite measurements of ammonia against aircraft and surface network data, and show that there are differences in magnitude, but the satellite data are spatially and temporally well correlated with the in situ data.
Diego Santaren, Janne Hakkarainen, Gerrit Kuhlmann, Erik Koene, Frédéric Chevallier, Iolanda Ialongo, Hannakaisa Lindqvist, Janne Nurmela, Johanna Tamminen, Laia Amoros, Dominik Brunner, and Grégoire Broquet
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2023-241, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2023-241, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for AMT
Short summary
Short summary
This study evaluates data-driven inversion methods for the estimate of CO2 emissions from local sources such as power plants and cities based on meteorological data and XCO2 and NO2 satellite images without atmospheric transport modeling. We assess and compare the performance of five different methods with simulations of one year of images from the future CO2M satellite mission over 15 power plants and the city of Berlin in Eastern Germany.
Alana K. Ayasse, Daniel Cusworth, Kelly O'Neill, Justin Fisk, Andrew K. Thorpe, and Riley Duren
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 6065–6074, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-6065-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-6065-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, and a significant portion of methane comes from large individual plumes. Recently, airplane-mounted infrared technologies have proven very good at detecting and quantifying these plumes. In order to extract the methane signal from the infrared image, there are two widely used approaches. In this study, we assess the performance of both approaches using controlled-release experiments. We also examine the minimum detection limit of the infrared technology.
Apisada Chulakadabba, Maryann Sargent, Thomas Lauvaux, Joshua S. Benmergui, Jonathan E. Franklin, Christopher Chan Miller, Jonas S. Wilzewski, Sébastien Roche, Eamon Conway, Amir H. Souri, Kang Sun, Bingkun Luo, Jacob Hawthrone, Jenna Samra, Bruce C. Daube, Xiong Liu, Kelly Chance, Yang Li, Ritesh Gautam, Mark Omara, Jeff S. Rutherford, Evan D. Sherwin, Adam Brandt, and Steven C. Wofsy
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5771–5785, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5771-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5771-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We show that MethaneAIR, a precursor to the MethaneSAT satellite, demonstrates accurate point source quantification during controlled release experiments and regional observations in 2021 and 2022. Results from our two independent quantification methods suggest the accuracy of our sensor and algorithms is better than 25 % for sources emitting 200 kg h−1 or more. Insights from these measurements help establish the capabilities of MethaneSAT and MethaneAIR.
Kanghyun Baek, Jae Hwan Kim, Juseon Bak, David P. Haffner, Mina Kang, and Hyunkee Hong
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5461–5478, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5461-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5461-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The GEMS mission was the first mission of the geostationary satellite constellation for hourly atmospheric composition monitoring. The GEMS ozone measurements were cross-compared to those of Pandora, OMPS, and TROPOMI satellite sensors and excellent agreement was found. GEMS has proven to be a powerful new instrument for monitoring and assessing the diurnal variation in atmospheric ozone. This experience can be used to advance research with future geostationary environmental satellite missions.
Tobias Christoph Valentin Werner Riess, Klaas Folkert Boersma, Ward Van Roy, Jos de Laat, Enrico Dammers, and Jasper van Vliet
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5287–5304, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5287-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5287-2023, 2023
Short summary
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.
Thomas Trickl, Martin Adelwart, Dina Khordakova, Ludwig Ries, Christian Rolf, Michael Sprenger, Wolfgang Steinbrecht, and Hannes Vogelmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5145–5165, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5145-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5145-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Tropospheric ozone have been measured for more than a century. Highly quantitative ozone measurements have been made at monitoring stations. However, deficits have been reported for vertical sounding systems. Here, we report a thorough intercomparison effort between a differential-absorption lidar system and two types of balloon-borne ozone sondes, also using ozone sensors at nearby mountain sites as references. The sondes agree very well with the lidar after offset corrections.
Rodriguez Yombo Phaka, Alexis Merlaud, Gaia Pinardi, Martina M. Friedrich, Michel Van Roozendael, Jean-François Müller, Trissevgeni Stavrakou, Isabelle De Smedt, François Hendrick, Ermioni Dimitropoulou, Richard Bopili Mbotia Lepiba, Edmond Phuku Phuati, Buenimio Lomami Djibi, Lars Jacobs, Caroline Fayt, Jean-Pierre Mbungu Tsumbu, and Emmanuel Mahieu
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5029–5050, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5029-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5029-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We present air quality measurements in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, performed with a newly developed instrument which was installed on a roof of the University of Kinshasa in November 2019. The instrument records spectra of the scattered sunlight, from which we derive the abundances of nitrogen dioxide and formaldehyde, two important pollutants. We compare our ground-based measurements with those of the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI).
Jay Herman, Jerald Ziemke, and Richard McPeters
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4693–4707, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4693-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4693-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Fourier series multivariate linear regression trends (% per decade) in ozone were estimated from the Merged Ozone Data Set (MOD) from 1979 to 2021 in two different regimes, from 1979 to TA (the date when ozone stopped decreasing) and TA to 2021. The derived TA is a latitude-dependent date, ranging from 1994 to 1998. TA(θ) is a marker for photochemistry dynamics models attempting to represent ozone change over the past 42 years.
Michael Kiefer, Dale F. Hurst, Gabriele P. Stiller, Stefan Lossow, Holger Vömel, John Anderson, Faiza Azam, Jean-Loup Bertaux, Laurent Blanot, Klaus Bramstedt, John P. Burrows, Robert Damadeo, Bianca Maria Dinelli, Patrick Eriksson, Maya García-Comas, John C. Gille, Mark Hervig, Yasuko Kasai, Farahnaz Khosrawi, Donal Murtagh, Gerald E. Nedoluha, Stefan Noël, Piera Raspollini, William G. Read, Karen H. Rosenlof, Alexei Rozanov, Christopher E. Sioris, Takafumi Sugita, Thomas von Clarmann, Kaley A. Walker, and Katja Weigel
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4589–4642, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4589-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4589-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We quantify biases and drifts (and their uncertainties) between the stratospheric water vapor measurement records of 15 satellite-based instruments (SATs, with 31 different retrievals) and balloon-borne frost point hygrometers (FPs) launched at 27 globally distributed stations. These comparisons of measurements during the period 2000–2016 are made using robust, consistent statistical methods. With some exceptions, the biases and drifts determined for most SAT–FP pairs are < 10 % and < 1 % yr−1.
Tim A. van Kempen, Tim J. Rotmans, Richard M. van Hees, Carol Bruegge, Dejian Fu, Ruud Hoogeveen, Thomas J. Pongetti, Robert Rosenberg, and Ilse Aben
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4507–4527, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4507-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4507-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Validation of satellite measurements is essential for providing reliable and consistent products. In this paper, a validation method for TROPOMI-SWIR (Tropospheric Measurement Instrument in the short-wavelength infrared) is explored. TROPOMI-SWIR has been shown to be exceptionally stable, a necessity to explore the methodology. Railroad Valley, Nevada, is a prime location to perform the necessary measurements to validate the satellite measurements of TROPOMI-SWIR.
Serin Kim, Daewon Kim, Hyunkee Hong, Lim-Seok Chang, Hanlim Lee, Deok-Rae Kim, Donghee Kim, Jeong-Ah Yu, Dongwon Lee, Ukkyo Jeong, Chang-Kuen Song, Sang-Woo Kim, Sang Seo Park, Jhoon Kim, Thomas F. Hanisco, Junsung Park, Wonei Choi, and Kwangyul Lee
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3959–3972, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3959-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3959-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
A first evaluation of the Geostationary Environmental Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) NO2 was carried out via comparison with the NO2 data obtained from the ground-based Pandora direct-sun measurements at four sites in Seosan, Republic of Korea. Comparisons between GEMS NO2 and Pandora NO2 were performed according to GEMS cloud fraction. GEMS NO2 showed good agreement with that of Pandora NO2 under less cloudy conditions.
Nicholas Balasus, Daniel J. Jacob, Alba Lorente, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Robert J. Parker, Hartmut Boesch, Zichong Chen, Makoto M. Kelp, Hannah Nesser, and Daniel J. Varon
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3787–3807, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3787-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3787-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We use machine learning to remove biases in TROPOMI satellite observations of atmospheric methane, with GOSAT observations serving as a reference. We find that the TROPOMI biases relative to GOSAT are related to the presence of aerosols and clouds, the surface brightness, and the specific detector that makes the observation aboard TROPOMI. The resulting blended TROPOMI+GOSAT product is more reliable for quantifying methane emissions.
Thomas E. Taylor, Christopher W. O'Dell, David Baker, Carol Bruegge, Albert Chang, Lars Chapsky, Abhishek Chatterjee, Cecilia Cheng, Frédéric Chevallier, David Crisp, Lan Dang, Brian Drouin, Annmarie Eldering, Liang Feng, Brendan Fisher, Dejian Fu, Michael Gunson, Vance Haemmerle, Graziela R. Keller, Matthäus Kiel, Le Kuai, Thomas Kurosu, Alyn Lambert, Joshua Laughner, Richard Lee, Junjie Liu, Lucas Mandrake, Yuliya Marchetti, Gregory McGarragh, Aronne Merrelli, Robert R. Nelson, Greg Osterman, Fabiano Oyafuso, Paul I. Palmer, Vivienne H. Payne, Robert Rosenberg, Peter Somkuti, Gary Spiers, Cathy To, Brad Weir, Paul O. Wennberg, Shanshan Yu, and Jia Zong
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3173–3209, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3173-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3173-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 and 3 (OCO-2 and OCO-3, respectively) provide complementary spatiotemporal coverage from a sun-synchronous and precession orbit, respectively. Estimates of total column carbon dioxide (XCO2) derived from the two sensors using the same retrieval algorithm show broad consistency over a 2.5-year overlapping time record. This suggests that data from the two satellites may be used together for scientific analysis.
Lena Katharina Jänicke, Rene Preusker, Marco Celesti, Marin Tudoroiu, Jürgen Fischer, Dirk Schüttemeyer, and Matthias Drusch
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3101–3121, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3101-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3101-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
To compare two top-of-atmosphere radiances measured by instruments with different spectral characteristics, a transfer function has been developed. It is applied to a tandem data set of Sentinel-3A and B, for which OLCI-B mimicked the ESA’s eighth Earth Explorer FLEX. We found that OLCI-A measured radiances about 2 % brighter than OLCI-FLEX. Only at larger wavelengths were OLCI-A measurements about 5 % darker. The method is thus successful, being sensitive to calibration and processing issues.
Luis F. Millán, Gloria L. Manney, Harald Boenisch, Michaela I. Hegglin, Peter Hoor, Daniel Kunkel, Thierry Leblanc, Irina Petropavlovskikh, Kaley Walker, Krzysztof Wargan, and Andreas Zahn
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2957–2988, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2957-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2957-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The determination of atmospheric composition trends in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) is still highly uncertain. We present the creation of dynamical diagnostics to map several ozone datasets (ozonesondes, lidars, aircraft, and satellite measurements) in geophysically based coordinate systems. The diagnostics can also be used to analyze other greenhouse gases relevant to surface climate and UTLS chemistry.
Zhihua Zhang, Jianguo Niu, Lawrence E. Flynn, Eric Beach, and Trevor Beck
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2919–2941, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2919-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2919-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study mainly focused on addressing stability and improvement when using a broadband approach, establishing soft-calibration adjustments for both OMPS S-NPP and N20, analyzing error biases based on multi-sensor bias correction, and comparing total column ozone and aerosol index retrievals from NOAA OMPS with those from other products.
Matthew S. Johnson, Amir H. Souri, Sajeev Philip, Rajesh Kumar, Aaron Naeger, Jeffrey Geddes, Laura Judd, Scott Janz, Heesung Chong, and John Sullivan
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2431–2454, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2431-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2431-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Satellites provide vital information for studying the processes controlling ozone formation. Based on the abundance of particular gases in the atmosphere, ozone formation is sensitive to specific human-induced and natural emission sources. However, errors and biases in satellite retrievals hinder this data source’s application for studying ozone formation sensitivity. We conducted a thorough statistical evaluation of two commonly applied satellites for investigating ozone formation sensitivity.
Kezia Lange, Andreas Richter, Anja Schönhardt, Andreas C. Meier, Tim Bösch, André Seyler, Kai Krause, Lisa K. Behrens, Folkard Wittrock, Alexis Merlaud, Frederik Tack, Caroline Fayt, Martina M. Friedrich, Ermioni Dimitropoulou, Michel Van Roozendael, Vinod Kumar, Sebastian Donner, Steffen Dörner, Bianca Lauster, Maria Razi, Christian Borger, Katharina Uhlmannsiek, Thomas Wagner, Thomas Ruhtz, Henk Eskes, Birger Bohn, Daniel Santana Diaz, Nader Abuhassan, Dirk Schüttemeyer, and John P. Burrows
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1357–1389, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1357-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1357-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We present airborne imaging DOAS and ground-based stationary and car DOAS measurements conducted during the S5P-VAL-DE-Ruhr campaign in the Rhine-Ruhr region. The measurements are used to validate spaceborne NO2 data products from the Sentinel-5 Precursor TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI). Auxiliary data of the TROPOMI NO2 retrieval, such as spatially higher resolved a priori NO2 vertical profiles, surface reflectivity, and cloud treatment are investigated to evaluate their impact.
Yolanda Maria Lemes, Christoph Häni, Jesper Nørlem Kamp, and Anders Feilberg
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1295–1309, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1295-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1295-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The implementation of a new method, line-averaged concentration measurement with a closed-path analyzer, will enable the measurement of fluxes of multiple gases from different types of sources and will evaluate the effects of mitigation strategies on emissions. In addition, this method allows for continuous online measurements that resolve temporal variation in ammonia emissions and the peak emissions of methane.
Prajjwal Rawat, Manish Naja, Evan Fishbein, Pradeep K. Thapliyal, Rajesh Kumar, Piyush Bhardwaj, Aditya Jaiswal, Sugriva N. Tiwari, Sethuraman Venkataramani, and Shyam Lal
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 889–909, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-889-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-889-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Satellite-based ozone observations have gained importance due to their global coverage. However, satellite-retrieved products are indirect and need to be validated, particularly over mountains. Ozonesondes launched from a Himalayan site are used to assess the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) ozone retrieval. AIRS is shown to overestimate ozone in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, while the differences from ozonesondes are more minor in the middle troposphere and stratosphere.
Murali Natarajan, Robert Damadeo, and David Flittner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 75–87, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-75-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-75-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Photochemically induced changes in mesospheric O3 concentration at twilight can cause asymmetry in the distribution along the line of sight of solar occultation observations that must be considered in the retrieval algorithm. Correction factors developed from diurnal photochemical model simulations were used to modify the archived SAGE III/ISS mesospheric O3 concentrations. For June 2021 the bias caused by the neglect of diurnal variations is over 30% at 64 km altitude and low latitudes.
Katerina Garane, Ka Lok Chan, Maria-Elissavet Koukouli, Diego Loyola, and Dimitris Balis
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 57–74, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-57-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-57-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In this work, 2.5 years of TROPOMI/S5P Total Column Water Vapor (TCWV) observations retrieved from the blue wavelength band are validated against co-located precipitable water measurements from NASA AERONET, which uses Cimel Sun photometers globally. Overall, the TCWV product agrees well on a global scale with the ground-based dataset (Pearson correl. coefficient 0.909) and has a mean relative bias of −2.7 ± 4.9 % with respect to the AERONET observations for moderate albedo and cloudiness.
Lei Shi, Carl J. Schreck III, Viju O. John, Eui-Seok Chung, Theresa Lang, Stefan A. Buehler, and Brian J. Soden
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6949–6963, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6949-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6949-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Four upper tropospheric humidity (UTH) datasets derived from satellite microwave and infrared sounders are evaluated to assess their consistency as part of the activities for the Global Energy and Water Exchanges (GEWEX) water vapor assessment project. The study shows that the four datasets are consistent in the interannual temporal and spatial variability of the tropics. However, differences are found in the magnitudes of the anomalies and in the changing rates during the common period.
Ali Jalali, Kaley A. Walker, Kimberly Strong, Rebecca R. Buchholz, Merritt N. Deeter, Debra Wunch, Sébastien Roche, Tyler Wizenberg, Erik Lutsch, Erin McGee, Helen M. Worden, Pierre Fogal, and James R. Drummond
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6837–6863, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6837-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6837-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This study validates MOPITT version 8 carbon monoxide measurements over the Canadian high Arctic for the period 2006 to 2019. The MOPITT products from different detector pixels and channels are compared with ground-based measurements from the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) in Eureka, Nunavut, Canada. These results show good consistency between the satellite and ground-based measurements and provide guidance on the usage of these MOPITT data at high latitudes.
Cited articles
Berk, A., Conforti, P., Kennett, R., Perkins, T., Hawes, F., and van den Bosch, J.: MODTRAN6: a major upgrade of the MODTRAN radiative transfer code, in: Algorithms and Technologies for Multispectral, Hyperspectral, and Ultraspectral Imagery XX, edited by: Velez-Reyes, M. and Kruse, F. A., International Society for Optics and Photonics, SPIE, 9088, 113–119, https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2050433, 2014. a, b
CCAC: United nations environment programme and climate and clean air coalition, Global Methane Assessment: Benefits and Costs of Mitigating Methane Emissions, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Nairobi, ISBN 978-92-807-3854-4, 2021. a
Chan, E., Worthy, D. E. J., Chan, D., Ishizawa, M., Moran, M. D., Delcloo, A., and Vogel, F.: Eight-Year Estimates of Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas Operations in Western Canada Are Nearly Twice Those Reported in Inventories,
Environ. Sci. Technol., 54, 14899–14909,
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c04117, 2020. a
Cusworth, D. H., Jacob, D. J., Varon, D. J., Chan Miller, C., Liu, X., Chance, K., Thorpe, A. K., Duren, R. M., Miller, C. E., Thompson, D. R., Frankenberg, C., Guanter, L., and Randles, C. A.: Potential of next-generation imaging spectrometers to detect and quantify methane point sources from space, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 5655–5668, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5655-2019, 2019. a, b
Cusworth, D. H., Duren, R. M., Thorpe, A. K., Olson-Duvall, W., Heckler, J.,
Chapman, J. W., Eastwood, M. L., Helmlinger, M. C., Green, R. O., Asner,
G. P., Dennison, P. E., and Miller, C. E.: Intermittency of Large Methane
Emitters in the Permian Basin, Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett.,
8, 567–573, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00173, 2021. a
Duren, R., Thorpe, A., Foster, K., Rafiq, T., Hopkins, F., Yadav, V., Bue, B., Thompson, D., Conley, S., Colombi, N., Frankenberg, C., McCubbin, I.,
Eastwood, M., Falk, M., Herner, J., Croes, B., Green, R., and Miller, C.:
California’s methane super-emitters, Nature, 575, 180–184,
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1720-3, 2019. a, b
Ehret, T., De Truchis, A., Mazzolini, M., Morel, J.-M., d'Aspremont, A.,
Lauvaux, T., Duren, R., Cusworth, D., and Facciolo, G.: Global Tracking and
Quantification of Oil and Gas Methane Emissions from Recurrent Sentinel-2
Imagery, Environ. Sci. Technol., 56, 10517–10529, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c08575, 2022. a, b, c, d
Emde, C., Buras-Schnell, R., Kylling, A., Mayer, B., Gasteiger, J., Hamann, U., Kylling, J., Richter, B., Pause, C., Dowling, T., and Bugliaro, L.: The libRadtran software package for radiative transfer calculations (version 2.0.1), Geosci. Model Dev., 9, 1647–1672, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-1647-2016, 2016. a
ESA: Sentinel-2 MSI Level-1C data quality report, https://sentinel.esa.int/web/sentinel/data-product-quality-reports,
last access: 23 June 2022. a
Etminan, M., Myhre, G., Highwood, E. J., and Shine, K. P.: Radiative forcing of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide: A significant revision of the
methane radiative forcing, Geophys. Res. Lett., 43, 12614–12623,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL071930, 2016. a
Frankenberg, C., Thorpe, A. K., Thompson, D. R., Hulley, G., Kort, E. A.,
Vance, N., Borchardt, J., Krings, T., Gerilowski, K., Sweeney, C., Conley,
S., Bue, B. D., Aubrey, A. D., Hook, S., and Green, R. O.: Airborne methane
remote measurements reveal heavy-tail flux distribution in Four Corners
region, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 113, 9734–9739,
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1605617113, 2016. a
Gascon, F., Bouzinac, C., Thepaut, O., Jung, M., Francesconi, B., Louis, J.,
Lonjou, V., Lafrance, B., Massera, S., Gaudel-Vacaresse, A., Languille, F.,
Alhammoud, B., Viallefont, F., Pflug, B., Bieniarz, J., Clerc, S., Pessiot,
L., Tremas, T., Cadou, E., De Bonis, R., Isola, C., Martimort, P., and
Fernandez, V.: Copernicus Sentinel-2A Calibration and Products Validation
Status, Remote Sens., 9, 1–81, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9060584, 2017. a, b
Guanter, L., Irakulis-Loitxate, I., Gorroño, J., Sánchez-García, E., Cusworth, D. H., Varon, D. J., Cogliati, S., and Colombo, R.: Mapping methane
point emissions with the PRISMA spaceborne imaging spectrometer, Remote
Sens. Environ., 265, 112671, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2021.112671, 2021. a, b, c, d, e, f
Huber, P. J. and Ronchetti, E. M.: Robust statistics, Wiley, ISBN 978-1-118-21033-8, 2011. a
IPCC: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, edited by: Masson-Delmotte, V., Zhai, P., Pirani, A., Connors, S. L., Péan, C., Berger, S., Caud, N., Chen, Y., Goldfarb, L., Gomis, M. I., Huang, M., Leitzell, K., Lonnoy, E., Matthews, J. B. R., Maycock, T. K., Waterfield, T., Yelekçi, O., Yu, R., and Zhou, B., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, 2391 pp., 2021. a
Irakulis-Loitxate, I., Guanter, L., Liu, Y.-N., Varon, D. J., Maasakkers, J. D., Zhang, Y., Chulakadabba, A., Wofsy, S. C., Thorpe, A. K., Duren, R. M., Frankenberg, C., Lyon, D. R., Hmiel, B., Cusworth, D. H., Zhang, Y., Segl, K., Gorroño, J., Sánchez-García, E., Sulprizio, M. P., Cao, K., Zhu, H., Liang, J., Li, X., Aben, I., and Jacob, D. J.: Satellite-based survey of
extreme methane emissions in the Permian basin, Sci. Adv., 7,
eabf4507, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abf4507, 2021. a
Irakulis-Loitxate, I., Gorroño, J., Zavala-Araiza, D., and Guanter, L.: Satellites Detect a Methane Ultra-emission Event from an Offshore Platform in
the Gulf of Mexico, Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett., 9, 520–525,
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.2c00225, 2022a. a
Jacob, D. J., Turner, A. J., Maasakkers, J. D., Sheng, J., Sun, K., Liu, X., Chance, K., Aben, I., McKeever, J., and Frankenberg, C.: Satellite observations of atmospheric methane and their value for quantifying methane emissions, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 14371–14396, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-14371-2016, 2016. a
Jacob, D. J., Varon, D. J., Cusworth, D. H., Dennison, P. E., Frankenberg, C., Gautam, R., Guanter, L., Kelley, J., McKeever, J., Ott, L. E., Poulter, B., Qu, Z., Thorpe, A. K., Worden, J. R., and Duren, R. M.: Quantifying methane emissions from the global scale down to point sources using satellite observations of atmospheric methane, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9617–9646, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9617-2022, 2022. a, b
Jongaramrungruang, S., Matheou, G., Thorpe, A. K., Zeng, Z.-C., and Frankenberg, C.: Remote sensing of methane plumes: instrument tradeoff analysis for detecting and quantifying local sources at global scale, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7999–8017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7999-2021, 2021. a
Jongaramrungruang, S., Thorpe, A. K., Matheou, G., and Frankenberg, C.:
MethaNet – An AI-driven approach to quantifying methane point-source
emission from high-resolution 2-D plume imagery, Remote Sens. Environ., 269, 112809, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2021.112809, 2022. a
Kochanov, R. V., Gordon, I. E., Rothman, L. S., Wcisło, P., Hill, C., and Wilzewski, J. S.: HITRAN Application Programming Interface (HAPI): A comprehensive approach to working with spectroscopic data,
J. Quant. Spectrosc. Ra., 177, 15–30, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jqsrt.2016.03.005, 2016. a
Kokaly, R., Clark, R., Swayze, G., Livo, K., Hoefen, T., Pearson, N., Wise, R., Benzel, W., Lowers, H., and Driscoll, R.: USGS Spectral Library Version 7, U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 1035, 61 pp., https://doi.org/10.3133/ds1035, 2017. a
Lauvaux, T., Giron, C., Mazzolini, M., d’Aspremont, A., Duren, R., Cusworth,
D., Shindell, D., and Ciais, P.: Global assessment of oil and gas methane
ultra-emitters, Science, 375, 557–561, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abj4351, 2022. a
Lyon, D. R., Alvarez, R. A., Zavala-Araiza, D., Brandt, A. R., Jackson, R. B., and Hamburg, S. P.: Aerial Surveys of Elevated Hydrocarbon Emissions from Oil and Gas Production Sites, Environ. Sci. Technol., 50,
4877–4886, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b00705, 2016. a
Mayer, B. and Kylling, A.: Technical note: The libRadtran software package for radiative transfer calculations – description and examples of use, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 5, 1855–1877, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-5-1855-2005, 2005. a
Micijevic, E., Rengarajan, R., Haque, M. O., Lubke, M., Tuli, F. T. Z., Shaw, J. L., Hasan, N., Denevan, A., Franks, S., Choate, M. J., Anderson, C., Markham, B., Thome, K., Kaita, E., Barsi, J., Levy, R., and Ong, L.: ECCOE Landsat quarterly Calibration and Validation report – Quarter 3, 2021, U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2022–1025, 38 pp., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20221025, 2022. a
Molod, A., Takacs, L., Suarez, M., Bacmeister, J., Song, I.-S., and Eichmann, A.: The GEOS-5 Atmospheric General Circulation Model: Mean Climate and Development from MERRA to Fortuna, Tech. Rep. Series on Global Modeling and Data Assimilation, edited by: Suarez, M. J., NASA Tech. Memo. 104606, Vol. 28, 117 pp., 2012. a
Qu, Z., Jacob, D. J., Shen, L., Lu, X., Zhang, Y., Scarpelli, T. R., Nesser, H., Sulprizio, M. P., Maasakkers, J. D., Bloom, A. A., Worden, J. R., Parker, R. J., and Delgado, A. L.: Global distribution of methane emissions: a comparative inverse analysis of observations from the TROPOMI and GOSAT satellite instruments, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 14159–14175, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14159-2021, 2021. a
Sánchez-García, E., Gorroño, J., Irakulis-Loitxate, I., Varon, D. J., and Guanter, L.: Mapping methane plumes at very high spatial resolution with the WorldView-3 satellite, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1657–1674, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1657-2022, 2022. a, b, c
Saunois, M., Stavert, A. R., Poulter, B., Bousquet, P., Canadell, J. G., Jackson, R. B., Raymond, P. A., Dlugokencky, E. J., Houweling, S., Patra, P. K., Ciais, P., Arora, V. K., Bastviken, D., Bergamaschi, P., Blake, D. R., Brailsford, G., Bruhwiler, L., Carlson, K. M., Carrol, M., Castaldi, S., Chandra, N., Crevoisier, C., Crill, P. M., Covey, K., Curry, C. L., Etiope, G., Frankenberg, C., Gedney, N., Hegglin, M. I., Höglund-Isaksson, L., Hugelius, G., Ishizawa, M., Ito, A., Janssens-Maenhout, G., Jensen, K. M., Joos, F., Kleinen, T., Krummel, P. B., Langenfelds, R. L., Laruelle, G. G., Liu, L., Machida, T., Maksyutov, S., McDonald, K. C., McNorton, J., Miller, P. A., Melton, J. R., Morino, I., Müller, J., Murguia-Flores, F., Naik, V., Niwa, Y., Noce, S., O'Doherty, S., Parker, R. J., Peng, C., Peng, S., Peters, G. P., Prigent, C., Prinn, R., Ramonet, M., Regnier, P., Riley, W. J., Rosentreter, J. A., Segers, A., Simpson, I. J., Shi, H., Smith, S. J., Steele, L. P., Thornton, B. F., Tian, H., Tohjima, Y., Tubiello, F. N., Tsuruta, A., Viovy, N., Voulgarakis, A., Weber, T. S., van Weele, M., van der Werf, G. R., Weiss, R. F., Worthy, D., Wunch, D., Yin, Y., Yoshida, Y., Zhang, W., Zhang, Z., Zhao, Y., Zheng, B., Zhu, Q., Zhu, Q., and Zhuang, Q.: The Global Methane Budget 2000–2017, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 1561–1623, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-1561-2020, 2020. a
Sherwin, E., Rutherford, J., Chen, Y., Aminfard, S., Kort, E., Jackson, R., and Brandt, A.: Single-blind validation of space-based point-source methane
emissions detection and quantification, EarthArXiv, https://doi.org/10.31223/X5DH09, 2022. a, b
Thompson, D. R., Thorpe, A. K., Frankenberg, C., Green, R. O., Duren, R., Guanter, L., Hollstein, A., Middleton, E., Ong, L., and Ungar, S.: Space-based remote imaging spectroscopy of the Aliso Canyon CH4 superemitter, Geophys. Res. Lett., 43, 6571–6578, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL069079, 2016. a
Thorpe, A. K., Frankenberg, C., and Roberts, D. A.: Retrieval techniques for airborne imaging of methane concentrations using high spatial and moderate spectral resolution: application to AVIRIS, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 491–506, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-491-2014, 2014. a
Tyner, D. R. and Johnson, M. R.: Where the Methane Is – Insights from Novel Airborne LiDAR Measurements Combined with Ground Survey Data, Environ. Sci. Technol., 55, 9773–9783, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c01572, 2021. a
van der Walt, S., Schönberger, J. L., Nunez-Iglesias, J., Boulogne, F., Warner, J. D., Yager, N., Gouillart, E., Yu, T., and the scikit-image contributors: scikit-image: image processing in Python, PeerJ, 2, e453, https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.453, 2014. a
Varon, D. J., McKeever, J., Jervis, D., Maasakkers, J. D., Pandey, S., Houweling, S., Aben, I., Scarpelli, T., and Jacob, D. J.: Satellite Discovery
of Anomalously Large Methane Point Sources From Oil/Gas Production,
Geophys. Res. Lett., 46, 13507–13516, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL083798, 2019. a
Varon, D. J., Jervis, D., McKeever, J., Spence, I., Gains, D., and Jacob, D. J.: High-frequency monitoring of anomalous methane point sources with multispectral Sentinel-2 satellite observations, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 2771–2785, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2771-2021, 2021. a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k
Williams, J. P., Regehr, A., and Kang, M.: Methane Emissions from Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells in Canada and the United States, Environ. Sci. Technol., 55, 563–570, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c04265, 2021. a
Zhang, Y., Gautam, R., Pandey, S., Omara, M., Maasakkers, J. D., Sadavarte, P., Lyon, D., Nesser, H., Sulprizio, M. P., Varon, D. J., Zhang, R., Houweling, S., Zavala-Araiza, D., Alvarez, R. A., Lorente, A., Hamburg, S. P., Aben, I., and Jacob, D. J.: Quantifying methane emissions from the largest oil-producing basin in the United States from space, Sci. Adv., 6, eaaz5120, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaz5120, 2020. a
Executive editor
Accurate detection and quantification of methane emissions are urgently needed for climate change mitigation. Multiple observations and measurement approaches can contribute to this challenge. This study shows how Sentinel-2 can provide useful coverage and spatial resolution for methane plumes, despite limited spectral sensitivity for methane absorption.
Accurate detection and quantification of methane emissions are urgently needed for climate...
Short summary
We present a methane flux rate retrieval methodology using the Sentinel-2 mission, validating the algorithm for different scenes and plumes. The detection limit is 1000–2000 kg h−1 for homogeneous scenes and temporally invariant surfaces and above 5000 kg h−1 for heterogeneous ones. Dominant quantification errors are wind-related or plume mask-related. For heterogeneous scenes, the surface structure underlying the methane plume can become a dominant source of uncertainty.
We present a methane flux rate retrieval methodology using the Sentinel-2 mission, validating...
