Articles | Volume 17, issue 21
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6345-2024
© Author(s) 2024. 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-17-6345-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
An advanced spatial coregistration of cloud properties for the atmospheric Sentinel missions: application to TROPOMI
Athina Argyrouli
Chair of Remote Sensing Technology, School of Engineering and Design, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
German Aerospace Center (DLR), Remote Sensing Technology Institute (IMF), Wessling, Germany
Diego Loyola
German Aerospace Center (DLR), Remote Sensing Technology Institute (IMF), Wessling, Germany
Fabian Romahn
German Aerospace Center (DLR), Remote Sensing Technology Institute (IMF), Wessling, Germany
German Aerospace Center (DLR), Remote Sensing Technology Institute (IMF), Wessling, Germany
Víctor Molina García
German Aerospace Center (DLR), Remote Sensing Technology Institute (IMF), Wessling, Germany
Pascal Hedelt
German Aerospace Center (DLR), Remote Sensing Technology Institute (IMF), Wessling, Germany
Klaus-Peter Heue
German Aerospace Center (DLR), Remote Sensing Technology Institute (IMF), Wessling, Germany
Richard Siddans
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL), Chilton OX11 0QX, United Kingdom
Related authors
Miriam Latsch, Andreas Richter, Henk Eskes, Maarten Sneep, Ping Wang, Pepijn Veefkind, Ronny Lutz, Diego Loyola, Athina Argyrouli, Pieter Valks, Thomas Wagner, Holger Sihler, Michel van Roozendael, Nicolas Theys, Huan Yu, Richard Siddans, and John P. Burrows
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6257–6283, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6257-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6257-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The article investigates different S5P TROPOMI cloud retrieval algorithms for tropospheric trace gas retrievals. The cloud products show differences primarily over snow and ice and for scenes under sun glint. Some issues regarding across-track dependence are found for the cloud fractions as well as for the cloud heights.
Song Liu, Pieter Valks, Gaia Pinardi, Jian Xu, Ka Lok Chan, Athina Argyrouli, Ronny Lutz, Steffen Beirle, Ehsan Khorsandi, Frank Baier, Vincent Huijnen, Alkiviadis Bais, Sebastian Donner, Steffen Dörner, Myrto Gratsea, François Hendrick, Dimitris Karagkiozidis, Kezia Lange, Ankie J. M. Piters, Julia Remmers, Andreas Richter, Michel Van Roozendael, Thomas Wagner, Mark Wenig, and Diego G. Loyola
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7297–7327, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7297-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7297-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In this work, an improved tropospheric NO2 retrieval algorithm from TROPOMI measurements over Europe is presented. The stratospheric estimation is implemented with correction for the dependency of the stratospheric NO2 on the viewing geometry. The AMF calculation is implemented using improved surface albedo, a priori NO2 profiles, and cloud correction. The improved tropospheric NO2 data show good correlations with ground-based MAX-DOAS measurements.
Steven Compernolle, Athina Argyrouli, Ronny Lutz, Maarten Sneep, Jean-Christopher Lambert, Ann Mari Fjæraa, Daan Hubert, Arno Keppens, Diego Loyola, Ewan O'Connor, Fabian Romahn, Piet Stammes, Tijl Verhoelst, and Ping Wang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 2451–2476, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2451-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2451-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The high-resolution satellite Sentinel-5p TROPOMI observes several atmospheric gases. To account for cloud interference with the observations, S5P cloud data products (CLOUD OCRA/ROCINN_CAL, OCRA/ROCINN_CRB, and FRESCO) provide vital input: cloud fraction, cloud height, and cloud optical thickness. Here, S5P cloud parameters are validated by comparing with other satellite sensors (VIIRS, MODIS, and OMI) and with ground-based CloudNet data. The agreement depends on product type and cloud height.
Lorenzo Fabris, Nicolas Theys, Lieven Clarisse, Bruno Franco, Jonas Vlietinck, Huan Yu, Hugues Brenot, Thomas Danckaert, Pascal Hedelt, and Michel Van Roozendael
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4026, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4026, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (AMT).
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we developed an improved algorithm to retrieve the plume height and column density of sulfur dioxide emitted by volcanoes using data from the spectral band 2 of TROPOMI (S-5P). We tested its sensitivity to various conditions and applied it to real volcanic eruptions. Overall, our approach shows high precision, accuracy and sensitivity, and the results are consistent with other satellite measurements.
Robert James Duncan Spurr, Matt Christi, Nickolay Anatoly Krotkov, Won-Ei Choi, Simon Carn, Can Li, Natalya Kramarova, David Haffner, Eun-Su Yang, Nick Gorkavyi, Alexander Vasilkov, Krzysztof Wargan, Omar Torres, Diego Loyola, Serena Di Pede, Joris Pepijn Veefkind, and Pawan Kumar Bhartia
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2938, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2938, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (AMT).
Short summary
Short summary
An eruption of the submarine Hunga volcano injected a massive plume of water vapor, sulfur dioxide and aerosols into the Southern tropical stratosphere. The high-altitude Hunga aerosol plume showed up as strongly enhanced solar backscattered ultraviolet (BUV) radiation compromising satellite BUV ozone retrievals. In this paper, we have developed a new technique to retrieve the aerosol amount and height, based on satellite solar BUV radiances from the TROPOMI and OMPS nadir profiler instruments.
Carlo Arosio, Viktoria Sofieva, Andrea Orfanoz-Cheuquelaf, Alexei Rozanov, Klaus-Peter Heue, Diego Loyola, Edward Malina, Ryan M. Stauffer, David Tarasick, Roeland Van Malderen, Jerry R. Ziemke, and Mark Weber
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 3247–3265, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-3247-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-3247-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Tropospheric ozone affects air quality and climate, being a pollutant and a greenhouse gas. We analyze satellite data of tropospheric ozone columns obtained by combining two types of observations: one providing stratospheric and the other total ozone. We compare common climatological features and study the influence of the tropopause (troposphere to stratosphere boundary) on the results. We also examine trends over the last 20 years and compare satellite data with ozonesondes to identify drifts.
África Barreto, Francisco Quirós, Omaira E. García, Jorge Pereda-de-Pablo, Daniel González-Fernández, Andrés Bedoya-Velásquez, Michael Sicard, Carmen Córdoba-Jabonero, Marco Iarlori, Vincenzo Rizi, Nickolay Krotkov, Simon Carn, Reijo Roininen, Antonio J. Molina-Arias, A. Fernando Almansa, Óscar Álvarez-Losada, Carla Aramo, Juan José Bustos, Romain Ceolato, Adolfo Comerón, Alicia Felpeto, Rosa D. García, Pablo González-Sicilia, Yenny González, Pascal Hedelt, Miguel Hernández, María-Ángeles López-Cayuela, Diego Loyola, Stavros Meletlidis, Constantino Muñoz-Porcar, Ermanno Pietropaolo, Ramón Ramos, Alejandro Rodríguez-Gómez, Roberto Román, Pedro M. Romero-Campos, Martin Stuefer, Carlos Toledano, and Elsworth Welton
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3164, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3164, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (AMT).
Short summary
Short summary
This manuscript describes the instrumental coverage deployed during the Tajogaite eruption (19 September–25 December 2021) by the Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN), the Spanish State Meteorological Agency (AEMET), and other Spanish members of ACTRIS (Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure) to monitor its atmospheric impact. Two complementary methods provide consistent plume height data for future operational surveillance.
Juseon Bak, Arno Keppens, Daesung Choi, Sungjae Hong, Jae-Hwan Kim, Cheol-Hee Kim, Hyo-Jung Lee, Wonbae Jeon, Jhoon Kim, Ja-Ho Koo, Joowan Kim, Kanghyun Beak, Kai Yang, Xiong Liu, Gonzalo Gonzalez Abad, Klaus-Peter Heue, Jean-Christopher Lambert, Yeonjin Jung, Hyunkee Hong, and Won-Jin Lee
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2276, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2276, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents the first complete description of the operational version 3 ozone profile retrieval algorithm for the Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) and its performance characteristics. Improvements in radiometric and wavelength calibration reduce spectral fitting uncertainties and enhance agreement with ozonesonde profiles and Pandora total ozone measurements.
Matilda A. Pimlott, Richard J. Pope, Brian J. Kerridge, Richard Siddans, Barry G. Latter, Lucy J. Ventress, Wuhu Feng, and Martyn P. Chipperfield
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4391–4401, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4391-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4391-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Globally, lockdowns were implemented to limit the spread of COVID-19, leading to a decrease in emissions of key air pollutants. Here, we use novel satellite data and a chemistry model to investigate the impact of the pandemic on tropospheric ozone (O3), a key pollutant, in 2020. Overall, we found substantial decreases of up to 20 %, two-thirds of which came from emission reductions, while one-third was due to a decrease in the stratospheric O3 flux into the troposphere.
Sanjeevani Panditharatne, Helen Brindley, Caroline Cox, Rui Song, Richard Siddans, Richard Bantges, Jonathan Murray, Stuart Fox, and Cathryn Fox
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-647, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-647, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Upwelling radiation with wavelengths between 15 and 100 microns is theorised to be highly sensitive to the properties of ice clouds, particularly the shape of the ice crystals. We exploit this sensitivity and perform the first retrieval of ice cloud properties using these wavelengths from an observation taken on an aircraft and evaluate it against measurements of the cloud’s properties.
Shihan Sun, Paul I. Palmer, Richard Siddans, Brian J. Kerridge, Lucy Ventress, Achim Edtbauer, Akima Ringsdorf, Eva Y. Pfannerstill, and Jonathan Williams
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-778, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-778, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Isoprene released by plants can impact atmospheric chemistry and climate. The Amazon rainforest is a major source of isoprene. We derived isoprene emissions using satellite retrievals of isoprene columns and a chemical transport model. We evaluated our isoprene emission estimates using ground-based isoprene observations and satellite retrievals of formaldehyde. We found that using satellite retrievals of isoprene can help better understand isoprene emissions over the Amazon.
Sanjeevani Panditharatne, Helen Brindley, Caroline Cox, Richard Siddans, Jonathan Murray, Laura Warwick, and Stuart Fox
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 717–735, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-717-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-717-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Observations from the upcoming European Space Agency’s Far-Infrared Outgoing Radiation Understanding and Monitoring (FORUM) satellite are theorised to be highly sensitive to distributions of water vapour within Earth’s atmosphere. We exploit this sensitivity and extend the Infrared Microwave Sounding retrieval scheme for use on observations from FORUM. This scheme is evaluated on both simulated and observed measurements and shows good agreement with references of the atmospheric state.
Melanie Coldewey-Egbers, Diego G. Loyola, Barry Latter, Richard Siddans, Brian Kerridge, Daan Hubert, Michel van Roozendael, and Michael Eisinger
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-196, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-196, 2025
Revised manuscript accepted for AMT
Short summary
Short summary
The GOME-type Ozone Profile Essential Climate Variable (GOP-ECV) data record provides monthly mean ozone profiles with global coverage from 1995 to 2021 at a spatial resolution of 5°x5°. Measurements from five nadir-viewing satellite sensors are first harmonized and then merged into a coherent record. The long-term stability of the data record is further improved through scaling of the profiles using as a reference the GOME-type Total Ozone Essential Climate Variable (GTO-ECV) data record.
Arno Keppens, Daan Hubert, José Granville, Oindrila Nath, Jean-Christopher Lambert, Catherine Wespes, Pierre-François Coheur, Cathy Clerbaux, Anne Boynard, Richard Siddans, Barry Latter, Brian Kerridge, Serena Di Pede, Pepijn Veefkind, Juan Cuesta, Gaelle Dufour, Klaus-Peter Heue, Melanie Coldewey-Egbers, Diego Loyola, Andrea Orfanoz-Cheuquelaf, Swathi Maratt Satheesan, Kai-Uwe Eichmann, Alexei Rozanov, Viktoria F. Sofieva, Jerald R. Ziemke, Antje Inness, Roeland Van Malderen, and Lars Hoffmann
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3746, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3746, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The first Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report (TOAR) encountered discrepancies between several satellite sensors’ estimates of the distribution and change of ozone in the free troposphere. Therefore, contributing to the second TOAR, we harmonise as much as possible the observational perspective of sixteen tropospheric ozone products from satellites. This only partially accounts for the observed discrepancies, with a reduction of 10–40 % of the inter-product dispersion upon harmonisation.
Pascal Hedelt, Jens Reichardt, Felix Lauermann, Benjamin Weiß, Nicolas Theys, Alberto Redondas, Africa Barreto, Omaira Garcia, and Diego Loyola
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1253–1272, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1253-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1253-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The 2021 volcanic eruption of Tajogaite on La Palma is investigated using ground-based and satellite measurements. In addition, the atmospheric transport of the volcanic cloud towards Europe is studied in detail. The amount of SO2 released during the eruption and the height of the volcanic plume are in excellent agreement among the different measurements. Furthermore, volcanic aerosol microphysical properties could be retrieved using a new retrieval approach based on lidar measurements.
Julia Bruckert, Simran Chopra, Richard Siddans, Charlotte Wedler, and Gholam Ali Hoshyaripour
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4062, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4062, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The 2022 Hunga eruption emitted about 150 Tg water vapor into the stratosphere. Here, we show that the water vapor injection not only accelerates SO2 oxidation and sulfate production but also increases the aging of ash (coating of ash by sulfate). Our study shows that aerosol aging alone does not explain the rapid loss of ash after the Hunga eruption as observed by satellite instruments. However, some ash might be masked in the observation due to the strong coating.
Matilda A. Pimlott, Richard J. Pope, Brian J. Kerridge, Richard Siddans, Barry G. Latter, Wuhu Feng, and Martyn P. Chipperfield
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3717, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3717, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Tropospheric ozone (O3) is a harmful secondary atmospheric pollutant and an important greenhouse gas. Here, we present an in-depth analysis of lower-tropospheric sub-column O3 (LTCO3, surface – 6 km) records from three satellite products produced by the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) over Europe between 1996 and 2017. Overall, we detect moderate negative trends in the satellite records, but corresponding model simulations and ozonesonde measurements show negligible trends.
Sora Seo, Pieter Valks, Ronny Lutz, Klaus-Peter Heue, Pascal Hedelt, Víctor Molina García, Diego Loyola, Hanlim Lee, and Jhoon Kim
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6163–6191, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6163-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6163-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we developed an advanced retrieval algorithm for tropospheric NO2 columns from geostationary satellite spectrometers and applied it to GEMS measurements. The DLR GEMS NO2 retrieval algorithm follows the heritage from previous and existing algorithms, but improved approaches are applied to reflect the specific features of geostationary satellites. The DLR GEMS NO2 retrievals demonstrate a good capability for monitoring diurnal variability with a high spatial resolution.
Chris Wilson, Brian J. Kerridge, Richard Siddans, David P. Moore, Lucy J. Ventress, Emily Dowd, Wuhu Feng, Martyn P. Chipperfield, and John J. Remedios
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10639–10653, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10639-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10639-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The leaks from the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022 released a large amount of methane (CH4) into the atmosphere. We provide observational data from a satellite instrument that shows a large CH4 plume over the North Sea off the coast of Scandinavia. We use this together with atmospheric models to quantify the CH4 leaked into the atmosphere from the pipelines. We find that 219–427 Gg CH4 was emitted, making this the largest individual fossil-fuel-related CH4 leak on record.
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.
Audrey Gaudel, Ilann Bourgeois, Meng Li, Kai-Lan Chang, Jerald Ziemke, Bastien Sauvage, Ryan M. Stauffer, Anne M. Thompson, Debra E. Kollonige, Nadia Smith, Daan Hubert, Arno Keppens, Juan Cuesta, Klaus-Peter Heue, Pepijn Veefkind, Kenneth Aikin, Jeff Peischl, Chelsea R. Thompson, Thomas B. Ryerson, Gregory J. Frost, Brian C. McDonald, and Owen R. Cooper
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9975–10000, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9975-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9975-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The study examines tropical tropospheric ozone changes. In situ data from 1994–2019 display increased ozone, notably over India, Southeast Asia, and Malaysia and Indonesia. Sparse in situ data limit trend detection for the 15-year period. In situ and satellite data, with limited sampling, struggle to consistently detect trends. Continuous observations are vital over the tropical Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, western Africa, and South Asia for accurate ozone trend estimation in these regions.
Tim Trent, Marc Schröder, Shu-Peng Ho, Steffen Beirle, Ralf Bennartz, Eva Borbas, Christian Borger, Helene Brogniez, Xavier Calbet, Elisa Castelli, Gilbert P. Compo, Wesley Ebisuzaki, Ulrike Falk, Frank Fell, John Forsythe, Hans Hersbach, Misako Kachi, Shinya Kobayashi, Robert E. Kursinski, Diego Loyola, Zhengzao Luo, Johannes K. Nielsen, Enzo Papandrea, Laurence Picon, Rene Preusker, Anthony Reale, Lei Shi, Laura Slivinski, Joao Teixeira, Tom Vonder Haar, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9667–9695, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9667-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9667-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In a warmer future, water vapour will spend more time in the atmosphere, changing global rainfall patterns. In this study, we analysed the performance of 28 water vapour records between 1988 and 2014. We find sensitivity to surface warming generally outside expected ranges, attributed to breakpoints in individual record trends and differing representations of climate variability. The implication is that longer records are required for high confidence in assessing climate trends.
Richard J. Pope, Fiona M. O'Connor, Mohit Dalvi, Brian J. Kerridge, Richard Siddans, Barry G. Latter, Brice Barret, Eric Le Flochmoen, Anne Boynard, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Wuhu Feng, Matilda A. Pimlott, Sandip S. Dhomse, Christian Retscher, Catherine Wespes, and Richard Rigby
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9177–9195, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9177-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9177-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Ozone is a potent air pollutant in the lower troposphere, with adverse impacts on human health. Satellite records of tropospheric ozone currently show large-scale inconsistencies in long-term trends. Our detailed study of the potential factors (e.g. satellite errors, where the satellite can observe ozone) potentially driving these inconsistencies found that, in North America, Europe, and East Asia, the underlying trends are typically small with large uncertainties.
Richard J. Pope, Alexandru Rap, Matilda A. Pimlott, Brice Barret, Eric Le Flochmoen, Brian J. Kerridge, Richard Siddans, Barry G. Latter, Lucy J. Ventress, Anne Boynard, Christian Retscher, Wuhu Feng, Richard Rigby, Sandip S. Dhomse, Catherine Wespes, and Martyn P. Chipperfield
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3613–3626, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3613-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3613-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Tropospheric ozone is an important short-lived climate forcer which influences the incoming solar short-wave radiation and the outgoing long-wave radiation in the atmosphere (8–15 km) where the balance between the two yields a net positive (i.e. warming) effect at the surface. Overall, we find that the tropospheric ozone radiative effect ranges between 1.21 and 1.26 W m−2 with a negligible trend (2008–2017), suggesting that tropospheric ozone influences on climate have remained stable with time.
Richard J. Pope, Brian J. Kerridge, Richard Siddans, Barry G. Latter, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Wuhu Feng, Matilda A. Pimlott, Sandip S. Dhomse, Christian Retscher, and Richard Rigby
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14933–14947, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14933-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14933-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Ozone is a potent air pollutant, and we present the first study to investigate long-term changes in lower tropospheric column ozone (LTCO3) from space. We have constructed a merged LTCO3 dataset from GOME-1, SCIAMACHY and OMI between 1996 and 2017. Comparing LTCO3 between the 1996–2000 and 2013–2017 5-year averages, we find significant positive increases in the tropics/sub-tropics, while in the northern mid-latitudes, we find small-scale differences.
Elisa Carboni, Gareth E. Thomas, Richard Siddans, and Brian Kerridge
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2023-232, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2023-232, 2023
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
We analyzed different satellite datasets of cloud properties with a new approach to quantify and interpret their interannual variability based on singular vector decomposition (SVD). The spatial pattern and its temporal evolution are strikingly similar for all the satellite datasets and follow the El Nino Southern Oscillation. The SVD approach reported here has potential for application to satellite data sets and to evaluate consistency between models and observations.
Richard J. Pope, Brian J. Kerridge, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Richard Siddans, Barry G. Latter, Lucy J. Ventress, Matilda A. Pimlott, Wuhu Feng, Edward Comyn-Platt, Garry D. Hayman, Stephen R. Arnold, and Ailish M. Graham
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13235–13253, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13235-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13235-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In the summer of 2018, Europe experienced several persistent large-scale ozone (O3) pollution episodes. Satellite tropospheric O3 and surface O3 data recorded substantial enhancements in 2018 relative to other years. Targeted model simulations showed that meteorological processes and emissions controlled the elevated surface O3, while mid-tropospheric O3 enhancements were dominated by stratospheric O3 intrusion and advection of North Atlantic O3-rich air masses into Europe.
Maria Rosa Russo, Brian John Kerridge, Nathan Luke Abraham, James Keeble, Barry Graham Latter, Richard Siddans, James Weber, Paul Thomas Griffiths, John Adrian Pyle, and Alexander Thomas Archibald
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 6169–6196, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6169-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6169-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Tropospheric ozone is an important component of the Earth system as it can affect both climate and air quality. In this work we use observed tropospheric ozone derived from satellite observations and compare it to tropospheric ozone from model simulations. Our aim is to investigate recent changes (2005–2018) in tropospheric ozone in the North Atlantic region and to understand what factors are driving such changes.
Ka Lok Chan, Pieter Valks, Klaus-Peter Heue, Ronny Lutz, Pascal Hedelt, Diego Loyola, Gaia Pinardi, Michel Van Roozendael, François Hendrick, Thomas Wagner, Vinod Kumar, Alkis Bais, Ankie Piters, Hitoshi Irie, Hisahiro Takashima, Yugo Kanaya, Yongjoo Choi, Kihong Park, Jihyo Chong, Alexander Cede, Udo Frieß, Andreas Richter, Jianzhong Ma, Nuria Benavent, Robert Holla, Oleg Postylyakov, Claudia Rivera Cárdenas, and Mark Wenig
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 1831–1870, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1831-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1831-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents the theoretical basis as well as verification and validation of the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 (GOME-2) daily and monthly level-3 products.
Tim Trent, Richard Siddans, Brian Kerridge, Marc Schröder, Noëlle A. Scott, and John Remedios
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1503–1526, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1503-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1503-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Modern weather satellites provide essential information on our lower atmosphere's moisture content and temperature structure. This measurement record will span over 40 years, making it a valuable resource for climate studies. This study characterizes atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles from a European Space Agency climate project. Using weather balloon measurements, we demonstrated the performance of this dataset was within the tolerances required for future climate studies.
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.
Bernard Legras, Clair Duchamp, Pasquale Sellitto, Aurélien Podglajen, Elisa Carboni, Richard Siddans, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Sergey Khaykin, and Felix Ploeger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 14957–14970, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14957-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14957-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The long-duration atmospheric impact of the Tonga eruption in January 2022 is a plume of water and sulfate aerosols in the stratosphere that persisted for more than 6 months. We study this evolution using several satellite instruments and analyse the unusual behaviour of this plume as sulfates and water first moved down rapidly and then separated into two layers. We also report the self-organization in compact and long-lived patches.
Miriam Latsch, Andreas Richter, Henk Eskes, Maarten Sneep, Ping Wang, Pepijn Veefkind, Ronny Lutz, Diego Loyola, Athina Argyrouli, Pieter Valks, Thomas Wagner, Holger Sihler, Michel van Roozendael, Nicolas Theys, Huan Yu, Richard Siddans, and John P. Burrows
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6257–6283, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6257-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6257-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The article investigates different S5P TROPOMI cloud retrieval algorithms for tropospheric trace gas retrievals. The cloud products show differences primarily over snow and ice and for scenes under sun glint. Some issues regarding across-track dependence are found for the cloud fractions as well as for the cloud heights.
Klaus-Peter Heue, Diego Loyola, Fabian Romahn, Walter Zimmer, Simon Chabrillat, Quentin Errera, Jerry Ziemke, and Natalya Kramarova
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 5563–5579, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5563-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5563-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
To retrieve tropospheric ozone column information, we subtract stratospheric column data of BASCOE from TROPOMI/S5P total ozone columns.
The new S5P-BASCOE data agree well with existing tropospheric data like OMPS-MERRA-2. The data are also compared to ozone soundings.
The tropospheric ozone columns show the expected temporal and spatial patterns. We will also apply the algorithm to future UV nadir missions like Sentinel 4 or 5 or to recent and ongoing missions like GOME_2 or OMI.
Matilda A. Pimlott, Richard J. Pope, Brian J. Kerridge, Barry G. Latter, Diane S. Knappett, Dwayne E. Heard, Lucy J. Ventress, Richard Siddans, Wuhu Feng, and Martyn P. Chipperfield
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 10467–10488, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10467-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10467-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We present a new method to derive global information of the hydroxyl radical (OH), an important atmospheric oxidant. OH controls the lifetime of trace gases important to air quality and climate. We use satellite observations of ozone, carbon monoxide, methane and water vapour in a simple expression to derive OH around 3–4 km altitude. The derived OH compares well to model and aircraft OH data. We then apply the method to 10 years of satellite data to study the inter-annual variability of OH.
Pieternel F. Levelt, Deborah C. Stein Zweers, Ilse Aben, Maite Bauwens, Tobias Borsdorff, Isabelle De Smedt, Henk J. Eskes, Christophe Lerot, Diego G. Loyola, Fabian Romahn, Trissevgeni Stavrakou, Nicolas Theys, Michel Van Roozendael, J. Pepijn Veefkind, and Tijl Verhoelst
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 10319–10351, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10319-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10319-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Using the COVID-19 lockdown periods as an example, we show how Sentinel-5P/TROPOMI trace gas data (NO2, SO2, CO, HCHO and CHOCHO) can be used to understand impacts on air quality for regions and cities around the globe. We also provide information for both experienced and inexperienced users about how we created the data using state-of-the-art algorithms, where to get the data, methods taking meteorological and seasonal variability into consideration, and insights for future studies.
Francisco J. Pérez-Invernón, Heidi Huntrieser, Thilo Erbertseder, Diego Loyola, Pieter Valks, Song Liu, Dale J. Allen, Kenneth E. Pickering, Eric J. Bucsela, Patrick Jöckel, Jos van Geffen, Henk Eskes, Sergio Soler, Francisco J. Gordillo-Vázquez, and Jeff Lapierre
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3329–3351, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3329-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3329-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Lightning, one of the major sources of nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere, contributes to the tropospheric concentration of ozone and to the oxidizing capacity of the atmosphere. In this work, we contribute to improving the estimation of lightning-produced nitrogen oxides in the Ebro Valley and the Pyrenees by using two different TROPOMI products and comparing the results.
Melanie Coldewey-Egbers, Diego G. Loyola, Christophe Lerot, and Michel Van Roozendael
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 6861–6878, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-6861-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-6861-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Monitoring the long-term evolution of ozone and the evaluation of trends is essential to assess the efficacy of the Montreal Protocol and its amendments. The first signs of recovery as a consequence of decreasing amounts of ozone-depleting substances have been reported, but the impact needs to be investigated in more detail. In the Southern Hemisphere significant positive trends were found, but in the Northern Hemisphere the expected increase is still not yet visible.
Mark Weber, Carlo Arosio, Melanie Coldewey-Egbers, Vitali E. Fioletov, Stacey M. Frith, Jeannette D. Wild, Kleareti Tourpali, John P. Burrows, and Diego Loyola
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 6843–6859, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-6843-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-6843-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Long-term trends in column ozone have been determined from five merged total ozone datasets spanning the period 1978–2020. We show that ozone recovery due to the decline in stratospheric halogens after the 1990s (as regulated by the Montreal Protocol) is evident outside the tropical region and amounts to half a percent per decade. The ozone recovery in the Northern Hemisphere is however compensated for by the negative long-term trend contribution from atmospheric dynamics since the year 2000.
Maria-Elissavet Koukouli, Konstantinos Michailidis, Pascal Hedelt, Isabelle A. Taylor, Antje Inness, Lieven Clarisse, Dimitris Balis, Dmitry Efremenko, Diego Loyola, Roy G. Grainger, and Christian Retscher
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 5665–5683, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5665-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5665-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Volcanic eruptions eject large amounts of ash and trace gases into the atmosphere. The use of space-borne instruments enables the global monitoring of volcanic SO2 emissions in an economical and risk-free manner. The main aim of this paper is to present its extensive verification, accomplished within the ESA S5P+I: SO2LH project, over major recent volcanic eruptions, against collocated space-borne measurements, as well as assess its impact on the forecasts provided by CAMS.
Antje Inness, Melanie Ades, Dimitris Balis, Dmitry Efremenko, Johannes Flemming, Pascal Hedelt, Maria-Elissavet Koukouli, Diego Loyola, and Roberto Ribas
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 971–994, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-971-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-971-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This paper describes the way that the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) produces forecasts of volcanic SO2. These forecasts are provided routinely every day. They are created by blending SO2 data from satellite instruments (TROPOMI and GOME-2) with the CAMS model. We show that the quality of the CAMS SO2 forecasts can be improved if additional information about the height of volcanic plumes is provided in the satellite data.
Christophe Lerot, François Hendrick, Michel Van Roozendael, Leonardo M. A. Alvarado, Andreas Richter, Isabelle De Smedt, Nicolas Theys, Jonas Vlietinck, Huan Yu, Jeroen Van Gent, Trissevgeni Stavrakou, Jean-François Müller, Pieter Valks, Diego Loyola, Hitoshi Irie, Vinod Kumar, Thomas Wagner, Stefan F. Schreier, Vinayak Sinha, Ting Wang, Pucai Wang, and Christian Retscher
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7775–7807, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7775-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7775-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Global measurements of glyoxal tropospheric columns from the satellite instrument TROPOMI are presented. Such measurements can contribute to the estimation of atmospheric emissions of volatile organic compounds. This new glyoxal product has been fully characterized with a comprehensive error budget, with comparison with other satellite data sets as well as with validation based on independent ground-based remote sensing glyoxal observations.
Daan Hubert, Klaus-Peter Heue, Jean-Christopher Lambert, Tijl Verhoelst, Marc Allaart, Steven Compernolle, Patrick D. Cullis, Angelika Dehn, Christian Félix, Bryan J. Johnson, Arno Keppens, Debra E. Kollonige, Christophe Lerot, Diego Loyola, Matakite Maata, Sukarni Mitro, Maznorizan Mohamad, Ankie Piters, Fabian Romahn, Henry B. Selkirk, Francisco R. da Silva, Ryan M. Stauffer, Anne M. Thompson, J. Pepijn Veefkind, Holger Vömel, Jacquelyn C. Witte, and Claus Zehner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7405–7433, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7405-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7405-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We assess the first 2 years of TROPOMI tropical tropospheric ozone column data. Comparisons to reference measurements by ozonesonde and satellite sensors show that TROPOMI bias (−0.1 to +2.3 DU) and precision (1.5 to 2.5 DU) meet mission requirements. Potential causes of bias and its spatio-temporal structure are discussed, as well as ways to identify sampling errors. Our analysis of known geophysical patterns demonstrates the improved performance of TROPOMI with respect to its predecessors.
Song Liu, Pieter Valks, Gaia Pinardi, Jian Xu, Ka Lok Chan, Athina Argyrouli, Ronny Lutz, Steffen Beirle, Ehsan Khorsandi, Frank Baier, Vincent Huijnen, Alkiviadis Bais, Sebastian Donner, Steffen Dörner, Myrto Gratsea, François Hendrick, Dimitris Karagkiozidis, Kezia Lange, Ankie J. M. Piters, Julia Remmers, Andreas Richter, Michel Van Roozendael, Thomas Wagner, Mark Wenig, and Diego G. Loyola
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7297–7327, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7297-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7297-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In this work, an improved tropospheric NO2 retrieval algorithm from TROPOMI measurements over Europe is presented. The stratospheric estimation is implemented with correction for the dependency of the stratospheric NO2 on the viewing geometry. The AMF calculation is implemented using improved surface albedo, a priori NO2 profiles, and cloud correction. The improved tropospheric NO2 data show good correlations with ground-based MAX-DOAS measurements.
Nicolas Theys, Vitali Fioletov, Can Li, Isabelle De Smedt, Christophe Lerot, Chris McLinden, Nickolay Krotkov, Debora Griffin, Lieven Clarisse, Pascal Hedelt, Diego Loyola, Thomas Wagner, Vinod Kumar, Antje Innes, Roberto Ribas, François Hendrick, Jonas Vlietinck, Hugues Brenot, and Michel Van Roozendael
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16727–16744, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16727-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16727-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We present a new algorithm to retrieve sulfur dioxide from space UV measurements. We apply the technique to high-resolution TROPOMI measurements and demonstrate the high sensitivity of the approach to weak SO2 emissions worldwide with an unprecedented limit of detection of 8 kt yr−1. This result has broad implications for atmospheric science studies dealing with improving emission inventories and identifying and quantifying missing sources, in the context of air quality and climate.
Hugues Brenot, Nicolas Theys, Lieven Clarisse, Jeroen van Gent, Daniel R. Hurtmans, Sophie Vandenbussche, Nikolaos Papagiannopoulos, Lucia Mona, Timo Virtanen, Andreas Uppstu, Mikhail Sofiev, Luca Bugliaro, Margarita Vázquez-Navarro, Pascal Hedelt, Michelle Maree Parks, Sara Barsotti, Mauro Coltelli, William Moreland, Simona Scollo, Giuseppe Salerno, Delia Arnold-Arias, Marcus Hirtl, Tuomas Peltonen, Juhani Lahtinen, Klaus Sievers, Florian Lipok, Rolf Rüfenacht, Alexander Haefele, Maxime Hervo, Saskia Wagenaar, Wim Som de Cerff, Jos de Laat, Arnoud Apituley, Piet Stammes, Quentin Laffineur, Andy Delcloo, Robertson Lennart, Carl-Herbert Rokitansky, Arturo Vargas, Markus Kerschbaum, Christian Resch, Raimund Zopp, Matthieu Plu, Vincent-Henri Peuch, Michel Van Roozendael, and Gerhard Wotawa
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 3367–3405, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-3367-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-3367-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The purpose of the EUNADICS-AV (European Natural Airborne Disaster Information and Coordination System for Aviation) prototype early warning system (EWS) is to develop the combined use of harmonised data products from satellite, ground-based and in situ instruments to produce alerts of airborne hazards (volcanic, dust, smoke and radionuclide clouds), satisfying the requirement of aviation air traffic management (ATM) stakeholders (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/723986).
Isabelle De Smedt, Gaia Pinardi, Corinne Vigouroux, Steven Compernolle, Alkis Bais, Nuria Benavent, Folkert Boersma, Ka-Lok Chan, Sebastian Donner, Kai-Uwe Eichmann, Pascal Hedelt, François Hendrick, Hitoshi Irie, Vinod Kumar, Jean-Christopher Lambert, Bavo Langerock, Christophe Lerot, Cheng Liu, Diego Loyola, Ankie Piters, Andreas Richter, Claudia Rivera Cárdenas, Fabian Romahn, Robert George Ryan, Vinayak Sinha, Nicolas Theys, Jonas Vlietinck, Thomas Wagner, Ting Wang, Huan Yu, and Michel Van Roozendael
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 12561–12593, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12561-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12561-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This paper assess the performances of the TROPOMI formaldehyde observations compared to its predecessor OMI at different spatial and temporal scales. We also use a global network of MAX-DOAS instruments to validate both satellite datasets for a large range of HCHO columns. The precision obtained with daily TROPOMI observations is comparable to monthly OMI observations. We present clear detection of weak HCHO column enhancements related to shipping emissions in the Indian Ocean.
Nikita M. Fedkin, Can Li, Nickolay A. Krotkov, Pascal Hedelt, Diego G. Loyola, Russell R. Dickerson, and Robert Spurr
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3673–3691, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3673-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3673-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents a new volcanic sulfur dioxide (SO2) layer height retrieval algorithm for the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI). We generated a large spectral dataset with a radiative transfer model and used it to train neural networks to predict SO2 height from OMI radiance data. The algorithm is fast and takes less than 10 min for a single orbit. Retrievals were tested on four eruption cases, and results had reasonable agreement (within 2 km) with other retrievals and previous studies.
Viktoria F. Sofieva, Hei Shing Lee, Johanna Tamminen, Christophe Lerot, Fabian Romahn, and Diego G. Loyola
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 2993–3002, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2993-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2993-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Our paper discusses the structure function method, which allows validation of random uncertainties in the data and, at the same time, probing of the small-scale natural variability. We applied this method to the clear-sky total ozone measurements by TROPOMI Sentinel-5P satellite instrument and found that the TROPOMI random error estimation is adequate. The discussed method is a powerful tool, which can be used in various applications.
Steven Compernolle, Athina Argyrouli, Ronny Lutz, Maarten Sneep, Jean-Christopher Lambert, Ann Mari Fjæraa, Daan Hubert, Arno Keppens, Diego Loyola, Ewan O'Connor, Fabian Romahn, Piet Stammes, Tijl Verhoelst, and Ping Wang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 2451–2476, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2451-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2451-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The high-resolution satellite Sentinel-5p TROPOMI observes several atmospheric gases. To account for cloud interference with the observations, S5P cloud data products (CLOUD OCRA/ROCINN_CAL, OCRA/ROCINN_CRB, and FRESCO) provide vital input: cloud fraction, cloud height, and cloud optical thickness. Here, S5P cloud parameters are validated by comparing with other satellite sensors (VIIRS, MODIS, and OMI) and with ground-based CloudNet data. The agreement depends on product type and cloud height.
Margaret R. Marvin, Paul I. Palmer, Barry G. Latter, Richard Siddans, Brian J. Kerridge, Mohd Talib Latif, and Md Firoz Khan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 1917–1935, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1917-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1917-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We use an atmospheric chemistry model in combination with satellite and surface observations to investigate how biomass burning affects tropospheric ozone over Southeast Asia during its fire seasons. We find that nitrogen oxides from biomass burning were responsible for about 30 % of the regional ozone formation potential, and we estimate that ozone from biomass burning caused more than 400 excess premature deaths in Southeast Asia during the peak burning months of March and September 2014.
Martin Dameris, Diego G. Loyola, Matthias Nützel, Melanie Coldewey-Egbers, Christophe Lerot, Fabian Romahn, and Michel van Roozendael
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 617–633, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-617-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-617-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Record low ozone values were observed in March 2020. Dynamical and chemical circumstances leading to low ozone values in spring 2020 are discussed and are compared to similar dynamical conditions in the Northern Hemisphere in 1996/1997 and 2010/2011. 2019/2020 showed an unusual persistent polar vortex with low stratospheric temperatures, which were permanently below 195 K at 50 hPa. This enabled enhanced formation of polar stratospheric clouds and a subsequent clear reduction of total ozone.
Omar Torres, Hiren Jethva, Changwoo Ahn, Glen Jaross, and Diego G. Loyola
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 6789–6806, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6789-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6789-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
TROPOMI measures the quantity of small suspended particles (aerosols). We describe initial results of aerosol measurements using a NASA algorithm that retrieves the UV aerosol index, aerosol optical depth, and single-scattering albedo. An evaluation of derived products using sun-photometer observations shows close agreement. We also use these results to discuss important biomass burning and wildfire events around the world that got the attention of scientists and news media alike.
Cited articles
Atkinson, J.: Sister Satellites, Briefly Separated, Working Together Again, https://www.nasa.gov/feature/langley/sister-satellites-briefly-separated-working-together-again (last access: 13 March 2023), 2018. a
Bohren, C. F. and Huffman, D. R.: Absorption and scattering by small particles, Wiley, NY, 530 pp., https://doi.org/10.1002/9783527618156, 1983. a
Cahalan, R. F., Ridgway, W., Wiscombe, W. J., Gollmer, S., and Harshvardhan: Independent Pixel and Monte Carlo Estimates of Stratocumulus Albedo, J. Atmos. Sci., 51, 3776–3790, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1994)051<3776:IPAMCE>2.0.CO;2, 1994. a
Chambers, L. H., Wielicki, B. A., and Evans, K. F.: Accuracy of the independent pixel approximation for satellite estimates of oceanic boundary layer cloud optical depth, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 102, 1779–1794, https://doi.org/10.1029/96JD02995, 1997. a
Compernolle, S., Argyrouli, A., Lutz, R., Sneep, M., Lambert, J.-C., Fjæraa, A. M., Hubert, D., Keppens, A., Loyola, D., O'Connor, E., Romahn, F., Stammes, P., Verhoelst, T., and Wang, P.: Validation of the Sentinel-5 Precursor TROPOMI cloud data with Cloudnet, Aura OMI O2–O2, MODIS, and Suomi-NPP VIIRS, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 2451–2476, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2451-2021, 2021. a
Copernicus: Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem on Earth, Copernicus, https://dataspace.copernicus.eu/, 2024. a
Cox, C. S. and Munk, W. H.: Measurement of the Roughness of the Sea Surface from Photographs of the Sun’s Glitter, J. Opt. Soc. Am., 44, 838–850, 1954. a
De Smedt, I., Theys, N., Yu, H., Danckaert, T., Lerot, C., Compernolle, S., Van Roozendael, M., Richter, A., Hilboll, A., Peters, E., Pedergnana, M., Loyola, D., Beirle, S., Wagner, T., Eskes, H., van Geffen, J., Boersma, K. F., and Veefkind, P.: Algorithm theoretical baseline for formaldehyde retrievals from S5P TROPOMI and from the QA4ECV project, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 2395–2426, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2395-2018, 2018. a
Heidinger, A. and Straka, W.: Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document For NOAA Enterprise Cloud Mask, Version1.2, https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/goesr/documents/ATBDs/Enterprise/ATBD_Enterprise_Cloud_Mask_v1.2_2020_10_01.pdf (last access: 22 October 2024), 2020. a
Heidinger, A., Li, Y., and Wanzong, S.: Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document For Enterprise AWG Cloud Height Algorithm (ACHA), Version 3.4, https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/jpss/documents/ATBD/ATBD_EPS_Cloud_ACHA_v3.4.pdf (last access: 22 October 2024), 2020. a
Heidinger, A. K., Evan, A. T., Foster, M. J., and Walther, A.: A Naive Bayesian Cloud-Detection Scheme Derived from CALIPSO and Applied within PATMOS-x, J. Appl. Meteorol. Climatol., 51, 1129–1144, https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-11-02.1, 2012. a
Heue, K.-P., Eichmann, K., and Valks, P.: TROPOMI/S5P ATBD of tropospheric ozone data products, Tech. Rep. S5P-L2-IUP-ATBD-400C, issue 1.6, Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. in der Helmholtz Gemeinschaft and Institute for Environmental Physics (IUP), https://sentinels.copernicus.eu/documents/247904/2476257/Sentinel-5P-ATBD-TROPOMI-Tropospheric-Ozone/d2106102-b5c3-4d28-b752-026e3448aab2?version=1.2 (last access: 22 October 2024), 2018. a
King, M. D.: Determination of the Scaled Optical Thickness of Clouds from Reflected Solar Radiation Measurements, J. Atmos. Sci., 44, 1734–1751, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1987)044<1734:DOTSOT>2.0.CO;2, 1987. a
Kleipool, Q., Ludewig, A., Babić, L., Bartstra, R., Braak, R., Dierssen, W., Dewitte, P.-J., Kenter, P., Landzaat, R., Leloux, J., Loots, E., Meijering, P., van der Plas, E., Rozemeijer, N., Schepers, D., Schiavini, D., Smeets, J., Vacanti, G., Vonk, F., and Veefkind, P.: Pre-launch calibration results of the TROPOMI payload on-board the Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 6439–6479, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-6439-2018, 2018. a
KNMI: S5P/TROPOMI Algorithm theoretical basis document for the TROPOMI L01b data processor, S5P-KNMI-L01B-0009- SD, issue 10.0.0, https://sentinel.esa.int/documents/247904/2476257/Sentinel-5P-TROPOMI-Level-1B-ATBD (last access: 22 October 2024), 2022. a
Kokhanovsky, A. A. and Mayer, B.: Light reflection and transmission by non-absorbing turbid slabs: simple approximations, J. Opt. A, 5, 43–46, https://doi.org/10.1088/1464-4258/5/1/306, 2003. a, b
Latsch, M., Richter, A., Eskes, H., Sneep, M., Wang, P., Veefkind, P., Lutz, R., Loyola, D., Argyrouli, A., Valks, P., Wagner, T., Sihler, H., van Roozendael, M., Theys, N., Yu, H., Siddans, R., and Burrows, J. P.: Intercomparison of Sentinel-5P TROPOMI cloud products for tropospheric trace gas retrievals, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6257–6283, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6257-2022, 2022. a
Liu, C.-Y., Chiu, C.-H., Lin, P.-H., and Min, M.: Comparison of cloud-top property retrievals from Advanced Himawari Imager, MODIS, CloudSat/CPR, CALIPSO/CALIOP, and radiosonde, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 125, e2020JD032683, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JD032683, 2020. a
Liu, S., Valks, P., Pinardi, G., Xu, J., Chan, K. L., Argyrouli, A., Lutz, R., Beirle, S., Khorsandi, E., Baier, F., Huijnen, V., Bais, A., Donner, S., Dörner, S., Gratsea, M., Hendrick, F., Karagkiozidis, D., Lange, K., Piters, A. J. M., Remmers, J., Richter, A., Van Roozendael, M., Wagner, T., Wenig, M., and Loyola, D. G.: An improved TROPOMI tropospheric NO2 research product over Europe, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7297–7327, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7297-2021, 2021. a
Loyola, D.: Methodologies for solving Satellite Remote Sensing Problems using Neuro Computing Techniques, Ph.D. thesis, Technische Universität München, verlag Dr. Hut, ISBN 978-3-8439-1068-2, 2013. a
Loyola, D. G.: Automatic cloud analysis from polar-orbiting satellites using neural network and data fusion techniques, in: IGARSS 2004. 2004 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, Vol. 4, 2530–2533 pp., https://doi.org/10.1109/IGARSS.2004.1369811, 2004. a
Loyola, D. G., Thomas, W., Spurr, R., and Mayer, B.: Global patterns in daytime cloud properties derived from GOME backscatter UV-VIS measurements, Int. J. Remote Sens., 31, 4295–4318, https://doi.org/10.1080/01431160903246741, 2010. a
Loyola, D. G., Pedergnana, M., and Gimeno García, S.: Smart sampling and incremental function learning for very large high dimensional data, Neural Netw., 78, 75–87, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neunet.2015.09.001, special Issue on “Neural Network Learning in Big Data”, 2016. a
Loyola, D. G., Gimeno García, S., Lutz, R., Argyrouli, A., Romahn, F., Spurr, R. J. D., Pedergnana, M., Doicu, A., Molina García, V., and Schüssler, O.: The operational cloud retrieval algorithms from TROPOMI on board Sentinel-5 Precursor, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 409–427, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-409-2018, 2018. a, b
Lutz, R., Loyola, D., Gimeno García, S., and Romahn, F.: OCRA radiometric cloud fractions for GOME-2 on MetOp-A/B, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 2357–2379, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2357-2016, 2016. a, b
Molina García, V.: Retrieval of cloud properties from EPIC/DSCOVR, Ph.D. thesis, Technische Universität München, https://mediatum.ub.tum.de/node?id=1662361 (last access: 22 October 2024), 2022. a
Nakajima, T. and King, M. D.: Determination of the optical thickness and effective particle radius of clouds from reflected solar radiation measurements. I – Theory, J. Atmos. Sci., 47, 1878–1893, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1990)047<1878:DOTOTA>2.0.CO;2, 1990a. a
Nakajima, T. and King, M. D.: Asymptotic theory for optically thick layers: application to the discrete ordinates method, Appl. Opt., 31, 7669–7683, https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.31.007669, 1990b. a
NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC: CALIPSO Lidar Level 2 5 km Cloud Layer, V4-20 [data set], https://doi.org/10.5067/CALIOP/CALIPSO/LID_L2_05KMCLAY-STANDARD-V4-20, 2018. a
Rodgers, C. D.: Inverse Methods for Atmospheric Sounding: Theory and Practice, Vol. 2 of, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, World Scientific, https://doi.org/10.1142/3171, 2000. a
Schuessler, O., Loyola, D. G., Doicu, A., and Spurr, R. J. D.: Information Content in the Oxygen A-Band for the Retrieval of Macrophysical Cloud Parameters, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens., 52, 3246–3255, https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2013.2271986, 2014. a
Spurr, R. J. D.: VLIDORT: A linearized pseudo-spherical vector discrete ordinate radiative transfer code for forward model and retrieval studies in multilayer multiple scattering media, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Ra., 102, 316–342, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jqsrt.2006.05.005, 2006. a
Spurr, R. J. D., Loyola, D., Heue, K.-P., Van Roozendael, M., and Lerot, C.: S5P/TROPOMI Total Ozone ATBD, Tech. Rep. S5P-L2-DLR-ATBD-400A, issue 2.4, Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. in der Helmholtz Gemeinschaft and Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB), https://sentinel.esa.int/documents/247904/2476257/Sentinel-5P-TROPOMI-ATBD-Total-Ozone (last access: 22 October 2024), 2022. a
Theys, N., De Smedt, I., Yu, H., Danckaert, T., van Gent, J., Hörmann, C., Wagner, T., Hedelt, P., Bauer, H., Romahn, F., Pedergnana, M., Loyola, D., and Van Roozendael, M.: Sulfur dioxide retrievals from TROPOMI onboard Sentinel-5 Precursor: algorithm theoretical basis, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 119–153, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-119-2017, 2017. a
Van de Hulst, H. C.: Light scattering by small particles, Wiley, NY, 1957. a
Veefkind, J., Aben, I., McMullan, K., Förster, H., de Vries, J., Otter, G., Claas, J., Eskes, H., de Haan, J., Kleipool, Q., van Weele, M., Hasekamp, O., Hoogeveen, R., Landgraf, J., Snel, R., Tol, P., Ingmann, P., Voors, R., Kruizinga, B., Vink, R., Visser, H., and Levelt, P.: TROPOMI on the ESA Sentinel-5 Precursor: A GMES mission for global observations of the atmospheric composition for climate, air quality and ozone layer applications, Remote Sens. Environ., 120, 70–83, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2011.09.027, 2012. a
Walther, A. and Heidinger, A. K.: Implementation of the Daytime Cloud Optical and Microphysical Properties Algorithm (DCOMP) in PATMOS-x, J. Appl. Meteorol. Climatol., 51, 1371–1390, https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-11-0108.1, 2012. a
Walther, A. and Straka, W.: Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document For Daytime Cloud Optical and Microphysical Properties (DCOMP), Version 1.2, https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/jpss/documents/ATBD/ATBD_EPS_Cloud_DCOMP_v1.2.pdf (last access: 22 October 2024), 2020. a
Winker, D., Pelon, J., and Mccormick, M.: The CALIPSO mission: Spaceborne lidar for observation of aerosols and clouds, Proc. SPIE-Int. Soc. Opt. Eng., 4893, 1–11, https://doi.org/10.1117/12.466539, 2003. a
Winker, D., Hunt, W., and Hostetler, C.: Status and performance of the CALIOP lidar, P. SPIE – The International Society for Optical Engineering, 5575, 8–15 pp., https://doi.org/10.1117/12.571955, 2004. a
Winker, D. M., Hunt, W. H., and McGill, M. J.: Initial performance assessment of CALIOP, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, 19, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL030135, 2007. a
Short summary
This paper describes a new treatment of the spatial misregistration of cloud properties for Sentinel-5 Precursor, when the footprints of different spectral bands are not perfectly aligned. The methodology exploits synergies between spectrometers and imagers, like TROPOMI and VIIRS. The largest improvements have been identified for heterogeneous scenes at cloud edges. This approach is generic and can also be applied to future Sentinel-4 and Sentinel-5 instruments.
This paper describes a new treatment of the spatial misregistration of cloud properties for...