Articles | Volume 9, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2603-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2603-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
17 Jun 2016
Research article |
| 17 Jun 2016
Measurements of greenhouse gases at Beromünster tall-tower station in Switzerland
Tesfaye Ayalneh Berhanu
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Physics Institute and Oeschger Center for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Ece Satar
Physics Institute and Oeschger Center for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Rudiger Schanda
Physics Institute and Oeschger Center for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Peter Nyfeler
Physics Institute and Oeschger Center for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Hanspeter Moret
Physics Institute and Oeschger Center for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Dominik Brunner
Empa, Laboratory for Air Pollution/Environmental Technology, Dübendorf, Switzerland
Brian Oney
Empa, Laboratory for Air Pollution/Environmental Technology, Dübendorf, Switzerland
ETH Zurich, Center for Climate Systems Modeling, Zurich, Switzerland
Markus Leuenberger
Physics Institute and Oeschger Center for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Related authors
Tesfaye A. Berhanu, John Hoffnagle, Chris Rella, David Kimhak, Peter Nyfeler, and Markus Leuenberger
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 6803–6826, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6803-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6803-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Accurate measurement of variations in atmospheric O2 can provide useful information about atmospheric, biospheric, and oceanic processes, which is a challenge for existing measurement techniques. Here, we introduce a newly built high-precision, stable CRDS analyzer (Picarro G2207) that can measure O2 mixing ratios with a short-term precision of < 1 ppm and only requires calibration every 12 h. Measurements from tower and mountain sites are also presented.
Tesfaye A. Berhanu, Sönke Szidat, Dominik Brunner, Ece Satar, Rüdiger Schanda, Peter Nyfeler, Michael Battaglia, Martin Steinbacher, Samuel Hammer, and Markus Leuenberger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 10753–10766, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10753-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10753-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Fossil fuel CO2 is the major contributor of anthropogenic CO2 in the atmosphere, and accurate quantification is essential to better understand the carbon cycle. Such accurate quantification can be conducted based on radiocarbon measurements. In this study, we present radiocarbon measurements from a tall tower site in Switzerland. From these measurements, we have observed seasonally varying fossil fuel CO2 contributions and a biospheric CO2 component that varies diurnally and seasonally.
Ece Satar, Tesfaye A. Berhanu, Dominik Brunner, Stephan Henne, and Markus Leuenberger
Biogeosciences, 13, 2623–2635, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-2623-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-2623-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Beromünster tall tower is the flagship of the densely placed Swiss greenhouse gas observation network (CarboCount CH). In this research article we report the first 2 years of the continuous greenhouse gas measurements using cavity ring down spectroscopy analyzer from this tall tower. We have adopted a purely observation based, multi-species and multi-level approach to characterize the site with respect to sources and sinks of natural and anthropogenic origin at diurnal to annual timescales.
T. A. Berhanu, J. Savarino, J. Erbland, W. C. Vicars, S. Preunkert, J. F. Martins, and M. S. Johnson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 11243–11256, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-11243-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-11243-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
In this field study at Dome C, Antarctica, we investigated the effect of solar UV photolysis on the stable isotopes of nitrate in snow via comparison of two identical snow pits while exposing only one to solar UV. From the difference between the average isotopic fractionations calculated for each pit, we determined a purely photolytic nitrogen isotopic fractionation of -55.8‰, in good agreement with what has been recently determined in a laboratory study.
Dominik Brunner, Ivo Suter, Leonie Bernet, Lionel Constantin, Stuart K. Grange, Pascal Rubli, Junwei Li, Jia Chen, Alessandro Bigi, and Lukas Emmenegger
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-640, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-640, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Short summary
Short summary
In order to support the city of Zurich in tracking its path to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions planned to be reached by 2040, a CO2 emission monitoring system was established. The system combines a dense network of CO2 sensors with a high-resolution atmospheric transport model GRAMM/GRAL. This study presents the setup of the model together with its numerous inputs and evaluates its performance in comparison with the observations from the CO2 sensor network.
Rainer Hilland, Josh Hashemi, Stavros Stagakis, Dominik Brunner, Lionel Constantin, Natascha Kljun, Betty Molinier, Samuel Hammer, Lukas Emmenegger, and Andreas Christen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1088, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1088, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Short summary
Short summary
We present a study of simultaneously measured fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO2) and co-emitted species in the city of Zurich. Flux measurements of CO2 alone can’t be attributed to specific emission sectors, such as road transport or residential heating. We present a model which uses the measured ratios of CO2 to carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) as well as sector-specific reference ratios, to attribute measured fluxes to their emission sectors.
Joël Thanwerdas, Antoine Berchet, Lionel Constantin, Aki Tsuruta, Michael Steiner, Friedemann Reum, Stephan Henne, and Dominik Brunner
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 1505–1544, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1505-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1505-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The Community Inversion Framework (CIF) brings together methods for estimating greenhouse gas fluxes from atmospheric observations. The initial ensemble method implemented in CIF was found to be incomplete and could hardly be compared to other ensemble methods employed in the inversion community. In this paper, we present and evaluate a new implementation of the ensemble mode, building upon the initial developments.
Stuart K. Grange, Pascal Rubli, Andrea Fischer, Dominik Brunner, Christoph Hueglin, and Lukas Emmenegger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2781–2806, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2781-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2781-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a very important atmospheric pollutant, and to better understand the gas's source and sink dynamics, a mid-cost sensor network hosting 26 sites was deployed in and around Zurich, Switzerland. The sensor measurement performance was quantified, and natural and anthropogenic CO2 emission sources were explored with a focus on what drives high CO2 levels. The observations will be used further by others to validate what is thought to be known about CO2 emissions in the region.
Hossein Maazallahi, Foteini Stavropoulou, Samuel Jonson Sutanto, Michael Steiner, Dominik Brunner, Mariano Mertens, Patrick Jöckel, Antoon Visschedijk, Hugo Denier van der Gon, Stijn Dellaert, Nataly Velandia Salinas, Stefan Schwietzke, Daniel Zavala-Araiza, Sorin Ghemulet, Alexandru Pana, Magdalena Ardelean, Marius Corbu, Andreea Calcan, Stephen A. Conley, Mackenzie L. Smith, and Thomas Röckmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1497–1511, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1497-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1497-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This article presents insights from airborne in situ measurements collected during the ROmanian Methane Emissions from Oil and gas (ROMEO) campaign supported by two models. Results reveal Romania's oil and gas methane emissions were significantly under-reported to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2019. A large underestimation was also found in the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) v7.0 for the study domain in the same year.
Diego Santaren, Janne Hakkarainen, Gerrit Kuhlmann, Erik Koene, Frédéric Chevallier, Iolanda Ialongo, Hannakaisa Lindqvist, Janne Nurmela, Johanna Tamminen, Laia Amorós, Dominik Brunner, and Grégoire Broquet
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 211–239, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-211-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-211-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study evaluates data-driven inversion methods for estimating CO2 emissions from local sources, such as power plants and cities, using meteorological data and XCO2 and NO2 satellite images rather than atmospheric transport modeling. We assess and compare the performance of five different methods using simulations of 1 year of satellite images, taken from the upcoming Copernicus CO2 Monitoring Mission, covering 15 power plants and the city of Berlin, Germany.
Stephan Räss, Peter Nyfeler, Paul Wheeler, Will Price, and Markus Christian Leuenberger
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3572, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3572, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Clumped-isotope signals obtained through gas-source mass spectrometry are typically small and require pressure baseline corrections. While such corrections have been developed for square-shaped peaks, we present an approach for correcting peaks with complex shapes. Our method is demonstrated using oxygen clumped isotopes measured in pure oxygen, where the peak tops are linearly increasing and/or negatively curved.
Gerrit Kuhlmann, Foteini Stavropoulou, Stefan Schwietzke, Daniel Zavala-Araiza, Andrew Thorpe, Andreas Hueni, Lukas Emmenegger, Andreea Calcan, Thomas Röckmann, and Dominik Brunner
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3494, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3494, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
A measurement campaign in 2019 found that methane emissions from oil and gas in Romania were significantly higher than reported. In 2021, our follow-up campaign using airborne remote sensing showed a marked decreases in emissions by 20–60 % due to improved infrastructure. The study highlights the importance of measurement-based emission monitoring and illustrates the value of a multi-scale assessment integrating ground-based observations with large-scale airborne remote sensing campaigns.
Michael Steiner, Luca Cantarello, Stephan Henne, and Dominik Brunner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12447–12463, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12447-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12447-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Atmospheric greenhouse gas inversions have great potential to independently check reported bottom-up emissions; however they are subject to large uncertainties. It is paramount to address and reduce the largest source of uncertainty, which stems from the representation of atmospheric transport in the models. In this study, we show that the use of a temporally varying flow-dependent atmospheric transport uncertainty can enhance the accuracy of emission estimation in an idealized experiment.
Ana Maria Roxana Petrescu, Glen P. Peters, Richard Engelen, Sander Houweling, Dominik Brunner, Aki Tsuruta, Bradley Matthews, Prabir K. Patra, Dmitry Belikov, Rona L. Thompson, Lena Höglund-Isaksson, Wenxin Zhang, Arjo J. Segers, Giuseppe Etiope, Giancarlo Ciotoli, Philippe Peylin, Frédéric Chevallier, Tuula Aalto, Robbie M. Andrew, David Bastviken, Antoine Berchet, Grégoire Broquet, Giulia Conchedda, Stijn N. C. Dellaert, Hugo Denier van der Gon, Johannes Gütschow, Jean-Matthieu Haussaire, Ronny Lauerwald, Tiina Markkanen, Jacob C. A. van Peet, Isabelle Pison, Pierre Regnier, Espen Solum, Marko Scholze, Maria Tenkanen, Francesco N. Tubiello, Guido R. van der Werf, and John R. Worden
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 4325–4350, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4325-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4325-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study provides an overview of data availability from observation- and inventory-based CH4 emission estimates. It systematically compares them and provides recommendations for robust comparisons, aiming to steadily engage more parties in using observational methods to complement their UNFCCC submissions. Anticipating improvements in atmospheric modelling and observations, future developments need to resolve knowledge gaps in both approaches and to better quantify remaining uncertainty.
Stavros Stagakis, Dominik Brunner, Junwei Li, Leif Backman, Anni Karvonen, Lionel Constantin, Leena Järvi, Minttu Havu, Jia Chen, Sophie Emberger, and Liisa Kulmala
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2475, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2475, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The balance between CO2 uptake and emissions from urban green areas is still not well understood. This study evaluated for the first time the urban park CO2 exchange simulations by four different types of biosphere models by comparing them with observations. Even though some advantages and disadvantages of the different model types were identified, there was no strong evidence that more complex models performed better than simple ones.
Sandro Meier, Erik F. M. Koene, Maarten Krol, Dominik Brunner, Alexander Damm, and Gerrit Kuhlmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7667–7686, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7667-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7667-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Nitrogen oxides (NOx = NO + NO2) are important air pollutants. This study addresses the challenge of accurately estimating NOx emissions from NO2 satellite observations. We develop a realistic model to convert NO2 to NOx by using simulated plumes from various power plants. We apply the model to satellite NO2 observations, significantly reducing biases in estimated NOx emissions. The study highlights the potential for a consistent, high-resolution estimation of NOx emissions using satellite data.
Gerrit Kuhlmann, Erik Koene, Sandro Meier, Diego Santaren, Grégoire Broquet, Frédéric Chevallier, Janne Hakkarainen, Janne Nurmela, Laia Amorós, Johanna Tamminen, and Dominik Brunner
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4773–4789, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4773-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4773-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We present a Python software library for data-driven emission quantification (ddeq). It can be used to determine the emissions of hot spots (cities, power plants and industry) from remote sensing images using different methods. ddeq can be extended for new datasets and methods, providing a powerful community tool for users and developers. The application of the methods is shown using Jupyter notebooks included in the library.
Michael Steiner, Wouter Peters, Ingrid Luijkx, Stephan Henne, Huilin Chen, Samuel Hammer, and Dominik Brunner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2759–2782, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2759-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2759-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The Paris Agreement increased interest in estimating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of individual countries, but top-down emission estimation is not yet considered policy-relevant. It is therefore paramount to reduce large errors and to build systems that are based on the newest atmospheric transport models. In this study, we present the first application of ICON-ART in the inverse modeling of GHG fluxes with an ensemble Kalman filter and present our results for European CH4 emissions.
Robert Hanfland, Dominik Brunner, Christiane Voigt, Alina Fiehn, Anke Roiger, and Margit Pattantyús-Ábrahám
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2511–2534, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2511-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2511-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
To show that the three-dimensional dispersion of plumes simulated by the Atmospheric Radionuclide Transport Model within the planetary boundary layer agrees with real plumes, we identify the most important input parameters and analyse the turbulence properties of five different turbulence models in very unstable stratification conditions using their deviation from the well-mixed state. Simulations show that one model agrees slightly better in unstable stratification conditions.
Ioannis Katharopoulos, Dominique Rust, Martin K. Vollmer, Dominik Brunner, Stefan Reimann, Simon J. O'Doherty, Dickon Young, Kieran M. Stanley, Tanja Schuck, Jgor Arduini, Lukas Emmenegger, and Stephan Henne
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14159–14186, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14159-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14159-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The effectiveness of climate change mitigation needs to be scrutinized by monitoring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Countries report their emissions to the UN in a bottom-up manner. By combining atmospheric observations and transport models someone can independently validate emission estimates in a top-down fashion. We report Swiss emissions of synthetic GHGs based on kilometer-scale transport and inverse modeling, highlighting the role of appropriate resolution in complex terrain.
Marie Bouchet, Amaëlle Landais, Antoine Grisart, Frédéric Parrenin, Frédéric Prié, Roxanne Jacob, Elise Fourré, Emilie Capron, Dominique Raynaud, Vladimir Ya Lipenkov, Marie-France Loutre, Thomas Extier, Anders Svensson, Etienne Legrain, Patricia Martinerie, Markus Leuenberger, Wei Jiang, Florian Ritterbusch, Zheng-Tian Lu, and Guo-Min Yang
Clim. Past, 19, 2257–2286, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2257-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2257-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
A new federative chronology for five deep polar ice cores retrieves 800 000 years of past climate variations with improved accuracy. Precise ice core timescales are key to studying the mechanisms linking changes in the Earth’s orbit to the diverse climatic responses (temperature and atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations). To construct the chronology, new measurements from the oldest continuous ice core as well as glaciological modeling estimates were combined in a statistical model.
Stephan Räss, Peter Nyfeler, Paul Wheeler, Will Price, and Markus Christian Leuenberger
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4489–4505, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4489-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4489-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Due to technological advances clumped-isotope studies have gained importance in recent years. Typically, these studies are performed with high-resolution isotope ratio mass spectrometers (IRMSs) along with a changeover-valve-based dual-inlet system (DIS). We are taking a different approach, namely performing clumped-isotope measurements with a compact low-resolution IRMS with an open-split-based DIS. Currently, we are working with pure-oxygen gas for which we are providing a proof of concept.
Jenny Maccali, Anna Nele Meckler, Stein-Erik Lauritzen, Torill Brekken, Helen Aase Rokkan, Alvaro Fernandez, Yves Krüger, Jane Adigun, Stéphane Affolter, and Markus Leuenberger
Clim. Past, 19, 1847–1862, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1847-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1847-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The southern coast of South Africa hosts some key archeological sites for the study of early human evolution. Here we present a short but high-resolution record of past changes in the hydroclimate and temperature on the southern coast of South Africa based on the study of a speleothem collected from Bloukrantz Cave. Overall, the paleoclimate indicators suggest stable temperature from 48.3 to 45.2 ka, whereas precipitation was variable, with marked short drier episodes.
Foteini Stavropoulou, Katarina Vinković, Bert Kers, Marcel de Vries, Steven van Heuven, Piotr Korbeń, Martina Schmidt, Julia Wietzel, Pawel Jagoda, Jaroslav M. Necki, Jakub Bartyzel, Hossein Maazallahi, Malika Menoud, Carina van der Veen, Sylvia Walter, Béla Tuzson, Jonas Ravelid, Randulph Paulo Morales, Lukas Emmenegger, Dominik Brunner, Michael Steiner, Arjan Hensen, Ilona Velzeboer, Pim van den Bulk, Hugo Denier van der Gon, Antonio Delre, Maklawe Essonanawe Edjabou, Charlotte Scheutz, Marius Corbu, Sebastian Iancu, Denisa Moaca, Alin Scarlat, Alexandru Tudor, Ioana Vizireanu, Andreea Calcan, Magdalena Ardelean, Sorin Ghemulet, Alexandru Pana, Aurel Constantinescu, Lucian Cusa, Alexandru Nica, Calin Baciu, Cristian Pop, Andrei Radovici, Alexandru Mereuta, Horatiu Stefanie, Alexandru Dandocsi, Bas Hermans, Stefan Schwietzke, Daniel Zavala-Araiza, Huilin Chen, and Thomas Röckmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 10399–10412, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10399-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10399-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we quantify CH4 emissions from onshore oil production sites in Romania at source and facility level using a combination of ground- and drone-based measurement techniques. We show that the total CH4 emissions in our studied areas are much higher than the emissions reported to UNFCCC, and up to three-quarters of the detected emissions are related to operational venting. Our results suggest that oil and gas production infrastructure in Romania holds a massive mitigation potential.
Ana Maria Roxana Petrescu, Chunjing Qiu, Matthew J. McGrath, Philippe Peylin, Glen P. Peters, Philippe Ciais, Rona L. Thompson, Aki Tsuruta, Dominik Brunner, Matthias Kuhnert, Bradley Matthews, Paul I. Palmer, Oksana Tarasova, Pierre Regnier, Ronny Lauerwald, David Bastviken, Lena Höglund-Isaksson, Wilfried Winiwarter, Giuseppe Etiope, Tuula Aalto, Gianpaolo Balsamo, Vladislav Bastrikov, Antoine Berchet, Patrick Brockmann, Giancarlo Ciotoli, Giulia Conchedda, Monica Crippa, Frank Dentener, Christine D. Groot Zwaaftink, Diego Guizzardi, Dirk Günther, Jean-Matthieu Haussaire, Sander Houweling, Greet Janssens-Maenhout, Massaer Kouyate, Adrian Leip, Antti Leppänen, Emanuele Lugato, Manon Maisonnier, Alistair J. Manning, Tiina Markkanen, Joe McNorton, Marilena Muntean, Gabriel D. Oreggioni, Prabir K. Patra, Lucia Perugini, Isabelle Pison, Maarit T. Raivonen, Marielle Saunois, Arjo J. Segers, Pete Smith, Efisio Solazzo, Hanqin Tian, Francesco N. Tubiello, Timo Vesala, Guido R. van der Werf, Chris Wilson, and Sönke Zaehle
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 1197–1268, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1197-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1197-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study updates the state-of-the-art scientific overview of CH4 and N2O emissions in the EU27 and UK in Petrescu et al. (2021a). Yearly updates are needed to improve the different respective approaches and to inform on the development of formal verification systems. It integrates the most recent emission inventories, process-based model and regional/global inversions, comparing them with UNFCCC national GHG inventories, in support to policy to facilitate real-time verification procedures.
Dominik Brunner, Gerrit Kuhlmann, Stephan Henne, Erik Koene, Bastian Kern, Sebastian Wolff, Christiane Voigt, Patrick Jöckel, Christoph Kiemle, Anke Roiger, Alina Fiehn, Sven Krautwurst, Konstantin Gerilowski, Heinrich Bovensmann, Jakob Borchardt, Michal Galkowski, Christoph Gerbig, Julia Marshall, Andrzej Klonecki, Pascal Prunet, Robert Hanfland, Margit Pattantyús-Ábrahám, Andrzej Wyszogrodzki, and Andreas Fix
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 2699–2728, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2699-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2699-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We evaluated six atmospheric transport models for their capability to simulate the CO2 plumes from two of the largest power plants in Europe by comparing the models against aircraft observations collected during the CoMet (Carbon Dioxide and Methane Mission) campaign in 2018. The study analyzed how realistically such plumes can be simulated at different model resolutions and how well the planned European satellite mission CO2M will be able to quantify emissions from power plants.
Andreas Plach, Rolf Rüfenacht, Simone Kotthaus, and Markus Leuenberger
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-1019, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-1019, 2022
Preprint archived
Short summary
Short summary
Greenhouse gases emissions are contributing to global warming and it is essential to better understand where they originate from and how they are transported. In this study we analyze greenhouse gas observations at a Swiss tall tower where measurements are taken more than 200 m above ground and investigate their origin by looking at the condition of the atmosphere at the time of the observations. We find that most pollution at this site is caused from emissions transported from further away.
Prabhakar Shrestha, Jana Mendrok, and Dominik Brunner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 14095–14117, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14095-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14095-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The study extends the Terrestrial Systems Modeling Platform with gas-phase chemistry aerosol dynamics and a radar forward operator to enable detailed studies of aerosol–cloud–precipitation interactions. This is demonstrated using a case study of a deep convective storm, which showed that the strong updraft in the convective core of the storm produced aerosol-tower-like features, which affected the size of the hydrometeors and the simulated polarimetric features (e.g., ZDR and KDP columns).
Peter Bergamaschi, Arjo Segers, Dominik Brunner, Jean-Matthieu Haussaire, Stephan Henne, Michel Ramonet, Tim Arnold, Tobias Biermann, Huilin Chen, Sebastien Conil, Marc Delmotte, Grant Forster, Arnoud Frumau, Dagmar Kubistin, Xin Lan, Markus Leuenberger, Matthias Lindauer, Morgan Lopez, Giovanni Manca, Jennifer Müller-Williams, Simon O'Doherty, Bert Scheeren, Martin Steinbacher, Pamela Trisolino, Gabriela Vítková, and Camille Yver Kwok
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 13243–13268, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13243-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13243-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We present a novel high-resolution inverse modelling system, "FLEXVAR", and its application for the inverse modelling of European CH4 emissions in 2018. The new system combines a high spatial resolution of 7 km x 7 km with a variational data assimilation technique, which allows CH4 emissions to be optimized from individual model grid cells. The high resolution allows the observations to be better reproduced, while the derived emissions show overall good consistency with two existing models.
Simone M. Pieber, Béla Tuzson, Stephan Henne, Ute Karstens, Christoph Gerbig, Frank-Thomas Koch, Dominik Brunner, Martin Steinbacher, and Lukas Emmenegger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 10721–10749, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10721-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10721-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding regional greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere is a prerequisite to mitigate climate change. In this study, we investigated the regional contributions of carbon dioxide (CO2) at the location of the high Alpine observatory Jungfraujoch (JFJ, Switzerland, 3580 m a.s.l.). To this purpose, we combined receptor-oriented atmospheric transport simulations for CO2 concentration in the period 2009–2017 with stable carbon isotope (δ13C–CO2) information.
Randulph Morales, Jonas Ravelid, Katarina Vinkovic, Piotr Korbeń, Béla Tuzson, Lukas Emmenegger, Huilin Chen, Martina Schmidt, Sebastian Humbel, and Dominik Brunner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2177–2198, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2177-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2177-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Mapping trace gas emission plumes using in situ measurements from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is an emerging and attractive possibility to quantify emissions from localized sources. We performed an extensive controlled-release experiment to develop an optimal quantification method and to determine the related uncertainties under various environmental and sampling conditions. Our approach was successful in quantifying local methane sources from drone-based measurements.
Gerrit Kuhlmann, Ka Lok Chan, Sebastian Donner, Ying Zhu, Marc Schwaerzel, Steffen Dörner, Jia Chen, Andreas Hueni, Duc Hai Nguyen, Alexander Damm, Annette Schütt, Florian Dietrich, Dominik Brunner, Cheng Liu, Brigitte Buchmann, Thomas Wagner, and Mark Wenig
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1609–1629, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1609-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1609-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is an air pollutant whose concentration often exceeds air quality guideline values, especially in urban areas. To map the spatial distribution of NO2 in Munich, we conducted the Munich NO2 Imaging Campaign (MuNIC), where NO2 was measured with stationary, mobile, and airborne in situ and remote sensing instruments. The campaign provides a unique dataset that has been used to compare the different instruments and to study the spatial variability of NO2 and its sources.
Marc Schwaerzel, Dominik Brunner, Fabian Jakub, Claudia Emde, Brigitte Buchmann, Alexis Berne, and Gerrit Kuhlmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6469–6482, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6469-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6469-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
NO2 maps from airborne imaging remote sensing often appear much smoother than one would expect from high-resolution model simulations of NO2 over cities, despite the small ground-pixel size of the sensors. Our case study over Zurich, using the newly implemented building module of the MYSTIC radiative transfer solver, shows that the 3D effect can explain part of the smearing and that building shadows cause a noticeable underestimation and noise in the measured NO2 columns.
Antoine Berchet, Espen Sollum, Rona L. Thompson, Isabelle Pison, Joël Thanwerdas, Grégoire Broquet, Frédéric Chevallier, Tuula Aalto, Adrien Berchet, Peter Bergamaschi, Dominik Brunner, Richard Engelen, Audrey Fortems-Cheiney, Christoph Gerbig, Christine D. Groot Zwaaftink, Jean-Matthieu Haussaire, Stephan Henne, Sander Houweling, Ute Karstens, Werner L. Kutsch, Ingrid T. Luijkx, Guillaume Monteil, Paul I. Palmer, Jacob C. A. van Peet, Wouter Peters, Philippe Peylin, Elise Potier, Christian Rödenbeck, Marielle Saunois, Marko Scholze, Aki Tsuruta, and Yuanhong Zhao
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 5331–5354, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-5331-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-5331-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We present here the Community Inversion Framework (CIF) to help rationalize development efforts and leverage the strengths of individual inversion systems into a comprehensive framework. The CIF is a programming protocol to allow various inversion bricks to be exchanged among researchers.
The ensemble of bricks makes a flexible, transparent and open-source Python-based tool. We describe the main structure and functionalities and demonstrate it in a simple academic case.
Ana Maria Roxana Petrescu, Chunjing Qiu, Philippe Ciais, Rona L. Thompson, Philippe Peylin, Matthew J. McGrath, Efisio Solazzo, Greet Janssens-Maenhout, Francesco N. Tubiello, Peter Bergamaschi, Dominik Brunner, Glen P. Peters, Lena Höglund-Isaksson, Pierre Regnier, Ronny Lauerwald, David Bastviken, Aki Tsuruta, Wilfried Winiwarter, Prabir K. Patra, Matthias Kuhnert, Gabriel D. Oreggioni, Monica Crippa, Marielle Saunois, Lucia Perugini, Tiina Markkanen, Tuula Aalto, Christine D. Groot Zwaaftink, Hanqin Tian, Yuanzhi Yao, Chris Wilson, Giulia Conchedda, Dirk Günther, Adrian Leip, Pete Smith, Jean-Matthieu Haussaire, Antti Leppänen, Alistair J. Manning, Joe McNorton, Patrick Brockmann, and Albertus Johannes Dolman
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 2307–2362, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-2307-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-2307-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study is topical and provides a state-of-the-art scientific overview of data availability from bottom-up and top-down CH4 and N2O emissions in the EU27 and UK. The data integrate recent emission inventories with process-based model data and regional/global inversions for the European domain, aiming at reconciling them with official country-level UNFCCC national GHG inventories in support to policy and to facilitate real-time verification procedures.
Gerrit Kuhlmann, Dominik Brunner, Grégoire Broquet, and Yasjka Meijer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 6733–6754, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6733-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6733-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The European CO2M mission is a proposed constellation of CO2 imaging satellites expected to monitor CO2 emissions of large cities. Using synthetic observations, we show that a constellation of two or more satellites should be able to quantify Berlin's annual emissions with 10–20 % accuracy, even when considering atmospheric transport model errors. We therefore expect that CO2M will make an important contribution to the monitoring and verification of CO2 emissions from cities worldwide.
Tito Arosio, Malin M. Ziehmer-Wenz, Kurt Nicolussi, Christian Schlüchter, and Markus Leuenberger
Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2020-406, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2020-406, 2020
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
A recent analysis of stable isotopes of samples from larch and cembran trees, revealed that δD and δ18O exhibit no trends in adult trees, but trends in the juvenile period. In this work we applied a correlation analysis on different cambial age to verify if these changes were correlated with tree-ring width values. The results prove a significant correlation between tree-ring-width and both hydrogen and oxygen stable isotopes before 100 year of cambial age, but not afterwards, in both species.
Ying Zhu, Jia Chen, Xiao Bi, Gerrit Kuhlmann, Ka Lok Chan, Florian Dietrich, Dominik Brunner, Sheng Ye, and Mark Wenig
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 13241–13251, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-13241-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-13241-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Average NO2 concentration of on-street mobile measurements (MMs) near the monitoring stations (MSs) was found to be considerably higher than the MSs data. The common measurement height (H) and distance (D) of the MSs result in 27 % lower average concentrations in total than the concentration of our MMs. Another 21 % difference remained after correcting the influence of the measuring H and D. This result makes our city-wide measurements for capturing the full range of concentrations necessary.
Tito Arosio, Malin M. Ziehmer, Kurt Nicolussi, Christian Schlüchter, and Markus Leuenberger
Biogeosciences, 17, 4871–4882, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-4871-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-4871-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Stable isotopes in tree-ring cellulose are tools for climatic reconstructions, but interpretation is challenging due to nonclimate trends. We analyzed the tree-age trends in tree-ring isotopes of deciduous larch and evergreen cembran pine. Samples covering the whole Holocene were collected at the tree line in the Alps. For cambial ages over 100 years, we prove the absence of age trends in δD, δ18O, and δ13C for both species. For lower cambial ages, trends differ for each isotope and species.
Michael Döring and Markus Christian Leuenberger
Clim. Past Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2020-132, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2020-132, 2020
Manuscript not accepted for further review
Short summary
Short summary
We analyze Holocene temperatures reconstructed from gas-stable-isotope species measured on ancient air extracted from a Greenland ice core. Also, we compare two state of the art firn-models which are needed for the inversion of the gas-isotope data to paleo-temperature and provide detailed uncertainty estimations for the reconstructed temperature estimates. Finally, we compare our reconstructed temperatures to two recent reconstructions based on the same gas-isotope data as used here.
Marc Schwaerzel, Claudia Emde, Dominik Brunner, Randulph Morales, Thomas Wagner, Alexis Berne, Brigitte Buchmann, and Gerrit Kuhlmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 4277–4293, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4277-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4277-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Horizontal homogeneity is often assumed for trace gases remote sensing, although it is not valid where trace gas concentrations have high spatial variability, e.g., in cities. We show the importance of 3D effects for MAX-DOAS and airborne imaging spectrometers using 3D-box air mass factors implemented in the MYSTIC radiative transfer solver. In both cases, 3D information is invaluable for interpreting the measurements, as not considering 3D effects can lead to misinterpretation of measurements.
Michael Müller, Peter Graf, Jonas Meyer, Anastasia Pentina, Dominik Brunner, Fernando Perez-Cruz, Christoph Hüglin, and Lukas Emmenegger
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 3815–3834, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-3815-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-3815-2020, 2020
Michael Jähn, Gerrit Kuhlmann, Qing Mu, Jean-Matthieu Haussaire, David Ochsner, Katherine Osterried, Valentin Clément, and Dominik Brunner
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 2379–2392, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-2379-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-2379-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Emission inventories of air pollutants and greenhouse gases are widely used as input for atmospheric chemistry transport models. However, the pre-processing of these data is both time-consuming and requires a large amount of disk storage. To overcome this issue, a Python package has been developed and tested for two different models. There, the inventory is projected to the model grid and scaling factors are provided. This approach saves computational time while remaining numerically equivalent.
Gianluca Mussetti, Dominik Brunner, Stephan Henne, Jonas Allegrini, E. Scott Krayenhoff, Sebastian Schubert, Christian Feigenwinter, Roland Vogt, Andreas Wicki, and Jan Carmeliet
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 1685–1710, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-1685-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-1685-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Street trees are regarded as a powerful measure to reduce excessive heat in cities. To enable city-wide studies of the cooling effect of street trees, we developed a coupled urban climate model with explicit representation of street trees (COSMO-BEP-Tree). The model compares well with surface, flux and satellite observations and responds realistically to changes in tree characteristics. Street trees largely impact energy fluxes and wind speed, while air temperatures are only slightly reduced.
Ece Satar, Peter Nyfeler, Céline Pascale, Bernhard Niederhauser, and Markus Leuenberger
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 119–130, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-119-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-119-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
To ensure the best preparation and measurement conditions for trace gases, usage of coated materials is in demand in gas metrology and atmospheric measurement communities. In this article, the previously introduced aluminum measurement chamber is used to investigate materials such as glass, aluminum, copper, brass, steel and three different commercially available coatings. Our measurements focus on temperature and pressure dependencies for the species CO2, CO, CH4 and H2O using a CRDS analyzer.
Ece Satar, Peter Nyfeler, Bernhard Bereiter, Céline Pascale, Bernhard Niederhauser, and Markus Leuenberger
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 101–117, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-101-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-101-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Good-quality measurements of atmospheric trace gases are only possible with regular calibrations and stable measurements from the standard cylinders. This study investigates instabilities due to surface effects on newly built aluminum and steel cylinders. We present measurements over a set of temperature and pressure ranges for the amount fractions of CO2, CO, CH4 and H2O using a commercial and a novel laser spectroscopic analyzer.
Tesfaye A. Berhanu, John Hoffnagle, Chris Rella, David Kimhak, Peter Nyfeler, and Markus Leuenberger
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 6803–6826, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6803-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6803-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Accurate measurement of variations in atmospheric O2 can provide useful information about atmospheric, biospheric, and oceanic processes, which is a challenge for existing measurement techniques. Here, we introduce a newly built high-precision, stable CRDS analyzer (Picarro G2207) that can measure O2 mixing ratios with a short-term precision of < 1 ppm and only requires calibration every 12 h. Measurements from tower and mountain sites are also presented.
Gerrit Kuhlmann, Grégoire Broquet, Julia Marshall, Valentin Clément, Armin Löscher, Yasjka Meijer, and Dominik Brunner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 6695–6719, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6695-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6695-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The Copernicus Anthropogenic CO2 Monitoring (CO2M) mission is a proposed constellation of imaging satellites with a CO2 instrument as main payload and optionally instruments for NO2, CO and aerosols. This study demonstrates the huge benefit of an NO2 instrument for detecting city plumes and weak point sources. Its main advantages are the higher signal-to-noise ratio and the lower sensitivity to clouds that significantly increases the number of observations available for quantifying CO2 emission.
Ignacio Pisso, Espen Sollum, Henrik Grythe, Nina I. Kristiansen, Massimo Cassiani, Sabine Eckhardt, Delia Arnold, Don Morton, Rona L. Thompson, Christine D. Groot Zwaaftink, Nikolaos Evangeliou, Harald Sodemann, Leopold Haimberger, Stephan Henne, Dominik Brunner, John F. Burkhart, Anne Fouilloux, Jerome Brioude, Anne Philipp, Petra Seibert, and Andreas Stohl
Geosci. Model Dev., 12, 4955–4997, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-4955-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-4955-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
We present the latest release of the Lagrangian transport model FLEXPART, which simulates the transport, diffusion, dry and wet deposition, radioactive decay, and 1st-order chemical reactions of atmospheric tracers. The model has been recently updated both technically and in the representation of physicochemical processes. We describe the changes, document the most recent input and output files, provide working examples, and introduce testing capabilities.
Michael Döring and Markus Christian Leuenberger
Clim. Past Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2019-132, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2019-132, 2019
Manuscript not accepted for further review
Short summary
Short summary
We analyse Holocen temperatures reconstructed from gas-stable-isotope species measured on ancient air extracted from a Greenland ice core. Also, we compare two state of the art firn-models which are needed for the inversion of the gas-isotope data to paleo-temperature and provide detailed uncertainty estimations for the reconstructed temperature estimates. Finally, we compare our reconstructed temperatures to two recent reconstructions based on the same gas-isotope data as used here.
Dominik Brunner, Gerrit Kuhlmann, Julia Marshall, Valentin Clément, Oliver Fuhrer, Grégoire Broquet, Armin Löscher, and Yasjka Meijer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 4541–4559, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4541-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4541-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Atmospheric transport models are increasingly being used to estimate CO2 emissions from atmospheric CO2 measurements. This study demonstrates the importance of distributing CO2 emissions vertically in the model according to realistic profiles, since a major proportion of CO2 is emitted through tall stacks from power plants and industrial sources. With the traditional approach of emitting all CO2 at the surface, models may significantly overestimate the atmospheric CO2 levels.
Rocío Baró, Pedro Jiménez-Guerrero, Martin Stengel, Dominik Brunner, Gabriele Curci, Renate Forkel, Lucy Neal, Laura Palacios-Peña, Nicholas Savage, Martijn Schaap, Paolo Tuccella, Hugo Denier van der Gon, and Stefano Galmarini
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 15183–15199, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-15183-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-15183-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Particles in the atmosphere, such as pollution, desert dust, and volcanic ash, have an impact on meteorology. They interact with incoming radiation resulting in a cooling effect of the atmosphere. Today, the use of meteorology and chemistry models help us to understand these processes, but there are a lot of uncertainties. The goal of this work is to evaluate how these interactions are represented in the models by comparing them to satellite data to see how close they are to reality.
Michael Döring and Markus C. Leuenberger
Clim. Past, 14, 763–788, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-763-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-763-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We present a novel approach for ice-core-based temperature reconstructions, which is based on gas-isotope data measured on enclosed air bubbles in ice cores. The processes of air movement and enclosure are highly temperature dependent due to heat diffusion in and densification of the snow and ice. Our method inverts a model, which describes these processes, to desired temperature histories. This paper examines the performance of our novel approach on different synthetic isotope-data scenarios.
Laura Palacios-Peña, Rocío Baró, Alexander Baklanov, Alessandra Balzarini, Dominik Brunner, Renate Forkel, Marcus Hirtl, Luka Honzak, José María López-Romero, Juan Pedro Montávez, Juan Luis Pérez, Guido Pirovano, Roberto San José, Wolfram Schröder, Johannes Werhahn, Ralf Wolke, Rahela Žabkar, and Pedro Jiménez-Guerrero
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 5021–5043, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5021-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5021-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Atmospheric aerosols modify the radiative budget of the Earth, and it is therefore mandatory to have an accurate representation of their optical properties for understanding their climatic role. This work therefore evaluates the skill in the representation of optical properties by different remote-sensing sensors and regional online coupled chemistry–climate models over Europe.
Abdelhadi El Yazidi, Michel Ramonet, Philippe Ciais, Gregoire Broquet, Isabelle Pison, Amara Abbaris, Dominik Brunner, Sebastien Conil, Marc Delmotte, Francois Gheusi, Frederic Guerin, Lynn Hazan, Nesrine Kachroudi, Giorgos Kouvarakis, Nikolaos Mihalopoulos, Leonard Rivier, and Dominique Serça
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 1599–1614, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1599-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1599-2018, 2018
Ye Yuan, Ludwig Ries, Hannes Petermeier, Martin Steinbacher, Angel J. Gómez-Peláez, Markus C. Leuenberger, Marcus Schumacher, Thomas Trickl, Cedric Couret, Frank Meinhardt, and Annette Menzel
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 1501–1514, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1501-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1501-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents a novel statistical method, ADVS, for baseline selection of representative CO2 data at elevated mountain measurement stations. It provides insights on how data processing techniques are critical for measurements and data analyses. Compared with other statistical methods, our method appears to be a good option as a generalized approach with improved comparability, which is important for research on measurement site characteristics and comparisons between stations.
Malin M. Ziehmer, Kurt Nicolussi, Christian Schlüchter, and Markus Leuenberger
Biogeosciences, 15, 1047–1064, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-1047-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-1047-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Cellulose content (CC (%)) series from two high-Alpine species, Larix decidua Mill. (European larch, LADE) and Pinus cembra L. (Swiss stone pine, PICE) are investigated in modern wood samples and Holocene wood remains from the Early and mid-Holocene. Trends in modern and Holocene time series as well as climate–cellulose relationships for modern trees in the Alps show high potential for CC (%) to be established as novel supplementary proxy in dendroclimatology.
Yu Liu, Nicolas Gruber, and Dominik Brunner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 14145–14169, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-14145-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-14145-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
We analyze fossil fuel signals in atmospheric CO2 over Europe using a high-resolution atmospheric transport model and diurnal emission data. We find that fossil fuel CO2 accounts for more than half of the atmospheric CO2 variations, mainly at diurnal timescales. The covariance of diurnal emission and transport also leads to a substantial rectification effect. Thus, the consideration of diurnal emissions and high-resolution transport is paramount for accurately modeling the fossil fuel signal.
Antoine Berchet, Katrin Zink, Dietmar Oettl, Jürg Brunner, Lukas Emmenegger, and Dominik Brunner
Geosci. Model Dev., 10, 3441–3459, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-3441-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-3441-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
We evaluate a new cost-effective method to simulate pollutant dispersion at high resolution on a city-wide domain. The method is based on a catalogue of reference simulations matched to weather observations to produce a sequence of hourly pollution maps. A total of 2 years of simulations are compared with continuous measurements and passive NO2 samplers in the city of Zurich. Spatial and temporal variability proved to be very well reproduced by the method.
Tesfaye A. Berhanu, Sönke Szidat, Dominik Brunner, Ece Satar, Rüdiger Schanda, Peter Nyfeler, Michael Battaglia, Martin Steinbacher, Samuel Hammer, and Markus Leuenberger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 10753–10766, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10753-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10753-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Fossil fuel CO2 is the major contributor of anthropogenic CO2 in the atmosphere, and accurate quantification is essential to better understand the carbon cycle. Such accurate quantification can be conducted based on radiocarbon measurements. In this study, we present radiocarbon measurements from a tall tower site in Switzerland. From these measurements, we have observed seasonally varying fossil fuel CO2 contributions and a biospheric CO2 component that varies diurnally and seasonally.
Dominik Brunner, Tim Arnold, Stephan Henne, Alistair Manning, Rona L. Thompson, Michela Maione, Simon O'Doherty, and Stefan Reimann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 10651–10674, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10651-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10651-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and SF6 are industrially produced gases with a large greenhouse-gas warming potential. In this study, we estimated the emissions of HFCs and SF6 over Europe by combining measurements at three background stations with four different model systems. We identified significant differences between our estimates and nationally reported numbers, but also found that the network of only three sites in Europe is insufficient to reliably attribute emissions to individual countries.
Eleni Athanasopoulou, Orestis Speyer, Dominik Brunner, Heike Vogel, Bernhard Vogel, Nikolaos Mihalopoulos, and Evangelos Gerasopoulos
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 10597–10618, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10597-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10597-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
This work focuses on the impact of residential wood burning on aerosol levels, composition and radiation under the ongoing economic crisis in Greece. The atmospheric model COSMO-ART performed a series of runs during the winter of 2013–2014. Emission inputs were revised according to the detailed aerosol characterization by local measurements. Aerosol levels were found to be elevated and mostly composed of organics, yet the timing of the plume justifies the minor radiative cooling and feedbacks.
Yann Poltera, Giovanni Martucci, Martine Collaud Coen, Maxime Hervo, Lukas Emmenegger, Stephan Henne, Dominik Brunner, and Alexander Haefele
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 10051–10070, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10051-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10051-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
We present the PathfinderTURB algorithm for the analysis of ceilometer backscatter data and the real-time detection of the vertical structure of the planetary boundary layer. PathfinderTURB has been applied to 1 year of data measured by two ceilometers operated at two Swiss stations: the Aerological Observatory of Payerne on the Swiss plateau, and the Alpine Jungfraujoch observatory. The study shows that aerosols from the boundary layer significantly influence the air measured at Jungfraujoch.
Rocío Baró, Laura Palacios-Peña, Alexander Baklanov, Alessandra Balzarini, Dominik Brunner, Renate Forkel, Marcus Hirtl, Luka Honzak, Juan Luis Pérez, Guido Pirovano, Roberto San José, Wolfram Schröder, Johannes Werhahn, Ralf Wolke, Rahela Žabkar, and Pedro Jiménez-Guerrero
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 9677–9696, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9677-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9677-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
The influence on modeled max., mean and min. temperature over Europe of including aerosol–radiation–cloud interactions has been assessed for two case studies in 2010. Data were taken from an ensemble of online regional chemistry–climate models from EuMetChem COST Action. The results indicate that including these interactions clearly improves the spatiotemporal variability in the temperature signal simulated by the models, with implications for reducing the uncertainty in climate projections.
Kathrin M. Keller, Sebastian Lienert, Anil Bozbiyik, Thomas F. Stocker, Olga V. Churakova (Sidorova), David C. Frank, Stefan Klesse, Charles D. Koven, Markus Leuenberger, William J. Riley, Matthias Saurer, Rolf Siegwolf, Rosemarie B. Weigt, and Fortunat Joos
Biogeosciences, 14, 2641–2673, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-2641-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-2641-2017, 2017
Laura Palacios-Peña, Rocío Baró, Juan Luis Guerrero-Rascado, Lucas Alados-Arboledas, Dominik Brunner, and Pedro Jiménez-Guerrero
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 277–296, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-277-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-277-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
The effects of atmospheric aerosols over the Earth’s climate mainly depend on their optical, microphysical and chemical properties, which modify the Earth's radiative budget, the main source of uncertainty in climate change. In this work we have studied the representation of aerosol optical properties using an online coupled model (WRF-Chem) when aerosol–radiation interactions (ARIs) and aerosol–clouds interactions (ACIs) are taken into account over the Iberian Peninsula.
Ioannis Kioutsioukis, Ulas Im, Efisio Solazzo, Roberto Bianconi, Alba Badia, Alessandra Balzarini, Rocío Baró, Roberto Bellasio, Dominik Brunner, Charles Chemel, Gabriele Curci, Hugo Denier van der Gon, Johannes Flemming, Renate Forkel, Lea Giordano, Pedro Jiménez-Guerrero, Marcus Hirtl, Oriol Jorba, Astrid Manders-Groot, Lucy Neal, Juan L. Pérez, Guidio Pirovano, Roberto San Jose, Nicholas Savage, Wolfram Schroder, Ranjeet S. Sokhi, Dimiter Syrakov, Paolo Tuccella, Johannes Werhahn, Ralf Wolke, Christian Hogrefe, and Stefano Galmarini
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 15629–15652, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-15629-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-15629-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Four ensemble methods are applied to two annual AQMEII datasets and their performance is compared for O3, NO2 and PM10. The goal of the study is to quantify to what extent we can extract predictable signals from an ensemble with superior skill at each station over the single models and the ensemble mean. The promotion of the right amount of accuracy and diversity within the ensemble results in an average additional skill of up to 31 % compared to using the full ensemble in an unconditional way.
Thomas Röckmann, Simon Eyer, Carina van der Veen, Maria E. Popa, Béla Tuzson, Guillaume Monteil, Sander Houweling, Eliza Harris, Dominik Brunner, Hubertus Fischer, Giulia Zazzeri, David Lowry, Euan G. Nisbet, Willi A. Brand, Jaroslav M. Necki, Lukas Emmenegger, and Joachim Mohn
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 10469–10487, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-10469-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-10469-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
A dual isotope ratio mass spectrometric system (IRMS) and a quantum cascade laser absorption spectroscopy (QCLAS)-based technique were deployed at the Cabauw experimental site for atmospheric research (CESAR) in the Netherlands and performed in situ, high-frequency (approx. hourly) measurements for a period of more than 5 months, yielding a combined dataset with more than 2500 measurements of both δ13C and δD.
Michael F. Schibig, Emmanuel Mahieu, Stephan Henne, Bernard Lejeune, and Markus C. Leuenberger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 9935–9949, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9935-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9935-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Two CO2 time series measured at the High Alpine Research Station Jungfraujoch, Switzerland (3580 m a.s.l.), in the period from 2005 to 2013 were compared. One data set was measured in situ whereas the other data set was measured in the column above Jungfraujoch. The trends of the column integrated and the in situ data set are in good agreement, the amplitude of the in situ data set is ca. two times the amplitude of the column integrated data set, because it is closer to the sources and sinks.
Ece Satar, Tesfaye A. Berhanu, Dominik Brunner, Stephan Henne, and Markus Leuenberger
Biogeosciences, 13, 2623–2635, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-2623-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-2623-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Beromünster tall tower is the flagship of the densely placed Swiss greenhouse gas observation network (CarboCount CH). In this research article we report the first 2 years of the continuous greenhouse gas measurements using cavity ring down spectroscopy analyzer from this tall tower. We have adopted a purely observation based, multi-species and multi-level approach to characterize the site with respect to sources and sinks of natural and anthropogenic origin at diurnal to annual timescales.
Lucie Bazin, Amaelle Landais, Emilie Capron, Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Catherine Ritz, Ghislain Picard, Jean Jouzel, Marie Dumont, Markus Leuenberger, and Frédéric Prié
Clim. Past, 12, 729–748, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-729-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-729-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
We present new measurements of δO2⁄N2 and δ18Oatm performed on well-conserved ice from EDC covering MIS5 and between 380 and 800 ka. The combination of the observation of a 100 ka periodicity in the new δO2⁄N2 record with a MIS5 multi-site multi-proxy study has revealed a potential influence of local climatic parameters on δO2⁄N2. Moreover, we propose that the varying delay between d18Oatm and precession for the last 800 ka is affected by the occurrence of ice sheet discharge events.
Stephan Henne, Dominik Brunner, Brian Oney, Markus Leuenberger, Werner Eugster, Ines Bamberger, Frank Meinhardt, Martin Steinbacher, and Lukas Emmenegger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 3683–3710, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3683-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3683-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Greenhouse gas emissions can be assessed by "top-down" methods that combine atmospheric observations, a transport model and a mathematical optimisation framework. Here, we apply such a top-down method to the methane emissions of Switzerland, utilising observations from the recently installed CarboCount-CH network. Our Swiss total emissions largely agree with those of the national "bottom-up" inventory, whereas regional differences suggest lower than reported emissions from manure handling.
M. C. Leuenberger, M. F. Schibig, and P. Nyfeler
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 5289–5299, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-5289-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-5289-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Adsorption/desorption effects of trace gases in gas cylinders were investigated. Our measurements indicate a rather strong effect on steel cylinders for CO2 that becomes easily visible through enhanced concentrations for low (<20 bars) gas pressure. Much smaller effects are observed for CO and CH4. Significantly smaller effects are measured for all gas species investigated on aluminium cylinders. Careful selection of gas cylinders for high-precision calibration purposes is recommended.
T. Kobashi, T. Ikeda-Fukazawa, M. Suwa, J. Schwander, T. Kameda, J. Lundin, A. Hori, H. Motoyama, M. Döring, and M. Leuenberger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 13895–13914, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-13895-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-13895-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We find that argon/nitrogen ratios of trapped air in the GISP2 ice core on “gas ages” are significantly negatively correlated with accumulation rate changes over the past 6000 years. Lines of evidence indicate that changes in overloading pressure at bubble closeoff depths induced the gas fractionation in closed bubbles. Further understanding of the fractionation processes may lead to a new proxy for the past temperature and accumulation rate.
T. A. Berhanu, J. Savarino, J. Erbland, W. C. Vicars, S. Preunkert, J. F. Martins, and M. S. Johnson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 11243–11256, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-11243-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-11243-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
In this field study at Dome C, Antarctica, we investigated the effect of solar UV photolysis on the stable isotopes of nitrate in snow via comparison of two identical snow pits while exposing only one to solar UV. From the difference between the average isotopic fractionations calculated for each pit, we determined a purely photolytic nitrogen isotopic fractionation of -55.8‰, in good agreement with what has been recently determined in a laboratory study.
B. Oney, S. Henne, N. Gruber, M. Leuenberger, I. Bamberger, W. Eugster, and D. Brunner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 11147–11164, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-11147-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-11147-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We present a detailed analysis of a new greenhouse gas measurement network
in the Swiss Plateau, situated between the Jura mountains and the Alps. We
find the network's measurements to be information rich and suitable
for studying surface carbon fluxes of the study region. However, we are
limited by the high-resolution (2km) atmospheric transport model's ability
to simulate meteorology at the individual measurement stations, especially
at those situated in rough terrain.
M. S. Studer, R. T. W. Siegwolf, M. Leuenberger, and S. Abiven
Biogeosciences, 12, 1865–1879, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-1865-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-1865-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We present a new technique to label organic matter (OM) at its place of formation by the application of 13C, 18O and 2H through the gaseous phase. The label diffused into leaves was incorporated into assimilates and was detected in plant tissues. This technique can be applied in soil sciences, e.g. to trace the decomposition pathways of soil OM inputs, or in plant physiology and palaeoclimatic reconstruction, e.g. to further investigate the origin of the 18O and 2H signal in tree ring cellulose.
M. F. Schibig, M. Steinbacher, B. Buchmann, I. T. van der Laan-Luijkx, S. van der Laan, S. Ranjan, and M. C. Leuenberger
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 57–68, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-57-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-57-2015, 2015
M. C. Leuenberger, M. F. Schibig, and P. Nyfeler
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acpd-14-19293-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acpd-14-19293-2014, 2014
Revised manuscript not accepted
S. Affolter, D. Fleitmann, and M. Leuenberger
Clim. Past, 10, 1291–1304, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1291-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1291-2014, 2014
I. Mariani, A. Eichler, T. M. Jenk, S. Brönnimann, R. Auchmann, M. C. Leuenberger, and M. Schwikowski
Clim. Past, 10, 1093–1108, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1093-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1093-2014, 2014
P. Kindler, M. Guillevic, M. Baumgartner, J. Schwander, A. Landais, and M. Leuenberger
Clim. Past, 10, 887–902, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-887-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-887-2014, 2014
M. Baumgartner, P. Kindler, O. Eicher, G. Floch, A. Schilt, J. Schwander, R. Spahni, E. Capron, J. Chappellaz, M. Leuenberger, H. Fischer, and T. F. Stocker
Clim. Past, 10, 903–920, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-903-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-903-2014, 2014
R. V. Hiller, D. Bretscher, T. DelSontro, T. Diem, W. Eugster, R. Henneberger, S. Hobi, E. Hodson, D. Imer, M. Kreuzer, T. Künzle, L. Merbold, P. A. Niklaus, B. Rihm, A. Schellenberger, M. H. Schroth, C. J. Schubert, H. Siegrist, J. Stieger, N. Buchmann, and D. Brunner
Biogeosciences, 11, 1941–1959, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-1941-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-1941-2014, 2014
Z. Kern, B. Kohán, and M. Leuenberger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 1897–1907, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1897-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1897-2014, 2014
A. Baklanov, K. Schlünzen, P. Suppan, J. Baldasano, D. Brunner, S. Aksoyoglu, G. Carmichael, J. Douros, J. Flemming, R. Forkel, S. Galmarini, M. Gauss, G. Grell, M. Hirtl, S. Joffre, O. Jorba, E. Kaas, M. Kaasik, G. Kallos, X. Kong, U. Korsholm, A. Kurganskiy, J. Kushta, U. Lohmann, A. Mahura, A. Manders-Groot, A. Maurizi, N. Moussiopoulos, S. T. Rao, N. Savage, C. Seigneur, R. S. Sokhi, E. Solazzo, S. Solomos, B. Sørensen, G. Tsegas, E. Vignati, B. Vogel, and Y. Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 317–398, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-317-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-317-2014, 2014
L. Bazin, A. Landais, B. Lemieux-Dudon, H. Toyé Mahamadou Kele, D. Veres, F. Parrenin, P. Martinerie, C. Ritz, E. Capron, V. Lipenkov, M.-F. Loutre, D. Raynaud, B. Vinther, A. Svensson, S. O. Rasmussen, M. Severi, T. Blunier, M. Leuenberger, H. Fischer, V. Masson-Delmotte, J. Chappellaz, and E. Wolff
Clim. Past, 9, 1715–1731, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-1715-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-1715-2013, 2013
I. T. van der Laan-Luijkx, S. van der Laan, C. Uglietti, M. F. Schibig, R. E. M. Neubert, H. A. J. Meijer, W. A. Brand, A. Jordan, J. M. Richter, M. Rothe, and M. C. Leuenberger
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 1805–1815, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-1805-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-1805-2013, 2013
M. Guillevic, L. Bazin, A. Landais, P. Kindler, A. Orsi, V. Masson-Delmotte, T. Blunier, S. L. Buchardt, E. Capron, M. Leuenberger, P. Martinerie, F. Prié, and B. M. Vinther
Clim. Past, 9, 1029–1051, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-1029-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-1029-2013, 2013
E. Capron, A. Landais, D. Buiron, A. Cauquoin, J. Chappellaz, M. Debret, J. Jouzel, M. Leuenberger, P. Martinerie, V. Masson-Delmotte, R. Mulvaney, F. Parrenin, and F. Prié
Clim. Past, 9, 983–999, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-983-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-983-2013, 2013
C. Knote and D. Brunner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 1177–1192, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-1177-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-1177-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Subject: Gases | Technique: In Situ Measurement | Topic: Instruments and Platforms
Observation of greenhouse gas vertical profiles in the boundary layer of the Mount Qomolangma region using a multirotor UAV
Development of a portable laser-flash photolysis Faraday rotation spectrometer for measuring atmospheric total OH reactivity
Surface distributions and vertical profiles of trace gases (CO, O3, NO, NO2) in the Arctic wintertime boundary layer using low-cost sensors during ALPACA-2022
Advances in an OH reactivity instrument for airborne field measurements
The ASK-16 motorized glider: an airborne eddy covariance platform to measure turbulence, energy, and matter fluxes
Development of a Peltier-based chilled-mirror hygrometer, SKYDEW, for tropospheric and lower-stratospheric water vapor measurements
Deployment and evaluation of an NH4+∕ H3O+ reagent ion switching chemical ionization mass spectrometer for the detection of reduced and oxygenated gas-phase organic compounds
An economical tunable diode laser spectrometer for fast-response measurements of water vapor in the atmospheric boundary layer
Eddy covariance with slow-response greenhouse gas analysers on tall towers: bridging atmospheric and ecosystem greenhouse gas networks
An overview of outdoor low-cost gas-phase air quality sensor deployments: current efforts, trends, and limitations
Multiphysical description of atmospheric pressure interface chemical ionisation in MION2 and Eisele type inlets
Development of a Forced Advection Sampling Technique (FAST) for Quantification of Methane Emissions from Orphaned Wells
A portable nitrogen dioxide instrument using cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy
Development and deployment of a mid-cost CO2 sensor monitoring network to support atmospheric inverse modeling for quantifying urban CO2 emissions in Paris
UAV-based in situ measurements of CO2 and CH4 fluxes over complex natural ecosystems
A new aerial approach for quantifying and attributing methane emissions: implementation and validation
Drone CO2 measurements during the Tajogaite volcanic eruption
Impact and Optimization of Calibration Conditions for Air Quality Sensors in the Long-term Field Monitoring
Multi-decadal atmospheric carbon dioxide measurements in Hungary, central Europe
Reliable water vapour isotopic composition measurements at low humidity using frequency-stabilised cavity ring-down spectroscopy
On Path Length, Beam Divergence, and Retroreflector Array Size in Open-Path FTIR Spectroscopy
A measurement system for CO2 and CH4 emissions quantification of industrial sites using a new in situ concentration sensor operated on board uncrewed aircraft vehicles
Using metal oxide gas sensors to estimate the emission rates and locations of methane leaks in an industrial site: assessment with controlled methane releases
Toward on-demand measurements of greenhouse gas emissions using an uncrewed aircraft AirCore system
An easy-to-use water vapor sampling approach for stable isotope analysis using affordable membrane valve multi-foil bags
A modular approach to volatile organic compound samplers for tethered balloon and drone platforms
Long-term evaluation of commercial air quality sensors: an overview from the QUANT (Quantification of Utility of Atmospheric Network Technologies) study
In-flight characterization of a compact airborne quantum cascade laser absorption spectrometer
Full characterization and calibration of a transfer standard monitor for atmospheric radon measurements
Observing low-altitude features in ozone concentrations in a shoreline environment via uncrewed aerial systems
An integrated uncrewed aerial vehicle platform with sensing and sampling systems for the measurement of air pollutant concentrations
Design and evaluation of a low-cost sensor node for near-background methane measurement
Development of a Multichannel Organics In situ enviRonmental Analyzer (MOIRA) for mobile measurements of volatile organic compounds
Evaluation of Aeris mid-infrared absorption (MIRA), Picarro CRDS (cavity ring-down spectroscopy) G2307, and dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH)-based sampling for long-term formaldehyde monitoring efforts
Performance characterization of a laminar gas inlet
Validation and field application of a low-cost device to measure CO2 and evapotranspiration (ET) fluxes
Identifying and correcting interferences to PTR-ToF-MS measurements of isoprene and other urban volatile organic compounds
Development of a continuous UAV-mounted air sampler and application to the quantification of CO2 and CH4 emissions from a major coking plant
Uptake behavior of polycyclic aromatic compounds during field calibrations of the XAD-based passive air sampler across seasons and locations
Effect of land–sea air mass transport on spatiotemporal distributions of atmospheric CO2 and CH4 mixing ratios over the southern Yellow Sea
HYPHOP: a tool for high-altitude, long-range monitoring of hydrogen peroxide and higher organic peroxides in the atmosphere
Portable, low-cost samplers for distributed sampling of atmospheric gases
SI-traceable validation of a laser spectrometer for balloon-borne measurements of water vapor in the upper atmosphere
Field evaluation of low-cost electrochemical air quality gas sensors under extreme temperature and relative humidity conditions
A novel, cost-effective analytical method for measuring high-resolution vertical profiles of stratospheric trace gases using a gas chromatograph coupled with an electron capture detector
Ethylene oxide monitor with part-per-trillion precision for in situ measurements
Development of an automated pump-efficiency measuring system for ozonesondes utilizing an airbag-type flowmeter
Short-term variability of atmospheric helium revealed through a cryo-enrichment method
Using tunable infrared laser direct absorption spectroscopy for ambient hydrogen chloride detection: HCl-TILDAS
New methods for the calibration of optical resonators: integrated calibration by means of optical modulation (ICOM) and narrow-band cavity ring-down (NB-CRD)
Ying Zhou, Congcong Qiao, Minqiang Zhou, Yilong Wang, Xiangjun Tian, Yinghong Wang, and Minzheng Duan
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 1609–1619, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1609-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1609-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We developed an automated, flexible atmospheric sampling device for various platforms. During a 5 d field campaign in the Mount Qomolangma region, we performed 15 flights using the device mounted on a hexacopter unoccupied aerial vehicle (UAV). A total of 139 samples were analyzed using an Agilent 7890A gas chromatograph. Vertical profiles of four greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)) were analyzed and discussed.
Bo Fang, Nana Wei, Weixiong Zhao, Nana Yang, Hao Zhou, Heng Zhang, Jiarong Li, Weijun Zhang, Yanyu Lu, Zhu Zhu, and Yue Liu
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 1243–1256, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1243-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1243-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
A portable laser-flash photolysis Faraday rotation spectrometer for measuring atmospheric total hydroxyl (OH) reactivity was developed, with optical box dimensions of 130 cm × 40 cm × 35 cm. It features a pump–probe multi-pass cell with a high overlapping factor of 75.4 %. The instrument’s precision and uncertainty are 1.0 s-1 (1σ, 300 s) and within 2 s-1, respectively. This portable, cost-effective instrument expands current measurement capabilities and is convenient for field applications.
Brice Barret, Patrice Medina, Natalie Brett, Roman Pohorsky, Kathy S. Law, Slimane Bekki, Gilberto J. Fochesatto, Julia Schmale, Steve R. Arnold, Andrea Baccarini, Maurizio Busetto, Meeta Cesler-Maloney, Barbara D'Anna, Stefano Decesari, Jingqiu Mao, Gianluca Pappaccogli, Joel Savarino, Federico Scoto, and William R. Simpson
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 1163–1184, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1163-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1163-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The Fairbanks area experiences severe pollution episodes in winter because of enhanced emissions of pollutants trapped near the surface by strong temperature inversions. Low-cost sensors were deployed on board a car and a tethered balloon to measure the concentrations of gaseous pollutants (CO, O3, and NOx) in Fairbanks during winter 2022. Data calibration with reference measurements and machine learning methods enabled us to document pollution at the surface and power plant plumes aloft.
Hendrik Fuchs, Aaron Stainsby, Florian Berg, René Dubus, Michelle Färber, Andreas Hofzumahaus, Frank Holland, Kelvin H. Bates, Steven S. Brown, Matthew M. Coggon, Glenn S. Diskin, Georgios I. Gkatzelis, Christopher M. Jernigan, Jeff Peischl, Michael A. Robinson, Andrew W. Rollins, Nell B. Schafer, Rebecca H. Schwantes, Chelsea E. Stockwell, Patrick R. Veres, Carsten Warneke, Eleanor M. Waxman, Lu Xu, Kristen Zuraski, Andreas Wahner, and Anna Novelli
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 881–895, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-881-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-881-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Significant improvements have been made to the instruments used to measure OH reactivity, which is equivalent to the sum of air pollutant concentrations. Accurate and precise measurements with a high time resolution have been achieved, allowing use on aircraft, as demonstrated during flights in the USA.
Inge Wiekenkamp, Anna Katharina Lehmann, Alexander Bütow, Jörg Hartmann, Stefan Metzger, Thomas Ruhtz, Christian Wille, Mathias Zöllner, and Torsten Sachs
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 749–772, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-749-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-749-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Airborne eddy covariance platforms are crucial to measure three-dimensional wind and turbulent matter and energy transport between the surface and the atmosphere at larger scales. In this study, we introduce a new airborne eddy covariance platform (Schleicher ASK-16) and demonstrate that this platform is able to accurately measure turbulent fluxes and wind vectors. Data from this platform can help to build bridges between local tower measurements and remote-sensing-based products.
Takuji Sugidachi, Masatomo Fujiwara, Kensaku Shimizu, Shin-Ya Ogino, Junko Suzuki, and Ruud J. Dirksen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 509–531, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-509-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-509-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
A Peltier-based chilled-mirror hygrometer, SKYDEW, has been developed to measure tropospheric and stratospheric water vapor. Continuous accurate measurements of water vapor are essential for climate monitoring. More than 40 soundings with SKYDEW have been conducted since 2011 to evaluate the performance. The result of soundings at tropical and midlatitudes demonstrated that SKYDEW is able to measure up to an altitude of 20–25 km for daytime soundings and above 25 km for nighttime soundings.
Cort L. Zang and Megan D. Willis
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 17–35, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-17-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-17-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Atmospheric chemistry of the diverse pool of reactive organic carbon (ROC; all organic species excluding methane) controls air quality, both indoors and outdoors, and influences Earth's climate. However, many important ROC compounds in the atmosphere are difficult to measure. We demonstrate measurement of diverse ROC compounds in a single instrument at a forested site. This approach can improve our ability to measure a broad range of atmospheric ROC.
Emily D. Wein, Lars E. Kalnajs, and Darin W. Toohey
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 7097–7107, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-7097-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-7097-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We describe a low-cost and small research-grade spectrometer for measurements of water vapor in the boundary layer. The instrument uses small Arduino microcontrollers and inexpensive laser diodes to reduce cost while maintaining high performance comparable to more expensive instruments. Performance was assessed with intercomparisons between commercially available instruments outdoors. The design's simplicity, performance, and price point allow it to be accessible to a variety of users.
Pedro Henrique Herig Coimbra, Benjamin Loubet, Olivier Laurent, Laura Bignotti, Mathis Lozano, and Michel Ramonet
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6625–6645, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6625-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6625-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents direct flux measurements in tall towers using existing slow-response analysers and adding 3D sonic anemometers. This way, we can significantly improve greenhouse gas monitoring with little extra instrumental effort. Slow-response analysers may be used here as the relevant frequency ranges depend on measuring height. Tall towers offer a large footprint, amplifying spatial coverage. The presented concept is a valuable bridge between atmospheric and ecosystem communities.
Kristen Okorn and Laura T. Iraci
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6425–6457, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6425-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6425-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We reviewed 60 sensor networks and 17 related efforts (sensor review papers and data accessibility projects) to better understand the landscape of stationary low-cost gas-phase sensor networks deployed in outdoor environments worldwide. Gaps in monitoring efforts include the availability of gas-phase measurements compared to particulate matter (PM) and geographic coverage gaps (the Global South, rural areas). We conclude with a summary of cross-network unification and quality control efforts.
Henning Finkenzeller, Jyri Mikkilä, Cecilia Righi, Paxton Juuti, Mikko Sipilä, Matti Rissanen, Douglas Worsnop, Aleksei Shcherbinin, Nina Sarnela, and Juha Kangasluoma
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5989–6001, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5989-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5989-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Chemical ionisation mass spectrometry is used in the atmospheric sciences to measure trace gas concentrations. Neutral gases require charging in inlets before the mass-to-charge ratio of the resulting ions can be analysed. This study uses multiphysics modelling to investigate how the MION2 and Eisele type inlets work and shows the effect of tuning parameters and their current limitations. The findings are helpful for inlet users and are expected to aid in developing improved inlets.
Mohit L. Dubey, Andre Santos, Andrew B. Moyes, Ken Reichl, James E. Lee, Manvendra K. Dubey, Corentin LeYhuelic, Evan Variano, Emily Follansbee, Fotini K. Chow, and Sébastien C. Biraud
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3040, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3040, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Orphaned wells, meaning wells lacking responsible owners, pose a significant and poorly understood environmental challenge. We propose, develop, and test a novel method for estimating emissions from orphaned wells using a Forced Advection Sampling Technique (FAST) that can overcome many of the limitations in current methods (cost, accuracy, safety). Our results suggest that the FAST method can provide a low-cost alternative to existing methods over a range of leak rates.
Steven A. Bailey, Reem A. Hannun, Andrew K. Swanson, and Thomas F. Hanisco
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5903–5910, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5903-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5903-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We have developed a portable, optically based instrument that measures NO2. It consumes less than 6 W of power, so it can easily run off a small battery. This instrument has made both balloon and UAV flights. NO2 measurement results compare favorably with other known NO2 instruments. We find this instrument to be stable with repeatable results compared with calibration sources. Material cost to build a single instrument is around USD 4000. This could be lowered with economies of scale.
Jinghui Lian, Olivier Laurent, Mali Chariot, Luc Lienhardt, Michel Ramonet, Hervé Utard, Thomas Lauvaux, François-Marie Bréon, Grégoire Broquet, Karina Cucchi, Laurent Millair, and Philippe Ciais
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5821–5839, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5821-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5821-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We have designed and deployed a mid-cost medium-precision CO2 sensor monitoring network in Paris since July 2020. The data are automatically calibrated by a newly implemented data processing system. The accuracies of the mid-cost instruments vary from 1.0 to 2.4 ppm for hourly afternoon measurements. Our model–data analyses highlight prospects for integrating mid-cost instrument data with high-precision measurements to improve fine-scale CO2 emission quantification in urban areas.
Abdullah Bolek, Martin Heimann, and Mathias Göckede
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5619–5636, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5619-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5619-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study describes the development of a new UAV platform to measure atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) mole fractions, 2D wind speed, air temperature, humidity, and pressure. Understanding GHG flux processes and controls across various ecosystems is essential for estimating the current and future state of climate change. It was shown that using the UAV platform for such measurements is beneficial for improving our understanding of GHG processes over complex landscapes.
Jonathan F. Dooley, Kenneth Minschwaner, Manvendra K. Dubey, Sahar H. El Abbadi, Evan D. Sherwin, Aaron G. Meyer, Emily Follansbee, and James E. Lee
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5091–5111, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5091-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5091-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas originating from both natural and human activities. We describe a new uncrewed aerial system (UAS) designed to measure methane emission rates over a wide range of scales. This system has been used for direct quantification of point sources and distributed emitters over scales of up to 1 km. The system uses simultaneous measurements of methane and ethane to distinguish between different kinds of natural and human-related emission sources.
John Ericksen, Tobias P. Fischer, G. Matthew Fricke, Scott Nowicki, Nemesio M. Pérez, Pedro Hernández Pérez, Eleazar Padrón González, and Melanie E. Moses
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4725–4736, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4725-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4725-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Volcanic eruptions emit significant quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere. We present a new method for directly determining the CO2 emission from a volcanic eruption on the island of La Palma, Spain, using an unpiloted aerial vehicle (UAV). We also collected samples of the emitted CO2 and analyzed their isotopic composition. Together with the emission rate the isotopic data provide valuable information on the state of volcanic activity and the potential evolution of the eruption.
Han Mei, Peng Wei, Meisam Ahmadi Ghadikolaei, Nirmal Kumar Gali, Ya Wang, and Zhi Ning
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-130, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-130, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for AMT
Short summary
Short summary
Long-term field testing across diverse climatic environments is conducted to identify the optimized calibration conditions for NO2, NO, CO, and O3 electrochemical sensors. The results uncovered three factors that influence calibration performance: calibration period, concentration range, and time averaging. We developed a comprehensive framework for the best sensor calibration practices, which serves as a valuable reference for calibrating various sensor types used in air quality monitoring.
László Haszpra
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4629–4647, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4629-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4629-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The paper evaluates a 30-year-long atmospheric CO2 data series from a mid-continental central European site, Hegyhátsál (HUN). It presents the site-specific features observed in the long-term evolution of the atmospheric CO2 concentration. Since the measurement data are widely used in atmospheric inverse models and budget calculations all around the world, the paper provides potentially valuable information for model tuning and interpretation of the model results.
Mathieu Casado, Amaelle Landais, Tim Stoltmann, Justin Chaillot, Mathieu Daëron, Fréderic Prié, Baptiste Bordet, and Samir Kassi
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4599–4612, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4599-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4599-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Measuring water isotopic composition in Antarctica is difficult because of the extremely cold temperature in winter. Here, we designed a new infrared spectrometer able to measure the vapour isotopic composition during more than 95 % of the year in the coldest locations of Antarctica, whereas current commercial instruments are only able to measure during the warm summer months in the interior.
Cameron E. N. Power and Aldona Wiacek
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-97, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-97, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for AMT
Short summary
Short summary
The choice of path length and retroreflector array size in open-path FTIR spectroscopy must be made with care. Longer paths increase target gas absorption (lowering detection limits) and larger retroreflector arrays improve the SNR of spectra by increasing the return signal (improving retrieved concentration precision), but there are limitations to both. An optimum array size and path combination exists in each specific observational environment and application, as explored in this work.
Jean-Louis Bonne, Ludovic Donnat, Grégory Albora, Jérémie Burgalat, Nicolas Chauvin, Delphine Combaz, Julien Cousin, Thomas Decarpenterie, Olivier Duclaux, Nicolas Dumelié, Nicolas Galas, Catherine Juery, Florian Parent, Florent Pineau, Abel Maunoury, Olivier Ventre, Marie-France Bénassy, and Lilian Joly
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4471–4491, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4471-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4471-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We present a top-down approach to quantify CO2 and CH4 emissions at the scale of an industrial site, based on a mass balance model relying on atmospheric concentrations measurements from a new sensor embarked on board uncrewed aircraft vehicles (UAVs). We present a laboratory characterization of our sensor and a field validation of our quantification method, together with field application to the monitoring of two real-world offshore oil and gas platforms.
Rodrigo Rivera-Martinez, Pramod Kumar, Olivier Laurent, Gregoire Broquet, Christopher Caldow, Ford Cropley, Diego Santaren, Adil Shah, Cécile Mallet, Michel Ramonet, Leonard Rivier, Catherine Juery, Olivier Duclaux, Caroline Bouchet, Elisa Allegrini, Hervé Utard, and Philippe Ciais
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4257–4290, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4257-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4257-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We explore the use of metal oxide semiconductors (MOSs) as a low-cost alternative for detecting and measuring CH4 emissions from industrial facilities. MOSs were exposed to several controlled releases to test their accuracy in detecting and quantifying emissions. Two reconstruction models were compared, and emission estimates were computed using a Gaussian dispersion model. Findings show that MOSs can provide accurate emission estimates with a 25 % emission rate error and a 9.5 m location error.
Zihan Zhu, Javier González-Rocha, Yifan Ding, Isis Frausto-Vicencio, Sajjan Heerah, Akula Venkatram, Manvendra Dubey, Don Collins, and Francesca M. Hopkins
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3883–3895, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3883-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3883-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Increases in agriculture, oil and gas, and waste management activities have contributed to the increase in atmospheric methane levels and resultant climate warming. In this paper, we explore the use of small uncrewed aircraft systems (sUASs) and AirCore technology to detect and quantify methane emissions. Results from field experiments demonstrate that sUASs and AirCore technology can be effective for detecting and quantifying methane emissions in near real time.
Adrian Dahlmann, John D. Marshall, David Dubbert, Mathias Hoffmann, and Maren Dubbert
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-43, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-43, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for AMT
Short summary
Short summary
Water-stable isotopes are commonly used in hydrological and ecological research. Until now, measurements were obtained either destructive or directly in the field. Here, we present a novel, affordable, and easy-to-use approach to measure the stable isotope signatures of soil water. Our gas bag approach demonstrates a high accuracy and extends the usability by allowing water vapor samples to be collected and stored in the field without the need for an instrument or a permanent power supply.
Meghan Guagenti, Darielle Dexheimer, Alexandra Ulinksi, Paul Walter, James H. Flynn III, and Sascha Usenko
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-96, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-96, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for AMT
Short summary
Short summary
A robust, automatic VOC collection system was developed for vertical volatile organic compounds (VOCs) sampling associated with the 2022 DOE ARM program-led TRACER in Houston, TX. This modular sampler has been developed to measure vertical profiles of VOCs to improve near-surface characterization. This article helps fill the current lack of commercially available options for aerial VOC sampling and serves to support and encourage researchers to build and develop custom samplers.
Sebastian Diez, Stuart Lacy, Hugh Coe, Josefina Urquiza, Max Priestman, Michael Flynn, Nicholas Marsden, Nicholas A. Martin, Stefan Gillott, Thomas Bannan, and Pete M. Edwards
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3809–3827, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3809-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3809-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In this paper we present an overview of the QUANT project, which to our knowledge is one of the largest evaluations of commercial sensors to date. The objective was to evaluate the performance of a range of commercial products and also to nourish the different applications in which these technologies can offer relevant information.
Linda Ort, Lenard Lukas Röder, Uwe Parchatka, Rainer Königstedt, Daniel Crowley, Frank Kunz, Ralf Wittkowski, Jos Lelieveld, and Horst Fischer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3553–3565, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3553-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3553-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Airborne in situ measurements are of great importance to collect valuable data to improve our knowledge of the atmosphere but also present challenges which demand specific designs. This study presents an IR spectrometer for airborne trace-gas measurements with high data efficiency and a simple, compact design. Its in-flight performance is characterized with the help of a test flight and a comparison with another spectrometer. Moreover, results from its first campaign highlight its benefits.
Roger Curcoll, Claudia Grossi, Stefan Röttger, and Arturo Vargas
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3047–3065, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3047-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3047-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents a new user-friendly version of the Atmospheric Radon MONitor (ARMON). The efficiency of the instrument is of 0.0057 s-1, obtained using different techniques at Spanish and German chambers. The total calculated uncertainty of the ARMON for hourly radon concentrations above 5 Bq m-3 is lower than 10 % (k = 1). Results confirm that the ARMON is suitable to measure low-level radon activity concentrations and to be used as a transfer standard to calibrate in situ radon monitors.
Josie K. Radtke, Benjamin N. Kies, Whitney A. Mottishaw, Sydney M. Zeuli, Aidan T. H. Voon, Kelly L. Koerber, Grant W. Petty, Michael P. Vermeuel, Timothy H. Bertram, Ankur R. Desai, Joseph P. Hupy, R. Bradley Pierce, Timothy J. Wagner, and Patricia A. Cleary
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2833–2847, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2833-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2833-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The use of uncrewed aircraft systems (UASs) to conduct a vertical profiling of ozone and meteorological variables was evaluated using comparisons between tower or ground observations and UAS-based measurements. Changes to the UAS profiler showed an improvement in performance. The profiler was used to see the impact of Chicago pollution plumes on a shoreline area near Lake Michigan.
Chen-Wei Liang and Chang-Hung Shen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2671–2686, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2671-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2671-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In the present study, a UAV platform with sensing and sampling systems was developed for 3D air pollutant concentration measurements. The sensing system of this platform contains multiple microsensors and IoT technologies for obtaining the real-time 3D distributions of critical air pollutants. The sampling system contains gas sampling sets and a 1 L Tedlar bag instead of a canister for the 3D measurement of VOC concentrations in accordance with the TO-15 method of the US EPA.
Daniel Furuta, Bruce Wilson, Albert A. Presto, and Jiayu Li
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2103–2121, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2103-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2103-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Methane is an important driver of climate change and is challenging to inexpensively sense in low atmospheric concentrations. We developed a low-cost sensor to monitor methane and tested it in indoor and outdoor settings. Our device shows promise for monitoring low levels of methane. We characterize its limitations and suggest future research directions for further development.
Audrey J. Dang, Nathan M. Kreisberg, Tyler L. Cargill, Jhao-Hong Chen, Sydney Hornitschek, Remy Hutheesing, Jay R. Turner, and Brent J. Williams
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2067–2087, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2067-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2067-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The Multichannel Organics In situ enviRonmental Analyzer (MOIRA) is a new instrument for measuring speciated volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air and has been developed for mapping concentrations from a hybrid car. MOIRA is characterized in the lab and pilot field studies of indoor air in a single-family residence and outdoor air during a mobile deployment. Future applications include indoor, outdoor, and lab measurements to grasp the impact of VOCs on air quality, health, and climate.
Asher P. Mouat, Zelda A. Siegel, and Jennifer Kaiser
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1979–1994, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1979-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1979-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Three fast-measurement formaldehyde monitors were deployed at two field sites in Atlanta, GA, over 1 year. Four different zeroing methods were tested to develop an optimal field setup as well as procedures for instrument calibration. Observations agreed well after calibration but were much higher compared to the TO-11A monitoring method, which is the golden standard. Historical HCHO concentrations were compared with measurements in this work, showing a 22 % reduction in midday HCHO since 1999.
Da Yang, Margarita Reza, Roy Mauldin, Rainer Volkamer, and Suresh Dhaniyala
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1463–1474, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1463-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1463-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This paper evaluates the performance of an aircraft gas inlet. Here, we use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and experiments to demonstrate the role of turbulence in determining sampling performance of a gas inlet and identify ideal conditions for inlet operation to minimize gas loss. Experiments conducted in a high-speed wind tunnel under near-aircraft speeds validated numerical results. We believe that the results obtained from this work will greatly inform future gas inlet studies.
Reena Macagga, Michael Asante, Geoffroy Sossa, Danica Antonijević, Maren Dubbert, and Mathias Hoffmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1317–1332, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1317-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1317-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Using only low-cost microcontrollers and sensors, we constructed a measurement device to accurately and precisely obtain atmospheric carbon dioxide and water fluxes. The device was tested against known concentration increases and high-cost, commercial sensors during a laboratory and field experiment. We additionally tested the device over a longer period in a field study in Ghana during which the net ecosystem carbon balance and water use efficiency of maize cultivation were studied.
Matthew M. Coggon, Chelsea E. Stockwell, Megan S. Claflin, Eva Y. Pfannerstill, Lu Xu, Jessica B. Gilman, Julia Marcantonio, Cong Cao, Kelvin Bates, Georgios I. Gkatzelis, Aaron Lamplugh, Erin F. Katz, Caleb Arata, Eric C. Apel, Rebecca S. Hornbrook, Felix Piel, Francesca Majluf, Donald R. Blake, Armin Wisthaler, Manjula Canagaratna, Brian M. Lerner, Allen H. Goldstein, John E. Mak, and Carsten Warneke
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 801–825, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-801-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-801-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Mass spectrometry is a tool commonly used to measure air pollutants. This study evaluates measurement artifacts produced in the proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometer. We provide methods to correct these biases and better measure compounds that degrade air quality.
Tianran Han, Conghui Xie, Yayong Liu, Yanrong Yang, Yuheng Zhang, Yufei Huang, Xiangyu Gao, Xiaohua Zhang, Fangmin Bao, and Shao-Meng Li
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 677–691, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-677-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-677-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study reported an integrated UAV measurement platform for GHG monitoring and its application for emission quantification from a coking plant. The key element of this system is a newly designed air sampler, consisting of a 150 m long tube with remote-controlled time stamping. When comparing the top-down results to those derived from the bottom-up inventory method, the present findings indicate that the use of IPCC emission factors for emission calculations can lead to overestimation.
Yuening Li, Faqiang Zhan, Yushan Su, Ying Duan Lei, Chubashini Shunthirasingham, Zilin Zhou, Jonathan P. D. Abbatt, Hayley Hung, and Frank Wania
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 715–729, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-715-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-715-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
A simple device for sampling gases from the atmosphere without the help of pumps was calibrated for an important group of hazardous air pollutants called polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs). While the sampler appeared to perform well when used for relatively short periods of up to several months, some PACs were lost from the sampler during longer deployments. Sampling rates that can be used to quantitatively interpret the quantities of PACs taken up in the device have been derived.
Jiaxin Li, Kunpeng Zang, Yi Lin, Yuanyuan Chen, Shuo Liu, Shanshan Qiu, Kai Jiang, Xuemei Qing, Haoyu Xiong, Haixiang Hong, Shuangxi Fang, Honghui Xu, and Yujun Jiang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4757–4768, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4757-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4757-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Based on observed data of CO2 and CH4 and meteorological parameters over the Yellow Sea in November 2012 and June 2013, a data process and quality control method was optimized and established to filter the data influenced by multiple factors. Spatial and seasonal variations in CO2 and CH4 mixing ratios were mainly controlled by the East Asian Monsoon, while the influence of air–sea exchange was slight.
Zaneta Hamryszczak, Antonia Hartmann, Dirk Dienhart, Sascha Hafermann, Bettina Brendel, Rainer Königstedt, Uwe Parchatka, Jos Lelieveld, and Horst Fischer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4741–4756, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4741-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4741-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Hydroperoxide measurements improve the understanding of atmospheric oxidation processes. We introduce an instrumental setup for airborne measurements. The aim of the work is the characterization of the measurement method with emphasis on interferences impacting instrumental uncertainty. Technical and physical challenges do not critically impact the instrumental performance. The instrument resolves dynamic processes, such as convective transport, as shown based on the CAFE-Brazil campaign.
James F. Hurley, Alejandra Caceres, Deborah F. McGlynn, Mary E. Tovillo, Suzanne Pinar, Roger Schürch, Ksenia Onufrieva, and Gabriel Isaacman-VanWertz
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4681–4692, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4681-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4681-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have a wide range of sources and impacts on environments and human health that make them spatially, temporally, and chemically varied. Current methods lack the ability to collect samples in ways that provide spatial and chemical resolution without complex, costly instrumentation. We describe and validate a low-cost, portable VOC sampler and demonstrate its utility in collecting distributed coordinated samples.
Simone Brunamonti, Manuel Graf, Tobias Bühlmann, Céline Pascale, Ivan Ilak, Lukas Emmenegger, and Béla Tuzson
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4391–4407, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4391-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4391-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The abundance of water vapor (H2O) in the upper atmosphere has a significant impact on the rate of global warming. We developed a new lightweight spectrometer (ALBATROSS) for H2O measurements aboard meteorological balloons. Here, we assess the accuracy and precision of ALBATROSS using metrology-grade reference gases. The results demonstrate the exceptional potential of mid-infrared laser absorption spectroscopy as a new reference method for in situ measurements of H2O in the upper atmosphere.
Roubina Papaconstantinou, Marios Demosthenous, Spyros Bezantakos, Neoclis Hadjigeorgiou, Marinos Costi, Melina Stylianou, Elli Symeou, Chrysanthos Savvides, and George Biskos
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3313–3329, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3313-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3313-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In this paper, we investigate the performance of low-cost electrochemical gas sensors. We carried out yearlong measurements at a traffic air quality monitoring station, where the low-cost sensors were collocated with reference instruments and exposed to highly variable environmental conditions with extremely high temperatures and low relative humidity (RH). Sensors provide measurements that exhibit increasing errors and decreasing correlations as temperature increases and RH decreases.
Jianghanyang Li, Bianca C. Baier, Fred Moore, Tim Newberger, Sonja Wolter, Jack Higgs, Geoff Dutton, Eric Hintsa, Bradley Hall, and Colm Sweeney
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2851–2863, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2851-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2851-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Monitoring a suite of trace gases in the stratosphere will help us better understand the stratospheric circulation and its impact on the earth's radiation balance. However, such measurements are rare and usually expensive. We developed an instrument that can measure stratospheric trace gases using a low-cost sampling platform (AirCore). The results showed expected agreement with aircraft measurements, demonstrating this technique provides a low-cost and robust way to observe the stratosphere.
Tara I. Yacovitch, Christoph Dyroff, Joseph R. Roscioli, Conner Daube, J. Barry McManus, and Scott C. Herndon
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1915–1921, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1915-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1915-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Ethylene oxide is a toxic, carcinogenic compound used in the medical and bulk sterilization industry. Here we describe a precise and fast laser-based ethylene oxide monitor. We report months-long concentrations at a Massachusetts site, and we show how they suggest a potential emission source 35 km away. This source, and another, is confirmed by driving the instrument downwind of the sites, where concentrations were tens to tens of thousands of times greater than background levels.
Tatsumi Nakano and Takashi Morofuji
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1583–1595, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1583-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1583-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We have developed a system that can automatically measure the pump efficiency of the ECC-type ozonesonde. Operational measurement for 13 years by this system revealed that the efficiency fluctuates in each and slightly increases over time. Those can affect the estimation of total ozone amount by up to 4 %. This result indicates that it is necessary to understand the tendency of the pump correction factor of each ozonesonde in order to detect the actual atmospheric change with high accuracy.
Benjamin Birner, Eric Morgan, and Ralph F. Keeling
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1551–1561, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1551-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1551-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Atmospheric variations of helium (He) and CO2 are strongly linked due to the co-release of both gases from natural-gas burning. This implies that atmospheric He measurements may be a potentially powerful tool for verifying reported anthropogenic natural-gas usage. Here, we present the development and initial results of a novel measurement system of atmospheric He that paves the way for establishing a global monitoring network in the future.
John W. Halfacre, Jordan Stewart, Scott C. Herndon, Joseph R. Roscioli, Christoph Dyroff, Tara I. Yacovitch, Michael Flynn, Stephen J. Andrews, Steven S. Brown, Patrick R. Veres, and Pete M. Edwards
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1407–1429, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1407-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1407-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study details a new sampling method for the optical detection of hydrogen chloride (HCl). HCl is an important atmospheric reservoir for chlorine atoms, which can affect nitrogen oxide cycling and the lifetimes of volatile organic compounds and ozone. However, HCl has a high affinity for interacting with surfaces, thereby preventing fast, quantitative measurements. The sampling technique in this study minimizes these surface interactions and provides a high-quality measurement of HCl.
Henning Finkenzeller, Denis Pöhler, Martin Horbanski, Johannes Lampel, and Ulrich Platt
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1343–1356, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1343-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1343-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Optical resonators enhance the light path in compact instruments, thereby improving their sensitivity. Determining the established path length in the instrument is a prerequisite for the accurate determination of trace gas concentrations but can be a significant complication in the use of such resonators. Here we show two calibration techniques which are relatively simple and free of consumables but still provide accurate calibrations. This facilitates the use of optical resonators.
Cited articles
Andrews, A. E., Kofler, J. D., Trudeau, M. E., Williams, J. C., Neff, D. H., Masarie, K. A., Chao, D. Y., Kitzis, D. R., Novelli, P. C., Zhao, C. L., Dlugokencky, E. J., Lang, P. M., Crotwell, M. J., Fischer, M. L., Parker, M. J., Lee, J. T., Baumann, D. D., Desai, A. R., Stanier, C. O., De Wekker, S. F. J., Wolfe, D. E., Munger, J. W., and Tans, P. P.: CO2, CO, and CH4 measurements from tall towers in the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory's Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network: instrumentation, uncertainty analysis, and recommendations for future high-accuracy greenhouse gas monitoring efforts, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 647–687, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-647-2014, 2014.
Bakwin, P. S., Tans, P. P., Zhao, C. L., Ussler, W., and Quesnell, E.: Measurements of carbon-dioxide on a very tall tower, Tellus B, 47, 535–549, https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0889.47.issue5.2.x, 1995.
Chen, H., Karion, A., Rella, C. W., Winderlich, J., Gerbig, C., Filges, A., Newberger, T., Sweeney, C., and Tans, P. P.: Accurate measurements of carbon monoxide in humid air using the cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) technique, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 1031–1040, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-1031-2013, 2013.
Gloor, M., Fan, S. M., Pacala, S., and Sarmiento, J.: Optimal sampling of the atmosphere for purpose of inverse modeling: A model study, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 14, 407–428, https://doi.org/10.1029/1999gb900052, 2000.
Gloor, M., Bakwin, P., Hurst, D., Lock, L., Draxler, R., and Tans, P.: What is the concentration footprint of a tall tower?, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 106, 17831–17840, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001jd900021, 2001.
Haszpra, L., Barcza, Z., Bakwin, P. S., Berger, B. W., Davis, K. J., and Weidinger, T.: Measuring system for the long-term monitoring of biosphere/atmosphere exchange of carbon dioxide, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 106, 3057–3069, https://doi.org/10.1029/2000jd900600, 2001.
IPCC: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, 1535 pp., 2013.
Leuenberger, M. C., Schibig, M. F., and Nyfeler, P.: Gas adsorption and desorption effects on cylinders and their importance for long-term gas records, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 14, 19293–19314, https://doi.org/10.5194/acpd-14-19293-2014, 2014.
Logan, J. A., Prather, M. J., Wofsy, S. C., and Mcelroy, M. B.: Tropospheric Chemistry – a Global Perspective, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 86, 7210–7254, https://doi.org/10.1029/Jc086ic08p07210, 1981.
Manning, A. C., Keeling, R. F., and Severinghaus, J. P.: Precise atmospheric oxygen measurements with a paramagnetic oxygen analyzer, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 13, 1107–1115, https://doi.org/10.1029/1999gb900054, 1999.
Menditto, A., Patriarca, M., and Magnusson, B.: Understanding the meaning of accuracy, trueness and precision, Accredit. Qual. Assur., 12, 45–47, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-006-0191-z, 2007.
Oney, B., Henne, S., Gruber, N., Leuenberger, M., Bamberger, I., Eugster, W., and Brunner, D.: The CarboCount CH sites: characterization of a dense greenhouse gas observation network, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 11147–11164, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-11147-2015, 2015.
Popa, M. E., Gloor, M., Manning, A. C., Jordan, A., Schultz, U., Haensel, F., Seifert, T., and Heimann, M.: Measurements of greenhouse gases and related tracers at Bialystok tall tower station in Poland, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 3, 407–427, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-3-407-2010, 2010.
Rella, C. W., Chen, H., Andrews, A. E., Filges, A., Gerbig, C., Hatakka, J., Karion, A., Miles, N. L., Richardson, S. J., Steinbacher, M., Sweeney, C., Wastine, B., and Zellweger, C.: High accuracy measurements of dry mole fractions of carbon dioxide and methane in humid air, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 837–860, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-837-2013, 2013.
Satar, E., Berhanu, T. A., Brunner, D., Henne, S., and Leuenberger, M.: Continuous CO2/CH4/CO measurements (2012–2014) at Beromünster tall tower station in Switzerland, Biogeosciences, 13, 2623–2635, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-2623-2016, 2016.
Tans, P. P.: Uncertainties in the Global Carbon-Cycle, Pure Appl. Chem., 63, 766–768, 1991.
Tans, P. P.: Observational strategy for assessing the role of terresterial ecosystems in the global carbon cycle: scaling down to regional levels, in: Scaling Physiological Processes: Leaf to Globe, edited by: Ebleringer, J. R., and Field, C. B., Academic Press, Inc., San Diego, California, 179–189, 1993.
Thompson, R. L., Manning, A. C., Gloor, E., Schultz, U., Seifert, T., Hänsel, F., Jordan, A., and Heimann, M.: In-situ measurements of oxygen, carbon monoxide and greenhouse gases from Ochsenkopf tall tower in Germany, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 2, 573–591, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2-573-2009, 2009.
Vermeulen, A. T. (Ed.): CHIOTTO: Continuous high-precision tall tower observations of 5 greenhouse gases, available at: http://www.ecn.nl/docs/library/report/2007/e07052.pdf (last access: May 2015), 2004.
Vermeulen, A. T., Hensen, A., Popa, M. E., van den Bulk, W. C. M., and Jongejan, P. A. C.: Greenhouse gas observations from Cabauw Tall Tower (1992–2010), Atmos. Meas. Tech., 4, 617–644, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-4-617-2011, 2011.
Winderlich, J., Chen, H., Gerbig, C., Seifert, T., Kolle, O., Lavric, J. V., Kaiser, C., Höfer, A., and Heimann, M.: Continuous low-maintenance CO2/CH4/H2O measurements at the Zotino Tall Tower Observatory (ZOTTO) in Central Siberia, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 3, 1113–1128, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-3-1113-2010, 2010.
Short summary
In this manuscript, we have presented Co, CO2 and CH4 measurement data from an old radio tower tower (217.5 m) at Beromunster, Switzerland. From about 2 years of continuous CO, CO2 and CH4 measurement at five different heights, we have determined a long-term reproducibility of 2.79 ppb, 0.05 ppm and 0.29 ppb for CO, CO2 and CH4, respectively, compliant with the GAW requirements. We have also observed seasonal and diurnal variation of these species.
In this manuscript, we have presented Co, CO2 and CH4 measurement data from an old radio tower...
