Articles | Volume 9, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-5203-2016
© 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-9-5203-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Comparison of OMI NO2 observations and their seasonal and weekly cycles with ground-based measurements in Helsinki
Earth Observation Unit, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki,
Finland
Jay Herman
Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Laboratory, NASA
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
Nick Krotkov
Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Laboratory, NASA
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
Lok Lamsal
Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Laboratory, NASA
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
GESTAR,
Universities Space Research Association, Columbia, Maryland, USA
K. Folkert Boersma
Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, Climate Observations
Department, De Bilt, the Netherlands
Wageningen University, Meteorology and Air Quality Group, Wageningen, the Netherlands
Jari Hovila
Earth Observation Unit, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki,
Finland
Johanna Tamminen
Earth Observation Unit, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki,
Finland
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Atmos. Meas. Tech., 19, 2437–2477, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-2437-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-2437-2026, 2026
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Viktoria F. Sofieva, Alexandra Laeng, Thomas von Clarmann, Gabriele Stiller, Michael Kiefer, Johanna Tamminen, Alexey Rozanov, Carlo Arosio, Nathaniel Livesey, Robert Damadeo, Patrick Sheese, Kaley A. Walker, Doug Degenstein, Daniel Zawada, Natalya A. Kramarova, and Arno Keppens
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 19, 1837–1852, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-1837-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-1837-2026, 2026
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Robert J. D. Spurr, Matt Christi, Nickolay A. Krotkov, Won-Ei Choi, Simon Carn, Can Li, Natalya Kramarova, David Haffner, Eun-Su Yang, Nick Gorkavyi, Alexander Vasilkov, Krzysztof Wargan, Omar Torres, Diego Loyola, Serena Di Pede, J. Pepijn Veefkind, Parker Case, Thomas Schroeder, and Pawan K. Bhartia
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 19, 993–1021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-993-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-993-2026, 2026
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Carley D. Fredrickson, Scott J. Janz, Lok N. Lamsal, Ursula A. Jongebloed, Joshua L. Laughner, and Joel A. Thornton
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 3669–3689, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-3669-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-3669-2025, 2025
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Juliëtte C. S. Anema, K. Folkert Boersma, Lieuwe G. Tilstra, Olaf N. E. Tuinder, and Willem W. Verstraeten
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 1961–1979, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1961-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1961-2025, 2025
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Accurate NOx emission estimates are required to better understand air pollution. This study investigates and demonstrates the ability of the superposition column model in combination with TROPOMI tropospheric NO2 column data to estimate city-scale NOx emissions and lifetimes and their variabilities. The results of this work nevertheless confirm the strength of the superposition column model in estimating urban NOx emissions with reasonable accuracy.
Felipe Cifuentes, Henk Eskes, Enrico Dammers, Charlotte Bryan, and Folkert Boersma
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 621–649, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-621-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-621-2025, 2025
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We tested the capability of the flux divergence approach (FDA) to reproduce known NOx emissions using synthetic NO2 satellite column retrievals from high-resolution model simulations. The FDA accurately reproduced NOx emissions when column observations were limited to the boundary layer and when the variability of the NO2 lifetime, the NOx : NO2 ratio, and NO2 profile shapes were correctly modeled. This introduces strong model dependency, reducing the simplicity of the original FDA formulation.
Pieter Rijsdijk, Henk Eskes, Arlene Dingemans, K. Folkert Boersma, Takashi Sekiya, Kazuyuki Miyazaki, and Sander Houweling
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 483–509, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-483-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-483-2025, 2025
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Clustering high-resolution satellite observations into superobservations improves model validation and data assimilation applications. In our paper, we derive quantitative uncertainties for satellite NO2 column observations based on knowledge of the retrievals, including a detailed analysis of spatial error correlations and representativity errors. The superobservations and uncertainty estimates are tested in a global chemical data assimilation system and are found to improve the forecasts.
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
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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.
Bryan N. Duncan, Daniel C. Anderson, Arlene M. Fiore, Joanna Joiner, Nickolay A. Krotkov, Can Li, Dylan B. Millet, Julie M. Nicely, Luke D. Oman, Jason M. St. Clair, Joshua D. Shutter, Amir H. Souri, Sarah A. Strode, Brad Weir, Glenn M. Wolfe, Helen M. Worden, and Qindan Zhu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13001–13023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13001-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13001-2024, 2024
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Trace gases emitted to or formed within the atmosphere may be chemically or physically removed from the atmosphere. One trace gas, the hydroxyl radical (OH), is responsible for initiating the chemical removal of many trace gases, including some greenhouse gases. Despite its importance, scientists have not been able to adequately measure OH. In this opinion piece, we discuss promising new methods to indirectly constrain OH using satellite data of trace gases that control the abundance of OH.
Deepangsu Chatterjee, Randall V. Martin, Chi Li, Dandan Zhang, Haihui Zhu, Daven K. Henze, James H. Crawford, Ronald C. Cohen, Lok N. Lamsal, and Alexander M. Cede
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12687–12706, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12687-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12687-2024, 2024
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We investigate the hourly variation of NO2 columns and surface concentrations by applying the GEOS-Chem model to interpret aircraft and ground-based measurements over the US and Pandora sun photometer measurements over the US, Europe, and Asia. Corrections to the Pandora columns and finer model resolution improve the modeled representation of the summertime hourly variation of total NO2 columns to explain the weaker hourly variation in NO2 columns than at the surface.
Can Li, Nickolay A. Krotkov, Joanna Joiner, Vitali Fioletov, Chris McLinden, Debora Griffin, Peter J. T. Leonard, Simon Carn, Colin Seftor, and Alexander Vasilkov
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 4291–4309, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4291-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4291-2024, 2024
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Sulfur dioxide (SO2), a poisonous gas from human activities and volcanoes, causes air pollution, acid rain, and changes to climate and the ozone layer. Satellites have been used to monitor SO2 globally, including remote areas. Here we describe a new satellite SO2 dataset from the OMPS instrument that flies on the N20 satellite. Results show that the new dataset agrees well with the existing ones from other satellites and can help to continue the global monitoring of SO2 from space.
Tong Sha, Siyu Yang, Qingcai Chen, Liangqing Li, Xiaoyan Ma, Yan-Lin Zhang, Zhaozhong Feng, K. Folkert Boersma, and Jun Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8441–8455, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8441-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8441-2024, 2024
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Using an updated soil reactive nitrogen emission scheme in the Unified Inputs for Weather Research and Forecasting coupled with Chemistry (UI-WRF-Chem) model, we investigate the role of soil NO and HONO (Nr) emissions in air quality and temperature in North China. Contributions of soil Nr emissions to O3 and secondary pollutants are revealed, exceeding effects of soil NOx or HONO emission. Soil Nr emissions play an important role in mitigating O3 pollution and addressing climate change.
Maarten Krol, Bart van Stratum, Isidora Anglou, and Klaas Folkert Boersma
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8243–8262, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8243-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8243-2024, 2024
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This paper presents detailed plume simulations of nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide that are emitted from four large industrial facilities world-wide. Results from the high-resolution simulations that include atmospheric chemistry are compared to nitrogen dioxide observations from satellites. We find good performance of the model and show that common assumptions that are used in simplified models need revision. This work is important for the monitoring of 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
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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.
Viktoria F. Sofieva, Monika Szelag, Johanna Tamminen, Didier Fussen, Christine Bingen, Filip Vanhellemont, Nina Mateshvili, Alexei Rozanov, and Christine Pohl
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3085–3101, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3085-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3085-2024, 2024
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We have developed the new multi-wavelength dataset of aerosol extinction profiles, which are retrieved from the averaged transmittance spectra by the Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars instrument aboard Envisat. The retrieved aerosol extinction profiles are provided in the altitude range 10–40 km at 400, 440, 452, 470, 500, 525, 550, 672 and 750 nm for the period 2002–2012. FMI-GOMOSaero aerosol profiles have improved quality; they are in good agreement with other datasets.
Juliëtte C. S. Anema, Klaas Folkert Boersma, Piet Stammes, Gerbrand Koren, William Woodgate, Philipp Köhler, Christian Frankenberg, and Jacqui Stol
Biogeosciences, 21, 2297–2311, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2297-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2297-2024, 2024
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To keep the Paris agreement goals within reach, negative emissions are necessary. They can be achieved with mitigation techniques, such as reforestation, which remove CO2 from the atmosphere. While governments have pinned their hopes on them, there is not yet a good set of tools to objectively determine whether negative emissions do what they promise. Here we show how satellite measurements of plant fluorescence are useful in detecting carbon uptake due to reforestation and vegetation regrowth.
Kyoung-Min Kim, Si-Wan Kim, Seunghwan Seo, Donald R. Blake, Seogju Cho, James H. Crawford, Louisa K. Emmons, Alan Fried, Jay R. Herman, Jinkyu Hong, Jinsang Jung, Gabriele G. Pfister, Andrew J. Weinheimer, Jung-Hun Woo, and Qiang Zhang
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 1931–1955, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-1931-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-1931-2024, 2024
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Three emission inventories were evaluated for East Asia using data acquired during a field campaign in 2016. The inventories successfully reproduced the daily variations of ozone and nitrogen dioxide. However, the spatial distributions of model ozone did not fully agree with the observations. Additionally, all simulations underestimated carbon monoxide and volatile organic compound (VOC) levels. Increasing VOC emissions over South Korea resulted in improved ozone simulations.
Tianle Yuan, Fei Liu, Lok N. Lamsal, and Hua Song
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.22541/essoar.168771101.14987378/v1, https://doi.org/10.22541/essoar.168771101.14987378/v1, 2023
Preprint archived
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We train and apply a state-of-the-art deep learning model to detect NO2 plumes emitted by ships using NO2 retrievals from TROPOMI. By applying the model, we can detect individual plumes with excellent fidelity. The aggregated data show major shipping routes, but miss other routes. The missing routes are due to high cloudiness. Our method can be potentially useful for monitoring ship emissions of NOx and verifying compliance of emission standards.
Markku Kulmala, Anna Lintunen, Hanna Lappalainen, Annele Virtanen, Chao Yan, Ekaterina Ezhova, Tuomo Nieminen, Ilona Riipinen, Risto Makkonen, Johanna Tamminen, Anu-Maija Sundström, Antti Arola, Armin Hansel, Kari Lehtinen, Timo Vesala, Tuukka Petäjä, Jaana Bäck, Tom Kokkonen, and Veli-Matti Kerminen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14949–14971, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14949-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14949-2023, 2023
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To be able to meet global grand challenges, we need comprehensive open data with proper metadata. In this opinion paper, we describe the SMEAR (Station for Measuring Earth surface – Atmosphere Relations) concept and include several examples (cases), such as new particle formation and growth, feedback loops and the effect of COVID-19, and what has been learned from these investigations. The future needs and the potential of comprehensive observations of the environment are summarized.
Vitali E. Fioletov, Chris A. McLinden, Debora Griffin, Nickolay A. Krotkov, Can Li, Joanna Joiner, Nicolas Theys, and Simon Carn
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5575–5592, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5575-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5575-2023, 2023
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Snow-covered terrain, with its high reflectance in the UV, typically enhances satellite sensitivity to boundary layer pollution. However, a significant fraction of high-quality cloud-free measurements over snow is currently excluded from analyses. In this study, we investigated how satellite SO2 measurements over snow-covered surfaces can be used to improve estimations of annual SO2 emissions.
Tobias Christoph Valentin Werner Riess, Klaas Folkert Boersma, Ward Van Roy, Jos de Laat, Enrico Dammers, and Jasper van Vliet
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5287–5304, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5287-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5287-2023, 2023
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Satellite retrievals of trace gases require prior knowledge of the vertical distribution of the pollutant, which is usually obtained from models. Using aircraft-measured vertical NO2 profiles over the North Sea in summer 2021, we evaluate the Transport Model 5 profiles used in the TROPOMI NO2 retrieval. We conclude that driven by the low horizontal resolution and the overestimated vertical mixing, resulting NO2 columns are 20 % too low. This has important implications for emission estimates.
Clark Jay Weaver, Jay Herman, Alexander Marshak, Steven R. Lorentz, Yinan Yu, Allan W. Smith, and Adam Szabo
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-638, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-638, 2023
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We calculate the total amount of solar energy reflected by the earth from the EPIC camera onboard the DSCOVR satellite positioned 1.5 million km from earth. We compare it with another estimate of the reflected energy from the NISTAR instrument, that is also on the DSCOVR satellite. Both energy estimates agree within the uncertainties of each instrument. Finally, we compare with a third estimate of solar reflected energy from the CERES instruments that are on board low-earth orbit satellites.
Viktoria F. Sofieva, Monika Szelag, Johanna Tamminen, Carlo Arosio, Alexei Rozanov, Mark Weber, Doug Degenstein, Adam Bourassa, Daniel Zawada, Michael Kiefer, Alexandra Laeng, Kaley A. Walker, Patrick Sheese, Daan Hubert, Michel van Roozendael, Christian Retscher, Robert Damadeo, and Jerry D. Lumpe
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1881–1899, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1881-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1881-2023, 2023
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The paper presents the updated SAGE-CCI-OMPS+ climate data record of monthly zonal mean ozone profiles. This dataset covers the stratosphere and combines measurements by nine limb and occultation satellite instruments (SAGE II, OSIRIS, MIPAS, SCIAMACHY, GOMOS, ACE-FTS, OMPS-LP, POAM III, and SAGE III/ISS). The update includes new versions of MIPAS, ACE-FTS, and OSIRIS datasets and introduces data from additional sensors (POAM III and SAGE III/ISS) and retrieval processors (OMPS-LP).
Nick Gorkavyi, Nickolay Krotkov, and Alexander Marshak
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1527–1537, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1527-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1527-2023, 2023
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The article discusses topical issues of the visible (libration) motion of the Earth in the sky of the Moon in a rectangle measuring 13.4° × 15.8°. On the one hand, the librations of the Moon make these observations difficult. On the other hand, they can be used as a natural scanning mechanism for cameras and spectroscopes mounted on a fixed platform on the surface of the Moon.
Laura Hyesung Yang, Daniel J. Jacob, Nadia K. Colombi, Shixian Zhai, Kelvin H. Bates, Viral Shah, Ellie Beaudry, Robert M. Yantosca, Haipeng Lin, Jared F. Brewer, Heesung Chong, Katherine R. Travis, James H. Crawford, Lok N. Lamsal, Ja-Ho Koo, and Jhoon Kim
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 2465–2481, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2465-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2465-2023, 2023
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A geostationary satellite can now provide hourly NO2 vertical columns, and obtaining the NO2 vertical columns from space relies on NO2 vertical distribution from the chemical transport model (CTM). In this work, we update the CTM to better represent the chemistry environment so that the CTM can accurately provide NO2 vertical distribution. We also find that the changes in NO2 vertical distribution driven by a change in mixing depth play an important role in the NO2 column's diurnal variation.
Amir H. Souri, Matthew S. Johnson, Glenn M. Wolfe, James H. Crawford, Alan Fried, Armin Wisthaler, William H. Brune, Donald R. Blake, Andrew J. Weinheimer, Tijl Verhoelst, Steven Compernolle, Gaia Pinardi, Corinne Vigouroux, Bavo Langerock, Sungyeon Choi, Lok Lamsal, Lei Zhu, Shuai Sun, Ronald C. Cohen, Kyung-Eun Min, Changmin Cho, Sajeev Philip, Xiong Liu, and Kelly Chance
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 1963–1986, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1963-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1963-2023, 2023
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We have rigorously characterized different sources of error in satellite-based HCHO / NO2 tropospheric columns, a widely used metric for diagnosing near-surface ozone sensitivity. Specifically, the errors were categorized/quantified into (i) an inherent chemistry error, (ii) the decoupled relationship between columns and the near-surface concentration, (iii) the spatial representativeness error of ground satellite pixels, and (iv) the satellite retrieval errors.
Joanna Joiner, Sergey Marchenko, Zachary Fasnacht, Lok Lamsal, Can Li, Alexander Vasilkov, and Nickolay Krotkov
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 481–500, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-481-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-481-2023, 2023
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Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is an important trace gas for both air quality and climate. NO2 affects satellite ocean color products. A new ocean color instrument – OCI (Ocean Color Instrument) – will be launched in 2024 on a NASA satellite. We show that it will be possible to measure NO2 from OCI even though it was not designed for this. The techniques developed here, based on machine learning, can also be applied to instruments already in space to speed up algorithms and reduce the effects of noise.
John Douros, Henk Eskes, Jos van Geffen, K. Folkert Boersma, Steven Compernolle, Gaia Pinardi, Anne-Marlene Blechschmidt, Vincent-Henri Peuch, Augustin Colette, and Pepijn Veefkind
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 509–534, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-509-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-509-2023, 2023
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We focus on the challenges associated with comparing atmospheric composition models with satellite products such as tropospheric NO2 columns. The aim is to highlight the methodological difficulties and propose sound ways of doing such comparisons. Building on the comparisons, a new satellite product is proposed and made available, which takes advantage of higher-resolution, regional atmospheric modelling to improve estimates of troposheric NO2 columns over Europe.
Viral Shah, Daniel J. Jacob, Ruijun Dang, Lok N. Lamsal, Sarah A. Strode, Stephen D. Steenrod, K. Folkert Boersma, Sebastian D. Eastham, Thibaud M. Fritz, Chelsea Thompson, Jeff Peischl, Ilann Bourgeois, Ilana B. Pollack, Benjamin A. Nault, Ronald C. Cohen, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Jose L. Jimenez, Simone T. Andersen, Lucy J. Carpenter, Tomás Sherwen, and Mat J. Evans
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 1227–1257, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1227-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1227-2023, 2023
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NOx in the free troposphere (above 2 km) affects global tropospheric chemistry and the retrieval and interpretation of satellite NO2 measurements. We evaluate free tropospheric NOx in global atmospheric chemistry models and find that recycling NOx from its reservoirs over the oceans is faster than that simulated in the models, resulting in increases in simulated tropospheric ozone and OH. Over the U.S., free tropospheric NO2 contributes the majority of the tropospheric NO2 column in summer.
Qianqian Zhang, K. Folkert Boersma, Bin Zhao, Henk Eskes, Cuihong Chen, Haotian Zheng, and Xingying Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 551–563, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-551-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-551-2023, 2023
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We developed an improved superposition column model and used the latest released (v2.3.1) TROPOMI satellite NO2 observations to estimate daily city-scale NOx and CO2 emissions. The results are verified against bottom-up emissions and OCO-2 XCO2 observations. We obtained the day-to-day variation of city NOx and CO2 emissions, allowing policymakers to gain real-time information on spatial–temporal emission patterns and the effectiveness of carbon and nitrogen regulation in urban environments.
Vitali E. Fioletov, Chris A. McLinden, Debora Griffin, Ihab Abboud, Nickolay Krotkov, Peter J. T. Leonard, Can Li, Joanna Joiner, Nicolas Theys, and Simon Carn
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 75–93, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-75-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-75-2023, 2023
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Sulfur dioxide (SO2) measurements from three satellite instruments were used to update and extend the previously developed global catalogue of large SO2 emission sources. This version 2 of the global catalogue covers the period of 2005–2021 and includes a total of 759 continuously emitting point sources. The catalogue data show an approximate 50 % decline in global SO2 emissions between 2005 and 2021, although emissions were relatively stable during the last 3 years.
Srijana Lama, Sander Houweling, K. Folkert Boersma, Ilse Aben, Hugo A. C. Denier van der Gon, and Maarten C. Krol
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 16053–16071, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-16053-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-16053-2022, 2022
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Hydroxyl radical (OH) is the important chemical species that determines the lifetime of some greenhouse gases and trace gases. OH plays a vital role in air pollution chemistry. OH has a short lifetime and is extremely difficult to measure directly. OH concentrations derived from the chemistry transport model (CTM) have uncertainties of >50 %. Therefore, in this study, OH is derived indirectly using satellite date in urban plumes.
Can Li, Joanna Joiner, Fei Liu, Nickolay A. Krotkov, Vitali Fioletov, and Chris McLinden
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 5497–5514, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5497-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5497-2022, 2022
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Satellite observations provide information on the sources of SO2, an important pollutant that affects both air quality and climate. However, these observations suffer from relatively poor data quality due to weak signals of SO2. Here, we use a machine learning technique to analyze satellite SO2 observations in order to reduce the noise and artifacts over relatively clean areas while keeping the signals near pollution sources. This leads to significant improvement in satellite SO2 data.
Chao Yan, Yicheng Shen, Dominik Stolzenburg, Lubna Dada, Ximeng Qi, Simo Hakala, Anu-Maija Sundström, Yishuo Guo, Antti Lipponen, Tom V. Kokkonen, Jenni Kontkanen, Runlong Cai, Jing Cai, Tommy Chan, Liangduo Chen, Biwu Chu, Chenjuan Deng, Wei Du, Xiaolong Fan, Xu-Cheng He, Juha Kangasluoma, Joni Kujansuu, Mona Kurppa, Chang Li, Yiran Li, Zhuohui Lin, Yiliang Liu, Yuliang Liu, Yiqun Lu, Wei Nie, Jouni Pulliainen, Xiaohui Qiao, Yonghong Wang, Yifan Wen, Ye Wu, Gan Yang, Lei Yao, Rujing Yin, Gen Zhang, Shaojun Zhang, Feixue Zheng, Ying Zhou, Antti Arola, Johanna Tamminen, Pauli Paasonen, Yele Sun, Lin Wang, Neil M. Donahue, Yongchun Liu, Federico Bianchi, Kaspar R. Daellenbach, Douglas R. Worsnop, Veli-Matti Kerminen, Tuukka Petäjä, Aijun Ding, Jingkun Jiang, and Markku Kulmala
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 12207–12220, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12207-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12207-2022, 2022
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Atmospheric new particle formation (NPF) is a dominant source of atmospheric ultrafine particles. In urban environments, traffic emissions are a major source of primary pollutants, but their contribution to NPF remains under debate. During the COVID-19 lockdown, traffic emissions were significantly reduced, providing a unique chance to examine their relevance to NPF. Based on our comprehensive measurements, we demonstrate that traffic emissions alone are not able to explain the NPF in Beijing.
Jay Herman, Liang Huang, David Hafner, and Adam Szabo
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-481, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-481, 2022
Publication in ACP not foreseen
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The research object is to see if reflections from clouds by the DSCOVR satellite at the Earth-Sun Lagrange point are enhanced as the backscattering angle nears 180 degrees. The 388 nm wavelength channel sees almost nothing from the Earth's surface. The result is that the Southern Hemisphere radiance increase in December 2020 and 2021 is likely caused by cloud amount increase and not by enhanced reflectivity at a 178-degree backscatter angle.
Aaron Pearlman, Monica Cook, Boryana Efremova, Francis Padula, Lok Lamsal, Joel McCorkel, and Joanna Joiner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4489–4501, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4489-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4489-2022, 2022
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NOAA’s Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) constellation is planned to consist of an atmospheric composition instrument (ACX) to support air quality forecasting and monitoring. As design trade-offs are being studied, we investigated one parameter, the polarization sensitivity, which has yet to be fully documented for NO2 retrievals. Our simulation study explores these impacts to inform the ACX’s development and better understand polarization’s role in trace gas retrievals.
Viktoria F. Sofieva, Risto Hänninen, Mikhail Sofiev, Monika Szeląg, Hei Shing Lee, Johanna Tamminen, and Christian Retscher
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3193–3212, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3193-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3193-2022, 2022
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We present tropospheric ozone column datasets that have been created using combinations of total ozone column from OMI and TROPOMI with stratospheric ozone column datasets from several available limb-viewing instruments (MLS, OSIRIS, MIPAS, SCIAMACHY, OMPS-LP, GOMOS). The main results are (i) several methodological developments, (ii) new tropospheric ozone column datasets from OMI and TROPOMI, and (iii) a new high-resolution dataset of ozone profiles from limb satellite instruments.
Jos van Geffen, Henk Eskes, Steven Compernolle, Gaia Pinardi, Tijl Verhoelst, Jean-Christopher Lambert, Maarten Sneep, Mark ter Linden, Antje Ludewig, K. Folkert Boersma, and J. Pepijn Veefkind
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2037–2060, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2037-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2037-2022, 2022
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Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is one of the main data products measured by the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) on the Sentinel-5 Precursor (S5P) satellite. This study describes improvements in the TROPOMI NO2 retrieval leading to version v2.2, operational since 1 July 2021. It compares results with previous versions v1.2–v1.4 and with Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and ground-based measurements.
Vitali Fioletov, Chris A. McLinden, Debora Griffin, Nickolay Krotkov, Fei Liu, and Henk Eskes
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 4201–4236, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4201-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4201-2022, 2022
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The COVID-19 lockdown had a large impact on anthropogenic emissions and particularly on nitrogen dioxide (NO2). A new method of isolation of background, urban, and industrial components in NO2 is applied to estimate the lockdown impact on each of them. From 16 March to 15 June 2020, urban NO2 declined by −18 % to −28 % in most regions of the world, while background NO2 typically declined by less than −10 %.
Tobias Christoph Valentin Werner Riess, Klaas Folkert Boersma, Jasper van Vliet, Wouter Peters, Maarten Sneep, Henk Eskes, and Jos van Geffen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1415–1438, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1415-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1415-2022, 2022
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This paper reports on improved monitoring of ship nitrogen oxide emissions by TROPOMI. With its fantastic resolution we can identify lanes of ship nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution not detected from space before. The quality of TROPOMI NO2 data over sea is improved further by recent upgrades in cloud retrievals and the use of sun glint scenes. Lastly, we study the impact of COVID-19 on ship NO2 in European seas and compare the found reductions to emission estimates gained from ship-specific data.
Auke J. Visser, Laurens N. Ganzeveld, Ignacio Goded, Maarten C. Krol, Ivan Mammarella, Giovanni Manca, and K. Folkert Boersma
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 18393–18411, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18393-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18393-2021, 2021
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Dry deposition is an important sink for tropospheric ozone that affects ecosystem carbon uptake, but process understanding remains incomplete. We apply a common deposition representation in atmospheric chemistry models and a multi-layer canopy model to multi-year ozone deposition observations. The multi-layer canopy model performs better on diurnal timescales compared to the common approach, leading to a substantially improved simulation of ozone deposition and vegetation ozone impact metrics.
Nick Gorkavyi, Nickolay Krotkov, Can Li, Leslie Lait, Peter Colarco, Simon Carn, Matthew DeLand, Paul Newman, Mark Schoeberl, Ghassan Taha, Omar Torres, Alexander Vasilkov, and Joanna Joiner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7545–7563, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7545-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7545-2021, 2021
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The 21 June 2019 eruption of the Raikoke volcano produced significant amounts of volcanic aerosols (sulfate and ash) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas that penetrated into the lower stratosphere. We showed that the amount of SO2 decreases with a characteristic period of 8–18 d and the peak of sulfate aerosol lags the initial peak of SO2 by 1.5 months. We also examined the dynamics of an unusual stratospheric coherent circular cloud of SO2 and aerosol observed from 18 July to 22 September 2019.
Nicolas Theys, Vitali Fioletov, Can Li, Isabelle De Smedt, Christophe Lerot, Chris McLinden, Nickolay Krotkov, Debora Griffin, Lieven Clarisse, Pascal Hedelt, Diego Loyola, Thomas Wagner, Vinod Kumar, Antje Innes, Roberto Ribas, François Hendrick, Jonas Vlietinck, Hugues Brenot, and Michel Van Roozendael
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16727–16744, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16727-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16727-2021, 2021
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We present a new algorithm to retrieve sulfur dioxide from space UV measurements. We apply the technique to high-resolution TROPOMI measurements and demonstrate the high sensitivity of the approach to weak SO2 emissions worldwide with an unprecedented limit of detection of 8 kt yr−1. This result has broad implications for atmospheric science studies dealing with improving emission inventories and identifying and quantifying missing sources, in the context of air quality and climate.
Siqi Ma, Daniel Tong, Lok Lamsal, Julian Wang, Xuelei Zhang, Youhua Tang, Rick Saylor, Tianfeng Chai, Pius Lee, Patrick Campbell, Barry Baker, Shobha Kondragunta, Laura Judd, Timothy A. Berkoff, Scott J. Janz, and Ivanka Stajner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16531–16553, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16531-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16531-2021, 2021
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Predicting high ozone gets more challenging as urban emissions decrease. How can different techniques be used to foretell the quality of air to better protect human health? We tested four techniques with the CMAQ model against observations during a field campaign over New York City. The new system proves to better predict the magnitude and timing of high ozone. These approaches can be extended to other regions to improve the predictability of high-O3 episodes in contemporary urban environments.
Anu Kauppi, Antti Kukkurainen, Antti Lipponen, Marko Laine, Antti Arola, Hannakaisa Lindqvist, and Johanna Tamminen
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2021-328, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2021-328, 2021
Revised manuscript not accepted
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We present a methodology in Bayesian framework for retrieving atmospheric aerosol optical depth and aerosol type from the pre-computed look-up tables (LUTs). Especially, we consider Bayesian model averaging and uncertainty originating from aerosol model selection and imperfect forward modelling. Our aim is to get more realistic uncertainty estimates. We have applied the methodology to TROPOMI/S5P satellite observations and evaluated the results against ground-based data from the AERONET.
Cited articles
Acarreta, J. R., de Haan, J. F., and Stammes, P.: Cloud pressure retrieval using the O2–O2 absorption band at 477 nm, J. Geophys. Res., 109, D05204, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JD003915, 2004.
Adams, C., Normand, E. N., McLinden, C. A., Bourassa, A. E., Lloyd, N. D., Degenstein, D. A., Krotkov, N. A., Belmonte Rivas, M., Boersma, K. F., and Eskes, H.: Limb-nadir matching using non-coincident NO2 observations: proof of concept and the OMI-minus-OSIRIS prototype product, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 4103–4122, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4103-2016, 2016.
Beirle, S., Platt, U., Wenig, M., and Wagner, T.: Weekly cycle of NO2 by GOME measurements: a signature of anthropogenic sources, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 3, 2225–2232, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-3-2225-2003, 2003.
Beirle, S., Boersma, K. F., Platt, U., Lawrence, M. G., and Wagner, T.: Megacity emissions and lifetimes of nitrogen oxides probed from space, Science, 333, 1737–1739, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1207824, 2011.
Belmonte Rivas, M., Veefkind, P., Boersma, F., Levelt, P., Eskes, H., and Gille, J.: Intercomparison of daytime stratospheric NO2 satellite retrievals and model simulations, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 2203–2225, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-2203-2014, 2014.
Boersma, K. F., Jacob, D. J., Trainic, M., Rudich, Y., DeSmedt, I., Dirksen, R., and Eskes, H. J.: Validation of urban NO2 concentrations and their diurnal and seasonal variations observed from the SCIAMACHY and OMI sensors using in situ surface measurements in Israeli cities, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 9, 3867–3879, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-9-3867-2009, 2009.
Boersma, K. F., Eskes, H. J., Dirksen, R. J., van der A, R. J., Veefkind, J. P., Stammes, P., Huijnen, V., Kleipool, Q. L., Sneep, M., Claas, J., Leitão, J., Richter, A., Zhou, Y., and Brunner, D.: An improved tropospheric NO2 column retrieval algorithm for the Ozone Monitoring Instrument, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 4, 1905–1928, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-4-1905-2011, 2011.
Bucsela, E. J., Krotkov, N. A., Celarier, E. A., Lamsal, L. N., Swartz, W. H., Bhartia, P. K., Boersma, K. F., Veefkind, J. P., Gleason, J. F., and Pickering, K. E.: A new stratospheric and tropospheric NO2 retrieval algorithm for nadir-viewing satellite instruments: applications to OMI, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 2607–2626, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2607-2013, 2013.
Castellanos, P. and Boersma, K. F.: Reductions in nitrogen oxides over Europe driven by environmental policy and economic recession, Sci. Rep., 2, 265, https://doi.org/10.1038/srep00265, 2012.
Cede, A., Herman, J., Richter, A., Krotkov, N., and Burrows, J.: Measurements of nitrogen dioxide total column amounts at Goddard Space Flight Center using a Brewer spectrometer in direct sun mode, J. Geophys. Res., 111, D05304, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JD006585, 2006.
de Foy, B., Lu, Z., Streets, D. G., Lamsal, L. K., and Duncan, B. N.: Estimates of power plant NOx emissions and lifetimes from OMI NO2 satellite retrievals, Atmos. Environ., 116, 1–11, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2015.05.056, 2015.
de Ruyter de Wildt, M., Eskes, H., and Boersma, K. F.: The global economic cycle and satellite-derived NO2 trends over shipping lanes, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L01802, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011GL049541, 2012.
Duncan, B. N., Yoshida, Y., de Foy, B., Lamsal, L. N., Streets, D. G., Lu, Z., Pickering, K. E., and Krotkov, N. A.: The observed response of Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) NO2 columns to NOx emission controls on power plants in the United States: 2005–2011, Atmos. Environ., 81, 102–111, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.08.068, 2013.
Ghude, S. D., Pfister, G. G., Jena, C., van der A, R. J., Emmons, L. K., and Kumar, R.: Satellite constraints of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from India based on OMI observations and WRF-Chem simulations, Geophys. Res. Lett., 40, 423–428, https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GL053926, 2013.
Herman, J., Cede, A., Spinei, E., Mount, G., Tzortziou, M., and Abuhassan, N.: NO2 column amounts from ground-based Pandora and MFDOAS spectrometers using the direct-sun DOAS technique: Intercomparisons and application to OMI validation, J. Geophys. Res., 114, D13307, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD011848, 2009.
Hilboll, A., Richter, A., and Burrows, J. P.: Long-term changes of tropospheric NO2 over megacities derived from multiple satellite instruments, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 4145–4169, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-4145-2013, 2013.
Ialongo, I., Hakkarainen, J., Hyttinen, N., Jalkanen, J.-P., Johansson, L., Boersma, K. F., Krotkov, N., and Tamminen, J.: Characterization of OMI tropospheric NO2 over the Baltic Sea region, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 7795–7805, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-7795-2014, 2014.
Irie, H., Boersma, K. F., Kanaya, Y., Takashima, H., Pan, X., and Wang, Z. F.: Quantitative bias estimates for tropospheric NO2 columns retrieved from SCIAMACHY, OMI, and GOME-2 using a common standard for East Asia, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 5, 2403–2411, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-5-2403-2012, 2012.
Joiner, J. and Vasilkov, A. P.: First results from the OMI rotational raman scattering cloud pressure algorithm, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 44, 1272–1282, 2006.
Junninen, H., Lauri, A., Keronen, P., Aalto, P., Hiltunen, V., Hari, P., and Kulmala, M.: Smart-SMEAR: on-line data exploration and visualization tool for SMEAR stations, Boreal Environ. Res., 14, 447–457, 2009.
Kharol, S. K., Martin, R. V., Philip, S., Boys, B., Lamsal, L. N., Jerrett, M., Brauer, M., Crouse, D. L., McLinden, C., and Burnett, R. T.: Assessment of the magnitude and recent trends in satellite-derived ground-level nitrogen dioxide over North America, Atmos. Environ., 118, 236–245, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2015.08.011, 2015.
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Short summary
We present the comparison between satellite- and ground-based atmospheric NO2 observations in Helsinki (Finland). The results show that, despite some limitations due to cloud contamination and low solar angles, satellite data are able to describe urban air quality features such as the weekly and seasonal cycles. The results support air quality satellite data exploitation at high latitudes and prepare for similar applications for future missions.
We present the comparison between satellite- and ground-based atmospheric NO2 observations in...