scholarly journals Data assimilation of CrIS-NH<sub>3</sub> satellite observations for improving spatiotemporal NH<sub>3</sub> distributions in LOTOS-EUROS

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelley van der Graaf ◽  
Enrico Dammers ◽  
Arjo Segers ◽  
Richard Kranenburg ◽  
Martijn Schaap ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Time Factors ◽  
Surface Concentration ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Nh3 Emission ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter ◽  
Agricultural Areas

Abstract. Atmospheric levels of ammonia (NH3) have substantially increased during the last century, posing a hazard to both human health and environmental quality. The atmospheric budget of NH3, however, is still highly uncertain due to an overall lack of observations. Satellite observations of atmospheric NH3 may help us in the current observational and knowledge gaps. Recent observations of the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) provide us with daily, global distributions of NH3. In this study, the CrIS-NH3 product is assimilated into the LOTOS-EUROS chemistry transport model using two different methods aimed at improving the modelled spatio-temporal NH3 distributions. In the first method NH3 surface concentrations from CrIS are used to fit spatially varying NH3 emission time factors to redistribute model input NH3 emissions over the year. The second method uses the CrIS-NH3 column data to adjust the NH3 emissions using a Local Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter (LETKF) in a top-down approach. The two methods are tested separately and combined, focusing on a region in western Europe (Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands). In this region, the mean CrIS-NH3 total columns were up to a factor 2 higher than the simulated NH3 columns between 2014 and 2018, which, after assimilating the CrIS-NH3 columns using the LETKF algorithm, led to an increase of the total NH3 emissions of up to approximately 30%. Our results illustrate that CrIS-NH3 observations can be used successfully to estimate spatially variable NH3 time factors, and improve NH3 emission distributions temporally, especially in spring (March to May). Moreover, the use of the CrIS-based NH3 time factors resulted in an improved comparison with the onset and duration of the NH3 spring peak observed at observation sites at hourly resolution in the Netherlands. Assimilation of the CrIS-NH3 columns with the LETKF algorithm is mainly advantageous for improving the spatial concentration distribution of the modelled NH3 fields. Compared to in-situ observations, a combination of both methods led to the most significant improvements in modelled monthly NH3 surface concentration and NH4+ wet deposition fields, illustrating the usefulness of the CrIS-NH3 products to improve the temporal representativity of the model and better constrain the budget in agricultural areas.

scholarly journals Response of secondary inorganic aerosol concentrations and deposition fluxes of S and N across Germany to emission changes during high PM<sub>10</sub> episodes in spring 2009

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 15783-15827 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Banzhaf ◽  
M. Schaap ◽  
R. J. Wichink Kruit ◽  
H. A. C. Denier van der Gon ◽  
R. Stern ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
N Deposition ◽  
Chemistry Transport Model ◽  
Deposition Fluxes ◽  
Nh3 Emission ◽  
Non Linear ◽  
Inorganic Aerosol ◽  
Emission Changes ◽  
North Western

Abstract. In this study, the response of secondary inorganic aerosol (SIA) concentrations to changes in precursor emissions during high PM10 episodes over Central Europe in spring 2009 was investigated with the Eulerian Chemistry Transport Model (CTM) REM-Calgrid (RCG). The model performed well in capturing the temporal variation of PM10 and SIA concentrations and was used to analyse the different origin, development and characteristics of the selected high PM10 episodes. SIA concentrations, which attribute to about 50% of the PM10 concentration in north-western Europe, have been studied by means of several emission scenarios varying SO2, NOx and NH3 emissions within a domain covering Germany and within a domain covering Europe. It was confirmed that the response of sulphate, nitrate and ammonium concentrations and deposition fluxes of S and N to SO2, NOx and NH3 emission changes is non-linear. The deviation from linearity was found to be lower for total deposition fluxes of S and N than for SIA concentrations. Furthermore, the study has shown that incorporating explicit cloud chemistry in the model adds non-linear responses to the system and significantly modifies the response of modelled SIA concentrations and S and N deposition fluxes to changes in precursor emissions. The analysis of emission reduction scenarios demonstrates that next to European wide emission reductions additional national NH3 measures in Germany are more effective in reducing SIA concentrations and deposition fluxes than additional national measures on SO2 and NOx.

scholarly journals A First Assessment of the 2018 European Drought Impact on Ecosystem Evapotranspiration

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Kazi Rifat Ahmed ◽  
Eugénie Paul-Limoges ◽  
Uwe Rascher ◽  
Alexander Damm
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Extreme Event ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Surface Air Temperature ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
The North ◽  
Moderate Resolution ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer ◽  
Agricultural Areas

The combined heatwave and drought in 2018 notably affected the state and functioning of European ecosystems. The severity and distribution of this extreme event across ecosystem types and its possible implication on ecosystem water fluxes are still poorly understood. This study estimates spatio-temporal changes in evapotranspiration (ET) during the 2018 drought and heatwave and assesses how these changes are distributed in European ecosystems along climatic gradients. We used the ET eight-day composite product from the MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) together with meteorological data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF ERA5). Our results indicate that ecosystem ET was strongly reduced (up to −50% compared to a 10-year reference period) in areas with extreme anomalies in surface air temperature (Tsa) and precipitation (P) in central, northern, eastern, and western Europe. Northern and Eastern Europe had prolonged anomalies of up to seven months with extreme intensities (relative and absolute) of Tsa, P, and ET. Particularly, agricultural areas, mixed natural vegetation, and non-irrigated agricultural areas were the most affected by the increased temperatures in northern Europe. Our results show contrasting drought impacts on ecosystem ET between the North and South of Europe as well as on ecosystem types.

scholarly journals Retrieval of methane source strengths in Europe using a simple modeling approach to assess the potential of space-borne lidar observations

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 19559-19582
Author(s):  
C. Weaver ◽  
C. Kiemle ◽  
S. R. Kawa ◽  
T. Aalto ◽  
J. Necki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Surface Concentration ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Surface Fluxes ◽  
Transport Pathways ◽  
Future Space ◽  
Lidar Measurements ◽  
Methane Source ◽  
Lidar Observations

Abstract. We investigate the sensitivity of future space-borne lidar measurements to changes in surface methane emissions. We use surface methane observations from nine European ground stations, and a Lagrangian transport model to obtain surface methane emissions for 2010. Our inversion shows the strongest emissions from the Netherlands, the coalmines in Upper Silesia Poland, and wetlands in southern Finland. Our simulated methane surface concentration captures at least half of the daily variability in the observations, suggesting that the transport model is correctly simulating the regional transport pathways over Europe. With this tool we can perturb the surface fluxes and see the resulting changes in the simulated column methane measurements. For example, we show that future lidar instruments can detect a 50% reduction in methane emissions from the Netherlands and Germany, but only after averaging measurements on a monthly time scale.

scholarly journals APIFLAME v2.0 trace gas and aerosol emissions from biomass burning: application to Portugal during the summer of 2016 and evaluation against satellite observations of CO (IASI) and AOD (MODIS)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Solène Turquety ◽  
Laurent Menut ◽  
Guillaume Siour ◽  
Sylvain Mailler ◽  
Juliette Hadji-Lazaro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Burned Area ◽  
Time Step ◽  
Fire Emissions ◽  
Area Product

Abstract. Biomass burning emissions are a major source of trace gases and aerosols. Wildfires being highly variable in time and space, calculating emissions requires a numerical tool able to estimate fluxes at the kilometer scale and with an hourly time-step. Here, the APIFLAME model version 2.0 is presented. It is structured to be modular in terms of input databases and processing methods. The main evolution compared to the version v1.0 is the possibility to merge burned area and fire radiative power (FRP) satellite observations to modulate the temporal variations of fire emissions and to integrate small fires that may not be detected in the burned area product. Accounting for possible missed detection due to small fires results in an increase ranging from ∼ 5 % in Africa and Australia to ∼ 30 % in North America, on average over the 2013–2017 time period based on the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) collection 6 fire products. An illustration for the case of south-western Europe during the summer of 2016, marked by large wildfires in Portugal, is presented. Emissions calculated using different possible configurations of APIFLAME show a dispersion of 75% on average over the domain during the largest wildfires (8–14/08/2016), which can be considered as an estimate of uncertainty on emissions (excluding the uncertainty on emission factors). Corresponding enhancements of aerosols and carbon monoxide (CO) simulated with the regional chemistry transport model CHIMERE are consistent with observations (good timing for the beginning and end of the events, &amp;pm; 1 day for the timing of the peak values) but tend to be overestimated compared to observations at surface stations. On the contrary, vertically integrated concentrations tend to be underestimated compared to satellite observations of total column CO by the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) instrument and aerosol optical depth (AOD) by MODIS, which allow regional scale evaluation. This underestimate is lower close to the fire region (5 % to 40 % for AOD depending on the configuration, and 8–18 % for total CO) but rapidly increases downwind. For all comparisons, better agreement is achieved when emissions are injected higher into the free troposphere using a vertical profile as estimated from observations of aerosol plume height by the MISR satellite instrument (injection up to 4 km). The overestimate compared to surface sites and underestimate compared to satellite observations point to uncertainties not only on emissions (total mass and daily variability) but also on their injection profile and on the modelling of the transport of these dense plumes.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Detlef Pollack ◽  
Gergely Rosta
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
West Germany ◽  
World Today ◽  
The World ◽  
Degree Of Stability ◽  
Important Exception ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Religious Landscape

In recantation of his earlier approach, Peter L. Berger now claims: ‘The world today, with some exceptions […], is as furiously religious as it ever was, and in some places more so than ever.’ The most important exception that Berger refers to is Western Europe. The introduction to Part II provides an overview of the religious landscape in Western Europe. The data show that the current religious situation in the countries of Western Europe is in fact subject to considerable variation. It would therefore be erroneous to describe Western Europe as secularized. At the same time, the data reveal that there have been clear secularization tendencies over the last few decades. To grasp the diversity of religious tendencies, Part II deals with three cases: West Germany with moderate downward tendencies, Italy with a considerably high degree of stability, and the Netherlands displaying disproportionately strong secularizing tendencies.

scholarly journals Spatio-Temporal Change Monitoring of Outside Manure Piles Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Images

Drones ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Geonung Park ◽  
Kyunghun Park ◽  
Bonggeun Song
Keyword(s):  
Point Source ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Image Data ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Point Source Pollution ◽  
Efficient Management ◽  
Aerial Vehicle ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Agricultural Areas ◽  
Water Quality Deterioration

Water quality deterioration due to outdoor loading of livestock manure requires efficient management of outside manure piles (OMPs). This study was designed to investigate OMPs using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for efficient management of non-point source pollution in agricultural areas. A UAV was used to acquire image data, and the distribution and cover installation status of OMPs were identified through ortho-images; the volumes of OMP were calculated using digital surface model (DSM). UAV- and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS)-derived DSMs were compared for identifying the accuracy of calculated volumes. The average volume accuracy was 92.45%. From April to October, excluding July, the monthly average volumes of OMPs in the study site ranged from 64.89 m3 to 149.69 m3. Among the 28 OMPs investigated, 18 were located near streams or agricultural waterways. Establishing priority management areas among the OMP sites distributed in a basin is possible using spatial analysis, and it is expected that the application of UAV technology will contribute to the efficient management of OMPs and other non-point source pollutants.

scholarly journals Long-Term Exposure to Fine and Coarse Particulate Matter and COVID-19 Incidence and Mortality Rate in Chile during 2020

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (14) ◽  
pp. 7409
Author(s):  
Macarena Valdés Salgado ◽  
Pamela Smith ◽  
Mariel Opazo ◽  
Nicolás Huneeus
Keyword(s):  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Incidence Rate ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Negative Binomial ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Surface Concentration ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Incidence And Mortality ◽  
Pm2.5 And Pm10

Background: Several countries have documented the relationship between long-term exposure to air pollutants and epidemiological indicators of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as incidence and mortality. This study aims to explore the association between air pollutants, such as PM2.5 and PM10, and the incidence and mortality rates of COVID-19 during 2020. Methods: The incidence and mortality rates were estimated using the COVID-19 cases and deaths from the Chilean Ministry of Science, and the population size was obtained from the Chilean Institute of Statistics. A chemistry transport model was used to estimate the annual mean surface concentration of PM2.5 and PM10 in a period before the current pandemic. Negative binomial regressions were used to associate the epidemiological information with pollutant concentrations while considering demographic and social confounders. Results: For each microgram per cubic meter, the incidence rate increased by 1.3% regarding PM2.5 and 0.9% regarding PM10. There was no statistically significant relationship between the COVID-19 mortality rate and PM2.5 or PM10. Conclusions: The adjusted regression models showed that the COVID-19 incidence rate was significantly associated with chronic exposure to PM2.5 and PM10, even after adjusting for other variables.

scholarly journals Influence of the aerosol solar extinction on photochemistry during the 2010 Russian wildfires episode

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (19) ◽  
pp. 10983-10998 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Péré ◽  
B. Bessagnet ◽  
V. Pont ◽  
M. Mallet ◽  
F. Minvielle
Keyword(s):  
Transport Model ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Model Performance ◽  
Surface Concentration ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Aerosol Mass ◽  
Aerosol Mass Concentration ◽  
Air Quality Measurements ◽  
Photolysis Rates ◽  
Optical Module

Abstract. In this work, impact of aerosol solar extinction on the photochemistry over eastern Europe during the 2010 wildfires episode is discussed for the period from 5 to 12 August 2010, which coincides to the peak of fire activity. The methodology is based on an online coupling between the chemistry-transport model CHIMERE (extended by an aerosol optical module) and the radiative transfer code TUV. Results of simulations indicate an important influence of the aerosol solar extinction, in terms of intensity and spatial extent, with a reduction of the photolysis rates of NO2 and O3 up to 50 % (in daytime average) along the aerosol plume transport. At a regional scale, these changes in photolysis rates lead to a 3–15 % increase in the NO2 daytime concentration and to an ozone reduction near the surface of 1–12 %. The ozone reduction is shown to occur over the entire boundary layer, where aerosols are located. Also, the total aerosol mass concentration (PM10) is shown to be decreased by 1–2 %, on average during the studied period, caused by a reduced formation of secondary aerosols such as sulfates and secondary organics (4–10 %) when aerosol impact on photolysis rates is included. In terms of model performance, comparisons of simulations with air quality measurements at Moscow indicate that an explicit representation of aerosols interaction with photolysis rates tend to improve the estimation of the near-surface concentration of ozone and nitrogen dioxide as well as the formation of inorganic aerosol species such as ammonium, nitrates and sulfates.

scholarly journals Forecasts and assimilation experiments of the Antarctic ozone hole 2008

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1961-1977 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Flemming ◽  
A. Inness ◽  
L. Jones ◽  
H. J. Eskes ◽  
V. Huijnen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transport Model ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Ozone Hole ◽  
Chemical Mechanism ◽  
Ozone Monitoring Instrument ◽  
Variable Effect ◽  
Antarctic Ozone ◽  
Antarctic Ozone Hole

Abstract. The 2008 Antarctic ozone hole was one of the largest and most long-lived in recent years. Predictions of the ozone hole were made in near-real time (NRT) and hindcast mode with the Integrated Forecast System (IFS) of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). The forecasts were carried out both with and without assimilation of satellite observations from multiple instruments to provide more realistic initial conditions. Three different chemistry schemes were applied for the description of stratospheric ozone chemistry: (i) a linearization of the ozone chemistry, (ii) the stratospheric chemical mechanism of the Model of Ozone and Related Chemical Tracers, version 3, (MOZART-3) and (iii) the relaxation to climatology as implemented in the Transport Model, version 5, (TM5). The IFS uses the latter two schemes by means of a two-way coupled system. Without assimilation, the forecasts showed model-specific shortcomings in predicting start time, extent and duration of the ozone hole. The assimilation of satellite observations from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS), the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), the Solar Backscattering Ultraviolet radiometer (SBUV-2) and the SCanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric CartograpHY (SCIAMACHY) led to a significant improvement of the forecasts when compared with total columns and vertical profiles from ozone sondes. The combined assimilation of observations from multiple instruments helped to overcome limitations of the ultraviolet (UV) sensors at low solar elevation over Antarctica. The assimilation of data from MLS was crucial to obtain a good agreement with the observed ozone profiles both in the polar stratosphere and troposphere. The ozone analyses by the three model configurations were very similar despite the different underlying chemistry schemes. Using ozone analyses as initial conditions had a very beneficial but variable effect on the predictability of the ozone hole over 15 days. The initialized forecasts with the MOZART-3 chemistry produced the best predictions of the increasing ozone hole whereas the linear scheme showed the best results during the ozonehole closure.

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