scholarly journals Infrared limb emission measurements of aerosol in the troposphere and stratosphere

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 4399-4423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine Griessbach ◽  
Lars Hoffmann ◽  
Reinhold Spang ◽  
Marc von Hobe ◽  
Rolf Müller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Ash ◽  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
Michelson Interferometer ◽  
Emission Spectra ◽  
High Spectral Resolution ◽  
Volcanic Aerosol ◽  
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder ◽  
Ice Clouds ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Atmospheric Sounding

Abstract. Altitude-resolved aerosol detection in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) is a challenging task for remote sensing instruments. Infrared limb emission measurements provide vertically resolved global measurements at day- and nighttime in the UTLS. For high-spectral-resolution infrared limb instruments we present here a new method to detect aerosol and separate between ice and non-ice particles. The method is based on an improved aerosol–cloud index that identifies infrared limb emission spectra affected by non-ice aerosol or ice clouds. For the discrimination between non-ice aerosol and ice clouds we employed brightness temperature difference correlations. The discrimination thresholds for this method were derived from radiative transfer simulations (including scattering) and Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS)/Envisat measurements obtained in 2011. We demonstrate the value of this approach for observations of volcanic ash and sulfate aerosol originating from the Grímsvötn (Iceland, 64° N), Puyehue–Cordón Caulle (Chile, 40° S), and Nabro (Eritrea, 13° N) eruptions in May and June 2011 by comparing the MIPAS volcanic aerosol detections with Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) volcanic ash and SO2 measurements.

scholarly journals Infrared limb emission measurements of aerosol in the troposphere and stratosphere

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 4379-4412 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Griessbach ◽  
L. Hoffmann ◽  
R. Spang ◽  
M. von Hobe ◽  
R. Müller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Ash ◽  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
Michelson Interferometer ◽  
Sulfate Aerosol ◽  
New Method ◽  
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder ◽  
Ice Clouds ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Atmospheric Sounding

Abstract. Altitude resolved aerosol detection in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) is a challenging task for remote sensing instruments. Here, we introduce a new method for detecting aerosol in the UTLS based on infrared limb emission measurements. The method applies an improved aerosol-cloud-index that indicates infrared limb spectra affected by aerosol and ice clouds. For the discrimination between aerosol and ice clouds we developed a new method based on brightness temperature difference correlations. The discrimination thresholds for the new method were derived from radiative transfer simulations (including scattering) and Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS)/Envisat measurements obtained in 2011. The method not only reliably separates aerosol from ice clouds, but also provides characteristic yet overlapping correlation patterns for volcanic ash and sulfate aerosol. We demonstrate the value of the new approach for volcanic ash and sulfate aerosol originating from the Grímsvötn (Iceland), Puyehue-Cordón Caulle (Chile) and Nabro (Eritrea) eruptions by comparing with Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) volcanic ash and SO2 measurements.

scholarly journals Influences of the Indian Summer Monsoon on Water Vapor and Ozone Concentrations in the UTLS as Simulated by Chemistry–Climate Models

2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (13) ◽  
pp. 3525-3544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Kunze ◽  
Peter Braesicke ◽  
Ulrike Langematz ◽  
Gabriele Stiller ◽  
Slimane Bekki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
Indian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
Activity Index ◽  
Michelson Interferometer ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Atmospheric Sounding

Abstract The representation of the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) circulation in some current chemistry–climate models (CCMs) is assessed. The main assessment focuses on the anticyclone that forms in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere and the related changes in water vapor and ozone during July and August for the recent past. The synoptic structures are described and CCMs and reanalysis models are compared. Multiannual means and weak versus strong monsoon cases as classified by the Monsoon–Hadley index (MHI) are discussed. The authors find that current CCMs capture the average synoptic structure of the ISM anticyclone well as compared to the 40-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-40) and NCEP–NCAR reanalyses. The associated impact on water vapor and ozone in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere as observed with the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) on Envisat is captured by most models to some degree. The similarities for the strong versus weak monsoon cases are limited, and even for present-day conditions the models do not agree well for extreme events. Nevertheless, some features are present in the reanalyses and more than one CCM, for example, ozone increases at 380 K eastward of the ISM. With the database available for this study, future changes of the ISM are hard to assess. The modeled monsoon activity index used here shows slight weakening of the ISM circulation in a future climate, and some of the modeled water vapor increase seems to be contained in the anticyclone at 360 K and sometimes above. The authors conclude that current CCMs capture the average large-scale synoptic structure of the ISM well during July and August, but large differences for the interannual variability make assessments of likely future changes of the ISM highly uncertain.

scholarly journals Global peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) retrieval in the upper troposphere from limb emission spectra of the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS)

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 2775-2787 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Glatthor ◽  
T. von Clarmann ◽  
H. Fischer ◽  
B. Funke ◽  
U. Grabowski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Michelson Interferometer ◽  
Emission Spectra ◽  
Free Troposphere ◽  
Peroxyacetyl Nitrate ◽  
The South ◽  
Air Masses ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Ozone Sensitivity ◽  
Atmospheric Sounding

Abstract. We use limb emission spectra of the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) onboard the ENVIronmental SATellite (ENVISAT) to derive the first global distribution of peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) in the upper troposphere. PAN is generated in tropospheric air masses polluted by fuel combustion or biomass burning and acts as a reservoir and carrier of NOx in the cold free troposphere. PAN exhibits continuum-like broadband structures in the mid-infrared region and was retrieved in a contiguous analysis window covering the wavenumber region 775–800 cm−1. The interfering species CCl4, HCFC-22, H2O, ClONO2, CH3CCl3 and C2H2 were fitted along with PAN, whereas pre-fitted profiles were used to model the contribution of other contaminants like ozone. Sensitivity tests consisting in retrieval without consideration of PAN demonstrated the existence of PAN signatures in MIPAS spectra obtained in polluted air masses. The analysed dataset consists of 10 days between 4 October and 1 December 2003. This period covers the end of the biomass burning season in South America and South and East Africa, in which generally large amounts of pollutants are produced and distributed over wide areas of the southern hemispheric free troposphere. Indeed, elevated PAN amounts of 200–700 pptv were measured in a large plume extending from Brasil over the Southern Atlantic, Central and South Africa, the South Indian Ocean as far as Australia at altitudes between 8 and 16 km. Enhanced PAN values were also found in a much more restricted area between northern subtropical Africa and India. The most significant northern midlatitude PAN signal was detected in an area at 8 km altitude extending from China into the Chinese Sea. The average mid and high latitude PAN amounts found at 8 km were around 125 pptv in the northern, but only between 50 and 75 pptv in the southern hemisphere. The PAN distribution found in the southern hemispheric tropics and subtropics is highly correlated with the jointly fitted acetylene (C2H2), which is another pollutant produced by biomass burning, and agrees reasonably well with the CO plume detected during end of September 2003 at the 275 hPa level (~10 km) by the Measurement of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) instrument on the Terra satellite. Similar southern hemispheric PAN amounts were also observed by previous airborne measurements performed in September/October 1992 and 1996 above the South Atlantic and the South Pacific, respectively.

scholarly journals Global peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) retrieval in the upper troposphere from limb emission spectra of the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS)

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1391-1420 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Glatthor ◽  
T. von Clarmann ◽  
H. Fischer ◽  
B. Funke ◽  
U. Grabowski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Michelson Interferometer ◽  
Emission Spectra ◽  
Free Troposphere ◽  
Peroxyacetyl Nitrate ◽  
The South ◽  
Air Masses ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Ozone Sensitivity ◽  
Atmospheric Sounding

Abstract. We use limb emission spectra of the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) onboard the ENVIronmental SATellite (ENVISAT) to derive the first global distribution of peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) in the upper troposphere. PAN is generated in tropospheric air masses polluted by fuel combustion or biomass burning and acts as a reservoir and carrier of NOx in the cold free troposphere. Since PAN exhibits continuum-like broadband structures in the mid-infrared region, we have applied a contiguous analysis window covering the wavenumber region 775–800 cm−1 for retrieval. The interfering species CCl4, HCFC-22, H2O, ClONO2, CH3CCl3 and C2H2 were fitted along with PAN, whereas pre-fitted profiles were used to model the contribution of other contaminants like ozone. Sensitivity tests consisting in retrieval without consideration of PAN have demonstrated the existence of PAN signatures in MIPAS spectra obtained from polluted air masses. The analysed dataset consists of 10 days between 4 October and 1 December 2003. This period covers the end of the biomass burning season in South America and South and East Africa, in which generally large amounts of pollutants are produced and distributed over wide areas in the southern hemispheric free troposphere. Elevated PAN amounts of 200–700 pptv were measured in a large plume extending from Brasil over the Southern Atlantic, Central and South Africa, the South Indian Ocean as far as Australia at altitudes between 8 and 16 km. Enhanced PAN values were also found in a much more restricted area between northern subtropical Africa and India. The most significant northern midlatitude PAN signal in MIPAS data is an area extending at 8 km altitude from China into the Chinese Sea. The average mid and high latitude PAN amounts found at 8 km were around 125 pptv in the northern, but only between 75 and 50 pptv in the southern hemisphere. The PAN distribution found in the southern hemispheric tropics and subtropics is highly correlated with the jointly fitted acetylene (C2H2), which is another pollutant produced by biomass burning, and agrees reasonably well with the CO plume detected during end of September 2003 at the 275 hPa level (~10 km) by the Measurement of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) instrument on the Terra satellite. Similar southern hemispheric PAN amounts were also observed by previous airborne measurements performed in September/October 1992 and 1996 above the South Atlantic and the South Pacific, respectively.

scholarly journals Analysis of new species retrieved from MIPAS

2014 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaomin Cai ◽  
Anu Dudhia
Keyword(s):  
Fourier Transform ◽  
New Species ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Trace Gases ◽  
Michelson Interferometer ◽  
Emission Spectra ◽  
Fourier Transform Spectrometer ◽  
Mid Infrared ◽  
The Third ◽  
Atmospheric Sounding

The Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) instrument which operated on the Envisat satellite from 2002-2012 is a Fourier transform spectrometer for the measurement of high-resolution gaseous emission spectra at the Earth's limb. It operates in the near- to mid-infrared, where many of the main atmospheric trace gases have important emission features. The initial operational products were profiles of Temperature, H2O, O3, CH4, N2O, HNO3, and NO2, and this list was recently extended to include N2O5, ClONO2, CFC-11 and CFC-12. Here we present preliminary results of retrievals of the third set of species under consideration for inclusion in the operational processor: HCN, CF4, HCFC-22, COF2 and CCl4.

scholarly journals Bias determination and precision validation of ozone profiles from MIPAS-Envisat retrieved with the IMK-IAA processor

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (13) ◽  
pp. 3639-3662 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Steck ◽  
T. von Clarmann ◽  
H. Fischer ◽  
B. Funke ◽  
N. Glatthor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stratospheric Ozone ◽  
Michelson Interferometer ◽  
High Spectral Resolution ◽  
Vapor Concentration ◽  
Atmospheric Sounding ◽  
Mean Differences ◽  
Microwave Radiometers ◽  
Vertical Ozone ◽  
Vertical Ozone Profiles ◽  
Polar Ozone

Abstract. This paper characterizes vertical ozone profiles retrieved with the IMK-IAA (Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research, Karlsruhe – Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia) science-oriented processor from high spectral resolution data (until March 2004) measured by the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) aboard the environmental satellite Envisat. Bias determination and precision validation is performed on the basis of correlative measurements by ground-based lidars, Fourier transform infrared spectrometers, and microwave radiometers as well as balloon-borne ozonesondes, the balloon-borne version of MIPAS, and two satellite instruments (Halogen Occultation Experiment and Polar Ozone and Aerosol Measurement III). Percentage mean differences between MIPAS and the comparison instruments for stratospheric ozone are generally within ±10%. The precision in this altitude region is estimated at values between 5 and 10% which gives an accuracy of 15 to 20%. Below 18 km, the spread of the percentage mean differences is larger and the precision degrades to values of more than 20% depending on altitude and latitude. The main reason for the degraded precision at low altitudes is attributed to undetected thin clouds which affect MIPAS retrievals, and to the influence of uncertainties in the water vapor concentration.

scholarly journals Evaluation of water vapour assimilation in the tropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere by a chemical transport model

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 4355-4373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Swagata Payra ◽  
Philippe Ricaud ◽  
Rachid Abida ◽  
Laaziz El Amraoui ◽  
Jean-Luc Attié ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapour ◽  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Michelson Interferometer ◽  
Model Space ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Chemical Transport Model ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Sensitivity Studies

Abstract. The present analysis deals with one of the most debated aspects of the studies on the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere (UTLS), namely the budget of water vapour (H2O) at the tropical tropopause. Within the French project “Multiscale water budget in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere in the TROpics” (TRO-pico), a global-scale analysis has been set up based on space-borne observations, models and assimilation techniques. The MOCAGE-VALENTINA assimilation tool has been used to assimilate the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) version 3.3 H2O measurements within the 316–5 hPa range from August 2011 to March 2013 with an assimilation window of 1 h. Diagnostics based on observations minus analysis and forecast are developed to assess the quality of the assimilated H2O fields. Comparison with an independent source of H2O measurements in the UTLS based on the space-borne Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) observations and with meteorological ARPEGE analyses is also shown. Sensitivity studies of the analysed fields have been performed by (1) considering periods when no MLS measurements are available and (2) using H2O data from another MLS version (4.2). The studies have been performed within three different spaces in time and space coincidences with MLS (hereafter referred to as MLS space) and MIPAS (MIPAS space) observations and with the model (model space) outputs and at three different levels: 121 hPa (upper troposphere), 100 hPa (tropopause) and 68 hPa (lower stratosphere) in January and February 2012. In the MLS space, the analyses behave consistently with the MLS observations from the upper troposphere to the lower stratosphere. In the model space, the analyses are wetter than the reference atmosphere as represented by ARPEGE and MLS in the upper troposphere (121 hPa) and around the tropopause (100 hPa), but are consistent with MLS and MIPAS in the lower stratosphere (68 hPa). In the MIPAS space, the sensitivity and the vertical resolution of the MIPAS data set at 121 and 100 hPa prevent assessment of the behaviour of the analyses at 121 and 100 hPa, particularly over intense convective areas as the South American, the African and the Maritime continents but, in the lower stratosphere (68 hPa), the analyses are very consistent with MIPAS. Sensitivity studies show the improvement on the H2O analyses in the tropical UTLS when assimilating space-borne measurements of better quality, particularly over the convective areas.

scholarly journals Trends in peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere over southern Asia during the summer monsoon season: regional impacts

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (23) ◽  
pp. 12725-12743 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Fadnavis ◽  
M. G. Schultz ◽  
K. Semeniuk ◽  
A. S. Mahajan ◽  
L. Pozzoli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
Monsoon Season ◽  
Michelson Interferometer ◽  
Temporal Trends ◽  
Nox Emissions ◽  
Summer Monsoon Season ◽  
Peroxyacetyl Nitrate ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
India And China

Abstract. We analyze temporal trends of peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) retrievals from the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) during 2002–2011 in the altitude range 8–23 km over the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) region. The greatest enhancements of PAN mixing ratios in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) are seen during the summer monsoon season from June to September. During the monsoon season, the mole fractions of PAN show statistically significant (at 2σ) positive trends from 0.2 ± 0.05 to 4.6 ± 3.1 ppt yr−1 (except between 12 and 14 km) which is higher than the annual mean trends of 0.1 ± 0.05 to 2.7 ± 0.8 ppt yr−1. These rising concentrations point to increasing NOx (= NO + NO2) and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from developing nations in Asia, notably India and China. We analyze the influence of monsoon convection on the distribution of PAN in UTLS with simulations using the global chemistry–climate model ECHAM5-HAMMOZ. During the monsoon, transport into the UTLS over the Asian region primarily occurs from two convective zones, one the South China Sea and the other over the southern flank of the Himalayas. India and China host NOx-limited regimes for ozone photochemical production, and thus we use the model to evaluate the contributions from enhanced NOx emissions to the changes in PAN, HNO3 and O3 concentrations in the UTLS. From a set of sensitivity experiments with emission changes in particular regions, it can be concluded that Chinese emissions have a greater impact on the concentrations of these species than Indian emissions. According to SCanning Imaging Absorption SpectroMeter for Atmospheric CHartographY (SCIAMACHY) NO2 retrievals NOx emissions increases over India have been about half of those over China between 2002 and 2011.

scholarly journals A non-iterative linear retrieval for infrared high resolution limb sounders

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 721-766
Author(s):  
L. Millán ◽  
A. Dudhia
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Computing Time ◽  
Michelson Interferometer ◽  
High Spectral Resolution ◽  
Radiative Transfer Model ◽  
Spectral Signature ◽  
Transfer Model ◽  
Gas Concentration ◽  
Atmospheric Sounding ◽  
Retrieval Scheme

Abstract. Currently most of the high spectral resolution infrared limb sounders use subsets of the recorded spectra (microwindows) in their retrieval schemes to reduce the computing time of rerunning the radiative transfer model. A fast linear retrieval scheme is described which allows the whole spectral signature of the target molecule to be used. We determine how close the linearisation point needs to be to the solution in order to fall in the linear regime and also suggest an adjustment to the forward model and Jacobians to propagate the change in pressure and temperature on the gas concentration retrievals. As an example, this technique is implemented for the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding instrument, but it is applicable to any high resolution limb sounder.

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