IAGOS Research Infrastructure for Global-Scale Atmosphere Monitoring by Instrumented Passenger Aircraft

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Petzold ◽  
Valerie Thouret ◽  
Christoph Gerbig ◽  
Andreas Zahn ◽  
Martin Gallagher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Relative Humidity ◽  
Water Vapour ◽  
Research Infrastructure ◽  
Good Resolution ◽  
European Research ◽  
Commercial Aircraft ◽  
High Quality

<p>IAGOS (www.iagos.org) is a European Research Infrastructure using commercial aircraft (Airbus A340, A330, and soon A350) for automatic and routine measurements of atmospheric composition including reactive gases (ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds), greenhouse gases (water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane), aerosols and cloud particles along with essential thermodynamic parameters. The main objective of IAGOS is to provide the most complete set of high-quality essential climate variables (ECV) covering several decades for the long-term monitoring of climate and air quality. The observations are stored in the IAGOS data centre along with added-value products to facilitate the scientific interpretation of the data. IAGOS began as two European projects, MOZAIC and CARIBIC, in the early 1990s. These projects demonstrated that commercial aircraft are ideal platforms for routine atmospheric measurements. IAGOS then evolved as a European Research Infrastructure offering a mature and sustainable organization for the benefits of the scientific community and for the operational services in charge of air quality and climate change issues such as the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Services (CAMS) and the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). IAGOS is also a contributing network of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).</p> <p>IAGOS provides measurements of numerous chemical compounds which are recorded simultaneously in the critical region of the upper troposphere – lower stratosphere (UTLS) and geographical regions such as Africa and the mid-Pacific which are poorly sampled by other means. The data are used by hundreds of groups worldwide performing data analysis for climatology and trend studies, model evaluation, satellite validation and the study of detailed chemical and physical processes around the tropopause. IAGOS data also play an important role in the re-assessment of the climate impact of aviation.</p> <p>Most important in the context of weather-related research, IAGOS and its predecessor programmes provide long-term observations of water vapour and relative humidity with respect to ice in the UTLS as well as throughout the tropospheric column during climb-out and descending phases around airports, now for more than 25 years. The high quality and very good resolution of IAGOS observations of relative humidity over ice are used to better understand the role of water vapour and of ice-supersaturated air masses in the tropopause region and to improve their representation in numerical weather and climate forecasting models. Furthermore, CAMS is using the water vapour vertical profiles in near real time for the continuous validation of the CAMS atmospheric models. </p>

The IAGOS Research Infrastructure for monitoring atmospheric composition and air quality using commercial aircraft

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Clark ◽  
Iagos Team
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Research Infrastructure ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Commercial Aircraft ◽  
Air Quality Prediction ◽  
Major Interest ◽  
Automated Instruments ◽  
Monitoring Service

<p>IAGOS (In-service Aircraft for a Global Observing System) is a European Research Infrastructure for global observations of atmospheric composition using commercial aircraft. Commercial aircraft are ideal platforms for providing long-term in-situ measurements with high vertical and temporal resolution, particularly at cruise altitude (between 9 and 13 km) in the climate-sensitive region of the atmosphere known as the upper troposphere-lower stratosphere (UTLS). IAGOS also provides landing and take-off profiles at almost 300 airports throughout the world which are of major interest for air quality issues. Fully automated instruments are permanently installed on Airbus A330 aircraft operated by different airlines. Data are collected on about 500 flights per aircraft per year. All the aircraft measure the abundances of many essential climate variables, chiefly ozone and the precursor carbon monoxide, water vapour, clouds and meteorological parameters. Additional instruments can be installed to measure nitrogen oxides, aerosols, or the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane. The data are transmitted in near to real real time to weather services and are freely available for the scientific community, national air quality prediction centres and the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS). We describe the importance of these measurements in the monitoring of global atmospheric composition and air quality. I<span>n particular, we show examples from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) where IAGOS data are used in the evaluation and improvement of forecasts of air quality over Europe, and discuss how the development of the IAGOS data transmission and instrumentation may fertilize infrastructure development for other airborne platforms.</span></p>

scholarly journals Lyell, the Geikies and Croll's observations on terrestrial glacial sediments and landforms

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
James ROSE
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Glacial Sediments ◽  
Direct Observations ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status ◽  
Social And Physical Environment ◽  
Glacial Landforms

ABSTRACT Within the context of the work and achievements of James Croll, this paper reviews the records of direct observations of glacial landforms and sediments made by Charles Lyell, Archibald and James Geikie and James Croll himself, in order to evaluate their contributions to the sciences of glacial geology and Quaternary environmental change. The paper outlines the social and physical environment of Croll's youth and contrasts this with the status and experiences of Lyell and the Geikies. It also outlines the character and role of the ‘Glasgow School’ of geologists, who stimulated Croll's interest into the causes of climate change and directed his focus to the glacial and ‘interglacial’ deposits of central Scotland. Contributions are outlined in chronological order, drawing attention to: (i) Lyell's high-quality observations and interpretations of glacial features in Glen Clova and Strathmore and his subsequent rejection of the glacial theory in favour of processes attributed to floating icebergs; (ii) the significant impact of Archibald Geikie's 1863 paper on the ‘glacial drift of Scotland’, which firmly established the land-ice theory; (iii) the fact that, despite James Croll's inherent dislike of geology and fieldwork, he provided high-quality descriptions and interpretations of the landforms and sediments of central Scotland in order to test his theory of climate change; and (iv) the great communication skills of James Geikie, enhanced by contacts and evidence from around the world. It is concluded that whilst direct observations of glacial landforms and sediments were critical to the long-term development of the study of glaciation, the acceptance of this theory was dependent also upon the skills, personality and status of the Geikies and Croll, who developed and promoted the concepts. Sadly, the subsequent rejection of the land-ice concept by Lyell resulted in the same factors challenging the acceptance of the glacial theory.

scholarly journals Effects of Climate Change on Epidemics of Powdery Mildew in Winter Wheat in China

Plant Disease ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 101 (10) ◽  
pp. 1753-1760 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiuli Tang ◽  
Xueren Cao ◽  
Xiangming Xu ◽  
Yuying Jiang ◽  
Yong Luo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Relative Humidity ◽  
Powdery Mildew ◽  
Winter Wheat ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Temperature Changes ◽  
Disease Epidemics

Powdery mildew is a highly destructive winter wheat pathogen in China. Since the causative agent is sensitive to changing weather conditions, we analyzed climatic records from regions with previous wheat powdery mildew epidemics (1970 to 2012) and investigated the long-term effects of climate change on the percent acreage (PA) of the disease. Then, using PA and the pathogen’s temperature requirements, we constructed a multiregression model to predict changes in epidemics during the 2020s, 2050s, and 2080s under representative concentration pathways RCP2.6, RCP4.5, and RCP8.5. Mean monthly air temperature increased from 1970 to 2012, whereas hours of sunshine and relative humidity decreased (P < 0.001). Year-to-year temperature changes were negatively associated with those of PA during oversummering and late spring periods of disease epidemics, whereas positive relationships were noted for other periods, and year-to-year changes in relative humidity were correlated with PA changes in the early spring period of disease epidemics (P < 0.001). Our models also predicted that PA would increase less under RCP2.6 (14.43%) than under RCP4.5 (14.51%) by the 2020s but would be higher by the 2050s and 2080s and would increase least under RCP8.5 (14.37% by the 2020s). Powdery mildew will, thus, pose an even greater threat to China’s winter wheat production in the future.

Climatology of the relative humidity in the Carpathian Valley

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anikó Cséplő ◽  
István Geresdi ◽  
Ákos Horváth
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Relative Humidity ◽  
Meteorological Station ◽  
Seasonal Trends ◽  
Annual Trend ◽  
Changing Climate ◽  
It Impacts

&lt;p&gt;The reports about the climate change mostly focus about the trend of the temperature or precipitation. However, the relative humidity is also an important characteristic of the atmosphere, e.g. it impacts both the cloud and fog formation. The trends of the relative humidity in the changing climate have been found to be rather uncertain. &amp;#160;In this research the climatological trend of the relative humidity in the Carpathian Valley was studied. Analysis of the long-term observed database from eight meteorological stations was used to present the annual and seasonal trends of the relative humidity. The annual trend was found to be between 2-3% in every meteorological station. The results show that the relative humidity has decreased every season but in autumn, when the trend of it has not been consistent. While the most significant decrease has been occurred during spring, the decrease was negligible during autumn.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals A multi-site techniques intercomparison of integrated water vapour observations for climate change analysis

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 1075-1151 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Van Malderen ◽  
H. Brenot ◽  
E. Pottiaux ◽  
S. Beirle ◽  
C. Hermans ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Vapour ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
International Gnss Service ◽  
Change Analysis ◽  
Integrated Water Vapour ◽  
Sun Photometer ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Water vapour plays a dominant role in the climate change debate. However, observing water vapour over a climatological time period in a consistent and homogeneous manner is challenging. At one hand, networks of ground-based instruments allowing to retrieve homogeneous Integrated Water Vapour (IWV) datasets are being set up. Typical examples are Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) observation networks such as the International GNSS Service (IGS), with continuous GPS (Global Positioning System) observations spanning over the last 15+ yr, and the AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET), providing long-term observations performed with standardized and well-calibrated sun photometers. On the other hand, satellite-based measurements of IWV already have a time span of over 10 yr (e.g. AIRS) or are being merged in order to create long-term time series (e.g. GOME, SCIAMACHY, and GOME-2). The present study aims at setting up a techniques intercomparison of IWV measurements from satellite devices (in the visible, GOME/SCIAMACHY/GOME-2, and in the thermal infrared, AIRS), in-situ measurements (radiosondes) and ground-based instruments (GPS, sun photometer), to assess the applicability of either dataset for water vapour trends analysis. To this end, we selected 28 sites worldwide at which GPS observations can directly be compared with coincident satellite IWV observations, together with sun photometer and/or radiosonde measurements. We found that the mean biases of the different techniques w.r.t. the GPS estimates vary only between −0.3 to 0.5 mm of IWV, but the small bias is accompanied by large Root Mean Square (RMS) values, especially for the satellite instruments. In particular, we analysed the impact of the presence of clouds on the techniques IWV agreement. Also, the influence of specific issues for each instrument on the intercomparison is investigated, e.g. the distance between the satellite ground pixel centre and the co-located ground-based station, the satellite scan angle, daytime/nighttime differences, etc. Furthermore, we checked if the properties of the IWV scatter plots between these different instruments are dependent on the geography and/or altitude of the station. We could only detect a clear dependency of the RMS, for all considered instruments, on latitude or mean IWV: the RMS of the IWV observations w.r.t. the GPS IWV retrievals decreases with increasing latitude and decreasing mean IWV.

scholarly journals A multi-site intercomparison of integrated water vapour observations for climate change analysis

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 2487-2512 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Van Malderen ◽  
H. Brenot ◽  
E. Pottiaux ◽  
S. Beirle ◽  
C. Hermans ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Vapour ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
International Gnss Service ◽  
Change Analysis ◽  
Integrated Water Vapour ◽  
Sun Photometer ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Water vapour plays a dominant role in the climate change debate. However, observing water vapour over a climatological time period in a consistent and homogeneous manner is challenging. On one hand, networks of ground-based instruments able to retrieve homogeneous integrated water vapour (IWV) data sets are being set up. Typical examples are Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) observation networks such as the International GNSS Service (IGS), with continuous GPS (Global Positioning System) observations spanning over the last 15+ years, and the AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET), providing long-term observations performed with standardized and well-calibrated sun photometers. On the other hand, satellite-based measurements of IWV already have a time span of over 10 years (e.g. AIRS) or are being merged to create long-term time series (e.g. GOME, SCIAMACHY, and GOME-2). This study performs an intercomparison of IWV measurements from satellite devices (in the visible, GOME/SCIAMACHY/GOME-2, and in the thermal infrared, AIRS), in situ measurements (radiosondes) and ground-based instruments (GPS, sun photometer), to assess their use in water vapour trends analysis. To this end, we selected 28 sites world-wide for which GPS observations can directly be compared with coincident satellite IWV observations, together with sun photometer and/or radiosonde measurements. The mean biases of the different techniques compared to the GPS estimates vary only between −0.3 to 0.5 mm of IWV. Nevertheless these small biases are accompanied by large standard deviations (SD), especially for the satellite instruments. In particular, we analysed the impact of clouds on the IWV agreement. The influence of specific issues for each instrument on the intercomparison is also investigated (e.g. the distance between the satellite ground pixel centre and the co-located ground-based station, the satellite scan angle, daytime/nighttime differences). Furthermore, we checked if the properties of the IWV scatter plots between these different instruments are dependent on the geography and/or altitude of the station. For all considered instruments, the only dependency clearly detected is with latitude: the SD of the IWV observations with respect to the GPS IWV retrievals decreases with increasing latitude and decreasing mean IWV.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document