scholarly journals Relationships between convective structure and transport of aerosols to the upper troposphere deduced from satellite observations

2015 ◽  
Vol 120 (13) ◽  
pp. 6515-6536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudip Chakraborty ◽  
Rong Fu ◽  
Jonathon S. Wright ◽  
Steven T. Massie
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Convective Structure

scholarly journals Effect of tropical cyclones on the Stratosphere-Troposphere Exchange observed using satellite observations over north Indian Ocean

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Venkat Ratnam ◽  
S. Ravindra Babu ◽  
S. S. Das ◽  
Ghouse Basha ◽  
B. V. Krishnamurthy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
North Indian Ocean ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Tropical cyclones play an important role in modifying the tropopause structure and dynamics as well as stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE) process in the Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere (UTLS) region. In the present study, the impact of cyclones that occurred over the North Indian Ocean during 2007–2013 on the STE process is quantified using satellite observations. Tropopause characteristics during cyclones are obtained from the Global Positioning System (GPS) Radio Occultation (RO) measurements and ozone and water vapor concentrations in UTLS region are obtained from Aura-Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) satellite observations. The effect of cyclones on the tropopause parameters is observed to be more prominent within 500 km from the centre of cyclone. In our earlier study we have observed decrease (increase) in the tropopause altitude (temperature) up to 0.6 km (3 K) and the convective outflow level increased up to 2 km. This change leads to a total increase in the tropical tropopause layer (TTL) thickness of 3 km within the 500 km from the centre of cyclone. Interestingly, an enhancement in the ozone mixing ratio in the upper troposphere is clearly noticed within 500 km from cyclone centre whereas the enhancement in the water vapor in the lower stratosphere is more significant on south-east side extending from 500–1000 km away from the cyclone centre. We estimated the cross-tropopause mass flux for different intensities of cyclones and found that the mean flux from stratosphere to troposphere for cyclonic stroms is 0.05 ± 0.29 × 10−3 kg m−2 and for very severe cyclonic stroms it is 0.5 ± 1.07 × 10−3 kg m−2. More downward flux is noticed in the north-west and south-west side of the cyclone centre. These results indicate that the cyclones have significant impact in effecting the tropopause structure, ozone and water vapour budget and consequentially the STE in the UTLS region.

scholarly journals A method for evaluating spatially-resolved NO<sub>x</sub> emissions using Kalman filter inversion, direct sensitivities, and space-based NO<sub>2</sub> observations

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (18) ◽  
pp. 5603-5614 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. L. Napelenok ◽  
R. W. Pinder ◽  
A. B. Gilliland ◽  
R. V. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Direct Method ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Regional Model ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Spatially Resolved ◽  
Scanning Imaging ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

Abstract. An inverse modeling method was developed and tested for identifying possible biases in emission inventories using satellite observations. The relationships between emission inputs and modeled ambient concentrations were estimated using sensitivities calculated with the decoupled direct method in three dimensions (DDM-3D) implemented within the framework of the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) regional model. As a case study to test the approach, the method was applied to regional ground-level NOx emissions in the southeastern United States as constrained by observations of NO2 column densities derived from the Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography (SCIAMACHY) satellite instrument. A controlled "pseudodata" scenario with a known solution was used to establish that the methodology can achieve the correct solution, and the approach was then applied to a summer 2004 period where the satellite data are available. The results indicate that emissions biases differ in urban and rural areas of the southeast. The method suggested slight downward (less than 10%) adjustment to urban emissions, while rural region results were found to be highly sensitive to NOx processes in the upper troposphere. As such, the bias in the rural areas is likely not solely due to biases in the ground-level emissions. It was found that CMAQ was unable to predict the significant level of NO2 in the upper troposphere that was observed during the NASA Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment (INTEX) measurement campaign. The best correlation between satellite observations and modeled NO2 column densities, as well as comparison to ground-level observations of NO2, was obtained by performing the inverse while accounting for the significant presence of NO2 in the upper troposphere not captured by the regional model.

scholarly journals Seasonal stratospheric intrusion of ozone in the upper troposphere over India

2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (11) ◽  
pp. 2149-2159 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Fadnavis ◽  
T. Chakraborty ◽  
G. Beig
Keyword(s):  
Relative Humidity ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Vertical Profiles ◽  
Mixing Ratio ◽  
Regular Feature ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Chemical Tracers ◽  
Earth Observing System ◽  
Stratospheric Intrusion ◽  
Downward Propagation

Abstract. The Model for Ozone and Related chemical Tracers-2 (MOZART-2) is used to examine the evolution of pollutant O3 in the upper troposphere over the Indian region. Vertical profiles of ozone mixing ratio retrieved from Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) aboard Earth Observing System (EOS) AURA satellite for the period 2005–2009 and Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) aboard (EOS) AURA for the period 2006–2007 has been analyzed. The satellite observations reveal the evidence of downward propagation of ozone (100–200 ppb) due to stratospheric intrusion during the winter and pre-monsoon seasons. The regular feature of enhancement of ozone in the upper troposphere over India is presented. Results obtained by the MOZART-2 simulations (for years 2000–2005) confirm the observations and indicate stratospheric intrusion of O3 during winter and pre-monsoon seasons. Observed enhanced O3 mixing ratio in the upper troposphere is explained by, variation of Potential Vorticity (PV), tropopause pressure, relative humidity and CO-O3 correlation.

Evaluation of model-simulated upper troposphere humidity using 6.7 μm satellite observations

1997 ◽  
Vol 102 (D22) ◽  
pp. 25737-25749 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas A. Spangenberg ◽  
Gerald G. Mace ◽  
Thomas P. Ackerman ◽  
Nelson L. Seaman ◽  
Brian J. Soden
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Upper Troposphere

scholarly journals The Global Distribution of Supersaturation in the Upper Troposphere from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder

2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (23) ◽  
pp. 6089-6103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Gettelman ◽  
Eric J. Fetzer ◽  
Annmarie Eldering ◽  
Fredrick W. Irion
Keyword(s):  
Relative Humidity ◽  
Storm Track ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder ◽  
Temperature Variance ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Tropical Tropopause ◽  
Global Coverage ◽  
Higher Temperature

Abstract Satellite data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) is analyzed to examine regions of the upper troposphere that are supersaturated: where the relative humidity (RH) is greater than 100%. AIRS data compare well to other in situ and satellite observations of RH and provide daily global coverage up to 200 hPa, though satellite observations of supersaturation are highly uncertain. The climatology of supersaturation is analyzed statistically to understand where supersaturation occurs and how frequently. Supersaturation occurs in humid regions of the upper tropical tropopause near convection 10%–20% of the time at 200 hPa. Supersaturation is very frequent in the extratropical upper troposphere, occurring 20%–40% of the time, and over 50% of the time in storm track regions below the tropopause. The annual cycle of supersaturation is consistent for the ∼2.5 yr of data analyzed. More supersaturation is seen in the Southern Hemisphere midlatitudes, which may be attributed to higher temperature variance.

scholarly journals The impact of orbital sampling, monthly averaging and vertical resolution on climate chemistry model evaluation with satellite observations

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 9705-9742
Author(s):  
A. M. Aghedo ◽  
K. W. Bowman ◽  
D. T. Shindell ◽  
G. Faluvegi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Carbon Monoxide ◽  
Water Vapour ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Atmospheric Temperature ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Vertical Resolution ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Ensemble climate model simulations used for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessments have become important tools for exploring the response of the Earth System to changes in anthropogenic and natural forcings. The systematic evaluation of these models through global satellite observations is a critical step in assessing the uncertainty of climate change projections. This paper presents the technical steps required for using nadir sun-synchronous infrared satellite observations for multi-model evaluation and the uncertainties associated with each step. This is motivated by need to use satellite observations to evaluate climate models. We quantified the implications of the effect of satellite orbit and spatial coverage, the effect of variations in vertical sensitivity as quantified by the observation operator and the impact of averaging the operators for use with monthly-mean model output. We calculated these biases in ozone, carbon monoxide, atmospheric temperature and water vapour by using the output from two global chemistry climate models (ECHAM5-MOZ and GISS-PUCCINI) and the observations from the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) satellite from January 2005 to December 2008. The results show that sampling and monthly averaging of the observation operators produce biases of less than ±3% for ozone and carbon monoxide throughout the entire troposphere in both models. Water vapour sampling biases were also within the insignificant range of ±3% (that is ±0.14 g kg−1) in both models. Sampling led to a temperature bias of ±0.3 K over the tropical and mid-latitudes in both models, and up to −1.4 K over the boundary layer in the higher latitudes. Using the monthly average of temperature and water vapour operators lead to large biases over the boundary layer in the southern-hemispheric higher latitudes and in the upper troposphere, respectively. Up to 8% bias was calculated in the upper troposphere water vapour due to monthly-mean operators, which may impact the detection of water vapour feedback in response to global warming. Our results reveal the importance of using the averaging kernel and the a priori profiles to account for the limited vertical resolution of a nadir observation during model application. Neglecting the observation operators resulted in large biases, which are more than 60% for ozone, ±30% for carbon monoxide, and range between −1.5 K and 5 K for atmospheric temperature, and between −60% and 100% for water vapour.

scholarly journals Methane plume over South Asia during the monsoon season: satellite observation and model simulation

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 13453-13478 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Xiong ◽  
S. Houweling ◽  
J. Wei ◽  
E. Maddy ◽  
F. Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
Transport Process ◽  
Model Simulation ◽  
Monsoon Season ◽  
Satellite Observation ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Atmospheric Pollutants ◽  
Local Surface ◽  
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder ◽  
Upper Troposphere

Abstract. Satellite observations of methane (CH4) using the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on the EOS/Aqua platform from 2003–2007 demonstrate a strong, plume-like enhancement of CH4 in the middle to upper troposphere over the South Asia during July, August and September, and its maximum occurs in early September. Simulations using the global tracer model version 3 (TM3) also show similar seasonal enhancement of CH4 in the same region. The model results also suggest that this enhancement is associated with transport process and local surface emissions, thus the observations to tropospheric CH4during the monsoon season may be used to constrain the models for a better estimation of Asian CH4 sources. Further comparisons between AIRS observations and the model simulations indicate a possible overestimate of CH4 emissions from rice paddies in Southeast Asia. Moreover, the observed tropospheric CH4 enhancement from AIRS provides evidence for the strong transport of atmospheric pollutants from the lower to the upper troposphere in Asia during the monsoon season, and the observed rapid disappearance of local CH4 maximum in September may provide valuable information for studying the dissipation of the Tibetan anticyclone and the withdrawal of monsoon.

scholarly journals The impact of orbital sampling, monthly averaging and vertical resolution on climate chemistry model evaluation with satellite observations

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (13) ◽  
pp. 6493-6514 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Aghedo ◽  
K. W. Bowman ◽  
D. T. Shindell ◽  
G. Faluvegi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Carbon Monoxide ◽  
Water Vapour ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Atmospheric Temperature ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Vertical Resolution ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Ensemble climate model simulations used for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessments have become important tools for exploring the response of the Earth System to changes in anthropogenic and natural forcings. The systematic evaluation of these models through global satellite observations is a critical step in assessing the uncertainty of climate change projections. This paper presents the technical steps required for using nadir sun-synchronous infrared satellite observations for multi-model evaluation and the uncertainties associated with each step. This is motivated by need to use satellite observations to evaluate climate models. We quantified the implications of the effect of satellite orbit and spatial coverage, the effect of variations in vertical sensitivity as quantified by the observation operator and the impact of averaging the operators for use with monthly-mean model output. We calculated these biases in ozone, carbon monoxide, atmospheric temperature and water vapour by using the output from two global chemistry climate models (ECHAM5-MOZ and GISS-PUCCINI) and the observations from the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) instrument on board the NASA-Aura satellite from January 2005 to December 2008. The results show that sampling and monthly averaging of the observation operators produce zonal-mean biases of less than ±3 % for ozone and carbon monoxide throughout the entire troposphere in both models. Water vapour sampling zonal-mean biases were also within the insignificant range of ±3 % (that is ±0.14 g kg−1) in both models. Sampling led to a temperature zonal-mean bias of ±0.3 K over the tropical and mid-latitudes in both models, and up to −1.4 K over the boundary layer in the higher latitudes. Using the monthly average of temperature and water vapour operators lead to large biases over the boundary layer in the southern-hemispheric higher latitudes and in the upper troposphere, respectively. Up to 8 % bias was calculated in the upper troposphere water vapour due to monthly-mean operators, which may impact the detection of water vapour feedback in response to global warming. Our results reveal the importance of using the averaging kernel and the a priori profiles to account for the limited vertical resolution and clouds of a nadir observation during model application. Neglecting the observation operators resulted in large biases, which are more than 60 % for ozone, ±30 % for carbon monoxide, and range between −1.5 K and 5 K for atmospheric temperature, and between −60 % and 100 % for water vapour.

scholarly journals Comparison between Satellite Water Vapour Observations and Atmospheric Models’ Predictions of the Upper Tropospheric Thermal Radiation

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
J. R. Dim ◽  
T. Y. Nakajima ◽  
T. Takamura ◽  
N. Kikuchi
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapour ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Department Of Energy ◽  
Atmospheric Models ◽  
Effective Emissivity ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
Low Clouds ◽  
The Impact

Atmospheric profiles (temperature, pressure, and humidity) are commonly used parameters for aerosols and cloud properties retrievals. In preparation of the launch of the Global Change Observation Mission-Climate/Second-Generation GLobal Imager (GCOM-C/SGLI) satellite, an evaluation study on the sensitivity of atmospheric models to variations of atmospheric conditions is conducted. In this evaluation, clear sky and above low clouds water vapour radiances of the upper troposphere obtained from satellite observations and those simulated by atmospheric models are compared. The models studied are the Nonhydrostatic ICosahedral Atmospheric Model (NICAM) and the National Center for Environmental Protection/Department Of Energy (NCEP/DOE). The satellite observations are from the Terra/Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (Terra/MODIS) satellite. The simulations performed are obtained through a forward radiative transfer calculation procedure. The resulting radiances are transformed into the upper tropospheric brightness temperature (UTBT) and relative humidity (UTRH). The discrepancies between the simulated data and the observations are analyzed. These analyses show that both the NICAM and the NCEP/DOE simulated UTBT and UTRH have comparable distribution patterns. However the simulations’ differences with the observations are generally lower with the NCEP/DOE than with the NICAM. The NCEP/DOE model outputs very often overestimate the UTBT and therefore present a drier upper troposphere. The impact of the lower troposphere instability (dry convection) on the upper tropospheric moisture and the consequences on the models’ results are evaluated through a thunderstorm and moisture predictor (the K-stability index). The results obtained show a positive relation between the instability and the root mean square error (RMSE: observation versus models). The study of the impact of convective clouds shows that the area covered by these clouds increases with the humidity of the upper troposphere in clear sky and above low clouds, and at the same time, the error between the observations and the models also increases. The impact of the above low clouds heat distribution on the models is studied through the relation between the low clouds cover and their effective emissivity. The models’ error appears to be high at midrange effective emissivity clouds.

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