Cross-validation of IASI/MetOp derived tropospheric δD with TES and ground-based FTIR observations

• Published in: Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
• Main Authors: Lacour, Jean-Lionel, Clarisse, L., Worden, J., Schneider, M., Barthlott, S., Hase, F., Risi, C., Clerbaux, Cathy, Hurtmans, Daniel, Coheur, Pierre-François
• Other Authors: Spectroscopie de l'atmosphère, Service de Chimie Quantique et Photophysique, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA-California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539) (LMD), Département des Géosciences - ENS Paris, École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC)-École polytechnique (X)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC), TROPO - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2015
• Subjects: [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-AO-PH]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics [physics.ao-ph]; Arctic; Kiruna
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01082620; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01082620/document; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01082620/file/amt-8-1447-2015.pdf; https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-1447-2015

International audience The Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) flying on-board MetOpA and MetOpB is able to capture fine isotopic variations of the HDO to H2O ratio (δD) in the troposphere. Such observations at the high spatio temporal resolution of the sounder are of great interest to improve our understanding of the mechanisms controlling humidity in the troposphere. In this study we aim to empirically assess the validity of our error estimation previously evaluated theoretically. To achieve this, we compare IASI δD retrieved profiles with other available profiles of δD, from the TES infrared sounder onboard AURA and from three ground-based FTIR stations produced within the MUSICA project: the NDACC (Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change) sites Kiruna and Izana, and the TCCON site Karlsruhe, which in addition to near-infrared TCCON spectra also records mid-infrared spectra. We describe the achievable level of agreement between the different retrievals and show that these theoretical errors are in good agreement with empirical differences. The comparisons are made at different locations from tropical to Arctic latitudes, above sea and above land. Generally IASI and TES are similarly sensitive to δD in the free troposphere which allows to compare their measurements directly. At tropical latitudes where IASI's sensitivity is lower than that of TES, we show that the agreement improves when taking into account the sensitivity of IASI in the TES retrieval. For the comparison IASI-FTIR only direct comparisons are performed because of similar sensitivities. We identify a quasi negligible bias in the free troposphere (−3‰) between IASI retrieved δD with the TES one, which are bias corrected, but an important with the ground-based FTIR reaching −47‰. We also suggest that model-satellite observations comparisons could be optimized with IASI thanks to its high spatial and temporal sampling.