Evaluating modelled tropospheric columns of CH4, CO, and O3 in the Arctic using ground-based Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) measurements

• Published in: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
• Main Authors: Flood, Victoria, A, Strong, Kimberly, Whaley, Cynthia, H, Walker, Kaley, A, Blumenstock, Thomas, Hannigan, James, W, Mellqvist, Johan, Notholt, Justus, Palm, Mathias, Röhling, Amelie, N, Arnold, Stephen, Beagley, Stephen, Chien, Rong-You, Christensen, Jesper, Deushi, Makoto, Dobricic, Srdjan, Dong, Xinyi, Fu, Joshua, S, Gauss, Michael, Gong, Wanmin, Langner, Joakim, Law, Kathy S., Marelle, Louis, Onishi, Tatsuo, Oshima, Naga, Plummer, David, A, Pozzoli, Luca, Raut, Jean-Christophe, Thomas, Manu, A, Tsyro, Svetlana, Turnock, Steven
• Other Authors: Department of Physics Toronto, University of Toronto, Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis (CCCma), Environment and Climate Change Canada, Institut für Meteorologie und Klimaforschung - Atmosphärische Spurengase und Fernerkundung (IMK-ASF), Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder (NCAR), Chalmers University of Technology Göteborg, Institute of Environmental Physics Bremen (IUP), University of Bremen, Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science Leeds (ICAS), School of Earth and Environment Leeds (SEE), University of Leeds-University of Leeds, The University of Tennessee Knoxville, iCLIMATE Aarhus University Interdisciplinary Centre for Climate Change, Aarhus University Aarhus, Meteorological Research Institute Tsukuba (MRI), Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), European Commission - Joint Research Centre Geel (JRC), Norwegian Meteorological Institute Oslo (MET), Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), TROPO - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), FINCONS SPA, Met Office Hadley Centre (MOHC), United Kingdom Met Office Exeter
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2024
• Subjects: [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]; Arctic; Kiruna; Canada; Greenland; Norway; Eureka; AMAP; Thule
• Online Access: https://insu.hal.science/insu-04171742; https://insu.hal.science/insu-04171742v2/document; https://insu.hal.science/insu-04171742v2/file/acp-24-1079-2024.pdf; https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1079-2024

International audience This study evaluates tropospheric columns of methane, carbon monoxide, and ozone in the Arctic simulated by 11 models. The Arctic is warming at nearly 4 times the global average rate, and with changing emissions in and near the region, it is important to understand Arctic atmospheric composition and how it is changing. Both measurements and modelling of air pollution in the Arctic are difficult, making model validation with local measurements valuable. Evaluations are performed using data from five high-latitude ground-based Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometers in the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC). The models were selected as part of the 2021 Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) report on short-lived climate forcers. This work augments the model–measurement comparisons pre- sented in that report by including a new data source: column-integrated FTIR measurements, whose spatial and temporal footprint is more representative of the free troposphere than in situ and satellite measurements. Mixing ratios of trace gases are modelled at 3-hourly intervals by CESM, CMAM, DEHM, EMEP MSC-W, GEM- MACH, GEOS-Chem, MATCH, MATCH-SALSA, MRI-ESM2, UKESM1, and WRF-Chem for the years 2008, 2009, 2014, and 2015. The comparisons focus on the troposphere (0–7 km partial columns) at Eureka, Canada; Thule, Greenland; Ny Ålesund, Norway; Kiruna, Sweden; and Harestua, Norway. Overall, the models are biased low in the tropospheric column, on average by −9.7 % for CH4, −21 % for CO, and −18 % for O3. Results for CH4 are relatively consistent across the 4 years, whereas CO has a maximum negative bias in the spring and min- imum in the summer and O3 has a maximum difference centered around the summer. The average differences for the models are within the FTIR uncertainties for approximately 15 % of the model–location comparisons.