Intercomparison of CO measurements from TROPOMI, ACE-FTS, and a high-Arctic ground-based Fourier transform spectrometer

• Published in: Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
• Main Authors: Wizenberg, Tyler, Strong, Kimberly, Walker, Kaley, Lutsch, Erik, Borsdorff, Tobias, Landgraf, Jochen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2021
• Subjects: article; Verlagsveröffentlichung; Arctic; Eureka; Nunavut
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7707-2021; https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00059169; https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00058777/amt-14-7707-2021.pdf; https://amt.copernicus.org/articles/14/7707/2021/amt-14-7707-2021.pdf

The TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) provides a daily, spatially resolved (initially 7×7 km2, upgraded to 7×5.6 km2 in August 2019) global dataset of CO columns; however, due to the relative sparseness of reliable ground-based data sources, it can be challenging to characterize the validity and accuracy of satellite data products in remote regions such as the high Arctic. In these regions, satellite intercomparisons can supplement model- and ground-based validation efforts and serve to verify previously observed differences. In this paper, we compare the CO products from TROPOMI, the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS), and a high-Arctic ground-based FTS located at the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) in Eureka, Nunavut (80.05∘ N, 86.42∘ W). A global comparison of TROPOMI reference profiles scaled by the retrieved total column with ACE-FTS CO partial columns for the period from 28 November 2017 to 31 May 2020 displays excellent agreement between the two datasets (R=0.93) and a small relative bias of -0.83±0.26% (bias ± standard error of the mean). Additional comparisons were performed within five latitude bands: the north polar region (60 to 90∘ N), northern mid-latitudes (20 to 60∘ N), the equatorial region (20∘ S to 20∘ N), southern mid-latitudes (60 to 20∘ S), and the south polar region (90 to 60∘ S). Latitudinal comparisons of the TROPOMI and ACE-FTS CO datasets show strong correlations ranging from R=0.93 (southern mid-latitudes) to R=0.86 (equatorial region) between the CO products but display a dependence of the mean differences on latitude. Positive mean biases of 7.93±0.61 % and 7.21±0.52 % were found in the northern and southern polar regions, respectively, while a negative bias of -9.41±0.55% was observed in the equatorial region. To investigate whether these differences are introduced by cloud contamination, which is reflected in the TROPOMI averaging kernel shape, the latitudinal comparisons were repeated for cloud-covered ...