Articles | Volume 14, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-14-2715-2014
© Author(s) 2014. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-14-2715-2014
© Author(s) 2014. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
08 Oct 2014
Research article |
| 08 Oct 2014
Global patterns of lightning properties derived by OTD and LIS
S. Beirle
Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie, Mainz, Germany
W. Koshak
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama, USA
R. Blakeslee
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama, USA
T. Wagner
Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie, Mainz, Germany
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Holger Sihler, Steffen Beirle, Steffen Dörner, Marloes Gutenstein-Penning de Vries, Christoph Hörmann, Christian Borger, Simon Warnach, and Thomas Wagner
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Thomas Wagner, Steffen Dörner, Steffen Beirle, Sebastian Donner, and Stefan Kinne
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We compare measured and simulated O4 absorptions for conditions of extremely low aerosol optical depth, for which the uncertainties related to imperfect knowledge of aerosol properties do not significantly affect the comparison results. The simulations underestimate the measurements by 15 % to 20 %. Even if no aerosols are considered, the simulated O4 absorptions are systematically lower than the measurements. Our results indicate a fundamental inconsistency between simulations and measurements.
Thomas Wagner, Steffen Beirle, Steffen Dörner, Christian Borger, and Roeland Van Malderen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 5315–5353, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5315-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5315-2021, 2021
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Bianca Lauster, Steffen Dörner, Steffen Beirle, Sebastian Donner, Sergey Gromov, Katharina Uhlmannsiek, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 769–783, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-769-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-769-2021, 2021
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In urban areas, road traffic is a dominant source of nitrogen oxides. In this study, two multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) instruments on opposite sides of a motorway were used to measure the nitrogen dioxide absorption near Mainz, Germany. Total nitrogen oxide emissions are estimated for the occurring traffic flux. We show that the measured emissions systematically exceed the maximum expected emissions calculated from the European emission standards.
Jan-Lukas Tirpitz, Udo Frieß, François Hendrick, Carlos Alberti, Marc Allaart, Arnoud Apituley, Alkis Bais, Steffen Beirle, Stijn Berkhout, Kristof Bognar, Tim Bösch, Ilya Bruchkouski, Alexander Cede, Ka Lok Chan, Mirjam den Hoed, Sebastian Donner, Theano Drosoglou, Caroline Fayt, Martina M. Friedrich, Arnoud Frumau, Lou Gast, Clio Gielen, Laura Gomez-Martín, Nan Hao, Arjan Hensen, Bas Henzing, Christian Hermans, Junli Jin, Karin Kreher, Jonas Kuhn, Johannes Lampel, Ang Li, Cheng Liu, Haoran Liu, Jianzhong Ma, Alexis Merlaud, Enno Peters, Gaia Pinardi, Ankie Piters, Ulrich Platt, Olga Puentedura, Andreas Richter, Stefan Schmitt, Elena Spinei, Deborah Stein Zweers, Kimberly Strong, Daan Swart, Frederik Tack, Martin Tiefengraber, René van der Hoff, Michel van Roozendael, Tim Vlemmix, Jan Vonk, Thomas Wagner, Yang Wang, Zhuoru Wang, Mark Wenig, Matthias Wiegner, Folkard Wittrock, Pinhua Xie, Chengzhi Xing, Jin Xu, Margarita Yela, Chengxin Zhang, and Xiaoyi Zhao
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 1–35, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1-2021, 2021
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Multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) is a ground-based remote sensing measurement technique that derives atmospheric aerosol and trace gas vertical profiles from skylight spectra. In this study, consistency and reliability of MAX-DOAS profiles are assessed by applying nine different evaluation algorithms to spectral data recorded during an intercomparison campaign in the Netherlands and by comparing the results to colocated supporting observations.
Vinod Kumar, Steffen Beirle, Steffen Dörner, Abhishek Kumar Mishra, Sebastian Donner, Yang Wang, Vinayak Sinha, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 14183–14235, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14183-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14183-2020, 2020
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We present the first long-term MAX-DOAS measurements of aerosols, nitrogen dioxide and formaldehyde tropospheric columns, vertical distributions, and temporal variation from Mohali in the Indo-Gangetic Plain. We investigate the effect of various emission sources and meteorological conditions on the measured pollutants and how they control ozone formation. These measurements are also used to validate the corresponding satellite observations and are also compared against in situ observations.
Yang Wang, Arnoud Apituley, Alkiviadis Bais, Steffen Beirle, Nuria Benavent, Alexander Borovski, Ilya Bruchkouski, Ka Lok Chan, Sebastian Donner, Theano Drosoglou, Henning Finkenzeller, Martina M. Friedrich, Udo Frieß, David Garcia-Nieto, Laura Gómez-Martín, François Hendrick, Andreas Hilboll, Junli Jin, Paul Johnston, Theodore K. Koenig, Karin Kreher, Vinod Kumar, Aleksandra Kyuberis, Johannes Lampel, Cheng Liu, Haoran Liu, Jianzhong Ma, Oleg L. Polyansky, Oleg Postylyakov, Richard Querel, Alfonso Saiz-Lopez, Stefan Schmitt, Xin Tian, Jan-Lukas Tirpitz, Michel Van Roozendael, Rainer Volkamer, Zhuoru Wang, Pinhua Xie, Chengzhi Xing, Jin Xu, Margarita Yela, Chengxin Zhang, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 5087–5116, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5087-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5087-2020, 2020
Steven Compernolle, Tijl Verhoelst, Gaia Pinardi, José Granville, Daan Hubert, Arno Keppens, Sander Niemeijer, Bruno Rino, Alkis Bais, Steffen Beirle, Folkert Boersma, John P. Burrows, Isabelle De Smedt, Henk Eskes, Florence Goutail, François Hendrick, Alba Lorente, Andrea Pazmino, Ankie Piters, Enno Peters, Jean-Pierre Pommereau, Julia Remmers, Andreas Richter, Jos van Geffen, Michel Van Roozendael, Thomas Wagner, and Jean-Christopher Lambert
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 8017–8045, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8017-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8017-2020, 2020
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Tropospheric and stratospheric NO2 columns from the OMI QA4ECV NO2 satellite product are validated by comparison with ground-based measurements at 11 sites. The OMI stratospheric column has a small negative bias, and the OMI tropospheric column has a stronger negative bias relative to the ground-based data. Discrepancies are attributed to comparison errors (e.g. difference in horizontal smoothing) and measurement errors (e.g. clouds, aerosols, vertical smoothing and a priori profile assumptions).
Christian Borger, Steffen Beirle, Steffen Dörner, Holger Sihler, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 2751–2783, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2751-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2751-2020, 2020
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We present a total column water vapour (TCWV) retrieval analysing measurements from S-5P/TROPOMI in the visible blue spectral range. The retrieval can well capture the global water vapour distribution with similar sensitivity over the land and ocean and agrees well with various reference data sets within the estimated TCWV uncertainties of typically around 10 %–20 %.
Sebastian Donner, Jonas Kuhn, Michel Van Roozendael, Alkiviadis Bais, Steffen Beirle, Tim Bösch, Kristof Bognar, Ilya Bruchkouski, Ka Lok Chan, Steffen Dörner, Theano Drosoglou, Caroline Fayt, Udo Frieß, François Hendrick, Christian Hermans, Junli Jin, Ang Li, Jianzhong Ma, Enno Peters, Gaia Pinardi, Andreas Richter, Stefan F. Schreier, André Seyler, Kimberly Strong, Jan-Lukas Tirpitz, Yang Wang, Pinhua Xie, Jin Xu, Xiaoyi Zhao, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 685–712, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-685-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-685-2020, 2020
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The calibration of the elevation angles of MAX-DOAS instruments is important for the correct interpretation of such MAX-DOAS measurements. We present and evaluate different methods for the elevation calibration of MAX-DOAS instruments which were applied during the CINDI-2 field campaign.
Fei Liu, Bryan N. Duncan, Nickolay A. Krotkov, Lok N. Lamsal, Steffen Beirle, Debora Griffin, Chris A. McLinden, Daniel L. Goldberg, and Zifeng Lu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 99–116, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-99-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-99-2020, 2020
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We present a novel method to infer CO2 emissions from individual power plants, based on satellite observations of co-emitted NO2. We find that the CO2 emissions estimated by our satellite-based method during 2005–2017 are in reasonable agreement with the CEMS measurements for US power plants. The broader implication of our methodology is that it has the potential to provide an additional constraint on CO2 emissions from power plants in regions of the world without reliable emissions accounting.
Thomas Wagner, Steffen Beirle, Nuria Benavent, Tim Bösch, Ka Lok Chan, Sebastian Donner, Steffen Dörner, Caroline Fayt, Udo Frieß, David García-Nieto, Clio Gielen, David González-Bartolome, Laura Gomez, François Hendrick, Bas Henzing, Jun Li Jin, Johannes Lampel, Jianzhong Ma, Kornelia Mies, Mónica Navarro, Enno Peters, Gaia Pinardi, Olga Puentedura, Janis Puķīte, Julia Remmers, Andreas Richter, Alfonso Saiz-Lopez, Reza Shaiganfar, Holger Sihler, Michel Van Roozendael, Yang Wang, and Margarita Yela
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 2745–2817, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2745-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2745-2019, 2019
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In this study the consistency between MAX-DOAS measurements and radiative transfer simulations of the atmospheric O4 absorption is investigated. The study is based on measurements (2 selected days during the MADCAT campaign) as well as synthetic spectra. The uncertainties of all relevant aspects (spectral retrieval and radiative transfer simulations) are quantified. For one of the selected days, measurements and simulations do not agree within their uncertainties.
Udo Frieß, Steffen Beirle, Leonardo Alvarado Bonilla, Tim Bösch, Martina M. Friedrich, François Hendrick, Ankie Piters, Andreas Richter, Michel van Roozendael, Vladimir V. Rozanov, Elena Spinei, Jan-Lukas Tirpitz, Tim Vlemmix, Thomas Wagner, and Yang Wang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 2155–2181, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2155-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2155-2019, 2019
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Multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) is a widely used measurement technique for the detection of a variety of atmospheric trace gases. It enables the retrieval of aerosol and trace gas vertical profiles in the atmospheric boundary layer using appropriate retrieval algorithms. In this study, the ability of eight profile retrieval algorithms to reconstruct vertical profiles is assessed on the basis of synthetic measurements.
Steffen Beirle, Steffen Dörner, Sebastian Donner, Julia Remmers, Yang Wang, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 1785–1806, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1785-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1785-2019, 2019
Song Liu, Pieter Valks, Gaia Pinardi, Isabelle De Smedt, Huan Yu, Steffen Beirle, and Andreas Richter
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 1029–1057, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1029-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1029-2019, 2019
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Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) plays significant roles in both stratospheric and tropospheric chemistry, and the observations from satellites enable reliable monitoring of NO2 columns on a global scale and on long time scales. This work presents a refined algorithm for the retrieval of NO2 columns from the satellite instrument Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 (GOME-2), which shows a clear improvement comparing to the previous algorithm.
K. Folkert Boersma, Henk J. Eskes, Andreas Richter, Isabelle De Smedt, Alba Lorente, Steffen Beirle, Jos H. G. M. van Geffen, Marina Zara, Enno Peters, Michel Van Roozendael, Thomas Wagner, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Ronald J. van der A, Joanne Nightingale, Anne De Rudder, Hitoshi Irie, Gaia Pinardi, Jean-Christopher Lambert, and Steven C. Compernolle
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 6651–6678, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-6651-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-6651-2018, 2018
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This paper describes a new, improved data record of 22+ years of coherent nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution measurements from different satellite instruments. Our work helps to ensure that climate data are of sufficient quality to draw reliable conclusions and shape decisions. It shows how dedicated intercomparisons of retrieval sub-steps have led to improved NO2 measurements from the GOME, SCIAMACHY, GOME-2(A), and OMI sensors, and how quality assurance of the new data product is achieved.
Eloise A. Marais, Daniel J. Jacob, Sungyeon Choi, Joanna Joiner, Maria Belmonte-Rivas, Ronald C. Cohen, Steffen Beirle, Lee T. Murray, Luke D. Schiferl, Viral Shah, and Lyatt Jaeglé
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 17017–17027, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-17017-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-17017-2018, 2018
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We intercompare two new products of global upper tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2) retrieved from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI). We evaluate these products with aircraft observations from NASA DC8 aircraft campaigns and interpret the useful information these products can provide about nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the global upper troposphere using the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model.
Roeland Van Malderen, Eric Pottiaux, Gintautas Stankunavicius, Steffen Beirle, Thomas Wagner, Hugues Brenot, and Carine Bruyninx
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2018-1170, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2018-1170, 2018
Revised manuscript not accepted
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The study investigates the long-term time variability of the integrated water vapour retrieved by different techniques (GPS, UV/VIS satellites and numerical weather prediction reanalyses) for a global dataset of almost 120 sites and for the time period 1995–2010. A stepwise multiple linear regression technique is applied to ascribe the time variability of integrated water vapour to surface measurements at the sites, but also using teleconnection patterns or climate/oceanic indices.
Marina Zara, K. Folkert Boersma, Isabelle De Smedt, Andreas Richter, Enno Peters, Jos H. G. M. van Geffen, Steffen Beirle, Thomas Wagner, Michel Van Roozendael, Sergey Marchenko, Lok N. Lamsal, and Henk J. Eskes
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 4033–4058, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-4033-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-4033-2018, 2018
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Nitrogen dioxide and formaldehyde satellite data are used for air quality and climate studies. We quantify and characterise slant column uncertainties from different research groups. Our evaluation is motivated by recently improved techniques and by a desire to provide fully traceable uncertainty budget for climate records generated within the QA4ECV project. The improved slant columns are in agreement but with substantial differences in the reported uncertainties between groups and instruments.
Isabelle De Smedt, Nicolas Theys, Huan Yu, Thomas Danckaert, Christophe Lerot, Steven Compernolle, Michel Van Roozendael, Andreas Richter, Andreas Hilboll, Enno Peters, Mattia Pedergnana, Diego Loyola, Steffen Beirle, Thomas Wagner, Henk Eskes, Jos van Geffen, Klaas Folkert Boersma, and Pepijn Veefkind
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 2395–2426, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2395-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2395-2018, 2018
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This paper introduces the formaldehyde (HCHO) tropospheric vertical column retrieval algorithm implemented in the TROPOMI/Sentinel-5 Precursor operational processor, and comprehensively describes its various retrieval steps. Furthermore, algorithmic improvements developed in the framework of the EU FP7-project QA4ECV are described for future updates of the processor. Detailed error estimates are discussed in the light of Copernicus user requirements and needs for validation are highlighted.
Steffen Beirle, Johannes Lampel, Yang Wang, Kornelia Mies, Steffen Dörner, Margherita Grossi, Diego Loyola, Angelika Dehn, Anja Danielczok, Marc Schröder, and Thomas Wagner
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 10, 449–468, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-449-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-449-2018, 2018
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We present time series of the global distribution of water vapor over more than 2 decades based on satellite measurements from different sensors. A particular focus is the consistency amongst the different sensors to avoid jumps from one instrument to another. This is reached by applying robust and simple retrieval settings consistently. The resulting
Climateproduct allows the study of the temporal evolution of water vapor over the last 20 years on a global scale.
Johannes Lampel, Yang Wang, Andreas Hilboll, Steffen Beirle, Holger Sihler, Janis Puķīte, Ulrich Platt, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 4819–4831, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4819-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4819-2017, 2017
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Experience of differential atmospheric absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) shows that a spectral shift between measurement and reference spectrum is frequently required in order to achieve optimal fit results. The shift is often attributed to temporal instabilities of the instrument but implicitly solved the problem of the tilt effect discussed in this paper. The tilt effect results from the finite resolution of the measurements and amounts to 2 pm for the example data set.
Yang Wang, Steffen Beirle, Francois Hendrick, Andreas Hilboll, Junli Jin, Aleksandra A. Kyuberis, Johannes Lampel, Ang Li, Yuhan Luo, Lorenzo Lodi, Jianzhong Ma, Monica Navarro, Ivan Ortega, Enno Peters, Oleg L. Polyansky, Julia Remmers, Andreas Richter, Olga Puentedura, Michel Van Roozendael, André Seyler, Jonathan Tennyson, Rainer Volkamer, Pinhua Xie, Nikolai F. Zobov, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 3719–3742, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3719-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3719-2017, 2017
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Slant column densities of nitrous acid (HONO) derived from different MAX-DOAS instruments and retrieval software are systematically compared for the first time during the Multi Axis DOAS – Comparison campaign for Aerosols and Trace gases (MAD-CAT) campaign held at MPIC in Mainz, Germany, from June to October 2013. Through the inter-comparisons and sensitivity studies we quantified the uncertainties in the DOAS fits of HONO from different sources and concluded a recommended setting.
Fei Liu, Steffen Beirle, Qiang Zhang, Ronald J. van der A, Bo Zheng, Dan Tong, and Kebin He
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 9261–9275, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9261-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9261-2017, 2017
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We assess NOx emission trends over Chinese cities based on satellite NO2 observations using a method independent of chemical transport models. NOx emissions over 48 Chinese cities have decreased significantly since 2011. Cities with different dominant emission sources (i.e. power, industrial, and transportation sectors) showed variable emission decline timelines that corresponded to the schedules for emission control in different sectors.
Reza Shaiganfar, Steffen Beirle, Hugo Denier van der Gon, Sander Jonkers, Jeroen Kuenen, Herve Petetin, Qijie Zhang, Matthias Beekmann, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 7853–7890, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-7853-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-7853-2017, 2017
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We determine NOx emissions for Paris in summer 2009 and winter 2009/2010 by combining car MAX-DOAS measurements of NO2 with wind fields. We compare the results with simulations from the CHIMERE model. We derive daily average NOx emissions for Paris of 4.0 × 1025 molecules s−1 for summer and of 6.9 × 1025 molecules s−1 in winter. These values are a factor of about 1.4 and 2.0 larger than the corresponding emissions in the MACC-III emission inventory.
Yang Wang, Steffen Beirle, Johannes Lampel, Mariliza Koukouli, Isabelle De Smedt, Nicolas Theys, Ang Li, Dexia Wu, Pinhua Xie, Cheng Liu, Michel Van Roozendael, Trissevgeni Stavrakou, Jean-François Müller, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 5007–5033, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5007-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5007-2017, 2017
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A long-term MAX-DOAS measurement from 2011 to 2014 was operated in Wuxi, part of the most industrialized area of the Yangtze River delta region of China. The tropospheric VCDs and vertical profiles of NO2, SO2 and HCHO derived from the MAX-DOAS are used to validate the products derived from OMI and GOME-2A/B by different scientific teams (daily- and bimonthly-averaged data). We investigate the effects of clouds, aerosols and a priori profile shapes on satellite retrievals of tropospheric VCDs.
Holger Sihler, Peter Lübcke, Rüdiger Lang, Steffen Beirle, Martin de Graaf, Christoph Hörmann, Johannes Lampel, Marloes Penning de Vries, Julia Remmers, Ed Trollope, Yang Wang, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 881–903, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-881-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-881-2017, 2017
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This paper presents the independent and simple IFR method to retrieve the FOV of an instrument, i.e. the two-dimensional sensitivity distribution. IFR relies on correlated measurements featuring a higher spatial resolution and was applied to two satellite instruments, GOME-2 and OMI, and a DOAS instrument integrated in an SO2 camera. Our results confirm the commonly applied FOV distributions. IFR is applicable for verification exercises as well as degradation monitoring in the field.
Alba Lorente, K. Folkert Boersma, Huan Yu, Steffen Dörner, Andreas Hilboll, Andreas Richter, Mengyao Liu, Lok N. Lamsal, Michael Barkley, Isabelle De Smedt, Michel Van Roozendael, Yang Wang, Thomas Wagner, Steffen Beirle, Jin-Tai Lin, Nickolay Krotkov, Piet Stammes, Ping Wang, Henk J. Eskes, and Maarten Krol
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 759–782, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-759-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-759-2017, 2017
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Choices and assumptions made to represent the state of the atmosphere introduce an uncertainty of 42 % in the air mass factor calculation in trace gas satellite retrievals in polluted regions. The AMF strongly depends on the choice of a priori trace gas profile, surface albedo data set and the correction method to account for clouds and aerosols. We call for well-designed validation exercises focusing on situations when AMF structural uncertainty has the highest impact on satellite retrievals.
Steffen Beirle, Johannes Lampel, Christophe Lerot, Holger Sihler, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 581–598, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-581-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-581-2017, 2017
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We propose to parameterize the instrumental spectral response function (ISRF) as a "super-Gaussian", which can reproduce a variety of shapes, from point-hat to boxcar shape, by just adding one parameter to the "classical" Gaussian.
In addition, the super-Gaussian allows for a straightforward parametrization of the effect of ISRF changes.
Yang Wang, Johannes Lampel, Pinhua Xie, Steffen Beirle, Ang Li, Dexia Wu, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 2189–2215, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-2189-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-2189-2017, 2017
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The air pollution in the Yangtze River delta (YRD), the largest economic region in China, threatens the health of the inhabitants in this region. A long-term MAX-DOAS observation in Wuxi, China (belonging to YRD), is used to characterize vertical distributions (VD) of the aerosols and the precursor trace gases in the boundary to identify the dominating sources. The results are valuable for further validation of satellite products and chemical transport modelings.
Johannes Lampel, Denis Pöhler, Oleg L. Polyansky, Aleksandra A. Kyuberis, Nikolai F. Zobov, Jonathan Tennyson, Lorenzo Lodi, Udo Frieß, Yang Wang, Steffen Beirle, Ulrich Platt, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 1271–1295, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1271-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1271-2017, 2017
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Water vapour is known to absorb radiation from the microwave region to the blue part of the visible spectrum.
Ab initio approaches to model individual absorption lines of the gaseous water molecule predict absorption lines
until its dissociation limit at 243 nm.
We present first evidence of water vapour absorption near 363 nm from field measurements using data
from multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) and long-path (LP)-DOAS measurements.
Christoph Hörmann, Holger Sihler, Steffen Beirle, Marloes Penning de Vries, Ulrich Platt, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 13015–13034, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-13015-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-13015-2016, 2016
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We present 10 years of bromine monoxide (BrO) satellite observations by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) over the Rann of Kutch salt marsh. The measurements reveal a typical seasonal cycle of BrO with maximum concentrations during April/May. The results indicate that the Rann of Kutch is probably one of the strongest natural point sources of reactive bromine compounds outside the polar regions and is thought to have a significant impact on local and regional ozone chemistry.
Thomas Wagner, Steffen Beirle, Julia Remmers, Reza Shaiganfar, and Yang Wang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 4803–4823, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4803-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4803-2016, 2016
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A method is developed for the calibration of the colour index (CI) and the O4 absorption derived from differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) measurements of scattered sunlight. Calibrated measurements of the CI and the O4 absorption are important for the detection and classification of clouds from MAX-DOAS observations.
Jan Zörner, Marloes Penning de Vries, Steffen Beirle, Holger Sihler, Patrick R. Veres, Jonathan Williams, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 9457–9487, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9457-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9457-2016, 2016
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We present a top-down approach to infer and quantify rain-induced emission pulses of nitrogen oxides from soils using satellite-borne measurements of NO2. We found strong enhancements of NO2 induced by the first intense precipitation after prolonged droughts in many semi-arid regions of the world, in particular in the Sahel. Apart from the clear first-day peak, NO2 VCDs are moderately enhanced compared to background over the following 2 weeks suggesting potential further emissions.
U. Frieß, H. Klein Baltink, S. Beirle, K. Clémer, F. Hendrick, B. Henzing, H. Irie, G. de Leeuw, A. Li, M. M. Moerman, M. van Roozendael, R. Shaiganfar, T. Wagner, Y. Wang, P. Xie, S. Yilmaz, and P. Zieger
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 3205–3222, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-3205-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-3205-2016, 2016
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This article describes the first direct comparison of aerosol extinction profiles from Multi-Axis DOAS measurements of the oxygen collision complex using five different retrieval algorithms. A comparison of the retrieved profiles with co-located aerosol measurements shows good agreement with respect to profile shape and aerosol optical thickness. This study shows that MAX-DOAS is a simple, versatile and cost-effective method for the measurement of aerosol properties in the lower troposphere.
Steffen Beirle, Christoph Hörmann, Patrick Jöckel, Song Liu, Marloes Penning de Vries, Andrea Pozzer, Holger Sihler, Pieter Valks, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 2753–2779, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2753-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2753-2016, 2016
Fei Liu, Steffen Beirle, Qiang Zhang, Steffen Dörner, Kebin He, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 5283–5298, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-5283-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-5283-2016, 2016
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We present a new method to quantify NOx emissions and corresponding atmospheric lifetimes from OMI NO2 observations together with ECMWF wind fields without further model input for sources located in polluted background. The derived NOx emissions show generally good agreement with bottom-up inventories for power plants and cities. Global inventory significantly underestimated NOx emissions in Chinese cities, most likely due to uncertainties associated with downscaling approaches.
Y. Wang, M. Penning de Vries, P. H. Xie, S. Beirle, S. Dörner, J. Remmers, A. Li, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 5133–5156, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-5133-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-5133-2015, 2015
T. Wagner, S. Beirle, S. Dörner, M. Penning de Vries, J. Remmers, A. Rozanov, and R. Shaiganfar
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 4265–4280, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4265-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4265-2015, 2015
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We present a new method for the absolute calibration of atmospheric radiance measurements. Existing methods are based on laboratory measurements, but our method uses the atmospheric radiance measurements themselves. For selected sky conditions these measurements are compared to radiative transfer simulations. The method is very accurate (better than 7%) and might be used for a variety of scientific applications, as well as for the determination of the energy yield of photovoltaic cells.
M. J. M. Penning de Vries, S. Beirle, C. Hörmann, J. W. Kaiser, P. Stammes, L. G. Tilstra, O. N. E. Tuinder, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 10597–10618, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10597-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10597-2015, 2015
M. Beekmann, A. S. H. Prévôt, F. Drewnick, J. Sciare, S. N. Pandis, H. A. C. Denier van der Gon, M. Crippa, F. Freutel, L. Poulain, V. Ghersi, E. Rodriguez, S. Beirle, P. Zotter, S.-L. von der Weiden-Reinmüller, M. Bressi, C. Fountoukis, H. Petetin, S. Szidat, J. Schneider, A. Rosso, I. El Haddad, A. Megaritis, Q. J. Zhang, V. Michoud, J. G. Slowik, S. Moukhtar, P. Kolmonen, A. Stohl, S. Eckhardt, A. Borbon, V. Gros, N. Marchand, J. L. Jaffrezo, A. Schwarzenboeck, A. Colomb, A. Wiedensohler, S. Borrmann, M. Lawrence, A. Baklanov, and U. Baltensperger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 9577–9591, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-9577-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-9577-2015, 2015
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A detailed characterization of air quality in the Paris (France) agglomeration, a megacity, during two summer and winter intensive campaigns and from additional 1-year observations, revealed that about 70% of the fine particulate matter (PM) at urban background is transported into the megacity from upwind regions. Unexpectedly, a major part of organic PM is of modern origin (woodburning and cooking activities, secondary formation from biogenic VOC).
R. Shaiganfar, S. Beirle, H. Petetin, Q. Zhang, M. Beekmann, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 2827–2852, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-2827-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-2827-2015, 2015
M. Grossi, P. Valks, D. Loyola, B. Aberle, S. Slijkhuis, T. Wagner, S. Beirle, and R. Lang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 1111–1133, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-1111-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-1111-2015, 2015
S. Beirle, C. Hörmann, M. Penning de Vries, S. Dörner, C. Kern, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 8309–8322, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-8309-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-8309-2014, 2014
R. Van Malderen, H. Brenot, E. Pottiaux, S. Beirle, C. Hermans, M. De Mazière, T. Wagner, H. De Backer, and C. Bruyninx
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 2487–2512, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-2487-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-2487-2014, 2014
T. Wagner, A. Apituley, S. Beirle, S. Dörner, U. Friess, J. Remmers, and R. Shaiganfar
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 1289–1320, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1289-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1289-2014, 2014
C. Liu, S. Beirle, T. Butler, P. Hoor, C. Frankenberg, P. Jöckel, M. Penning de Vries, U. Platt, A. Pozzer, M. G. Lawrence, J. Lelieveld, H. Tost, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 1717–1732, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1717-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1717-2014, 2014
J. Yoon, A. Pozzer, P. Hoor, D. Y. Chang, S. Beirle, T. Wagner, S. Schloegl, J. Lelieveld, and H. M. Worden
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 11307–11316, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-11307-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-11307-2013, 2013
T. Wagner, S. Beirle, H. Sihler, and K. Mies
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 2593–2605, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2593-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2593-2013, 2013
C. Hörmann, H. Sihler, N. Bobrowski, S. Beirle, M. Penning de Vries, U. Platt, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 4749–4781, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-4749-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-4749-2013, 2013
S. Beirle, H. Sihler, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 661–675, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-661-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-661-2013, 2013
J. Z. Ma, S. Beirle, J. L. Jin, R. Shaiganfar, P. Yan, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 1547–1567, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-1547-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-1547-2013, 2013
T. Wagner, M. O. Andreae, S. Beirle, S. Dörner, K. Mies, and R. Shaiganfar
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 131–149, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-131-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-131-2013, 2013
Yuhang Zhang, Huan Yu, Isabelle De Smedt, Jintai Lin, Nicolas Theys, Michel Van Roozendael, Gaia Pinardi, Steven Compernolle, Ruijing Ni, Fangxuan Ren, Sijie Wang, Lulu Chen, Jos Van Geffen, Mengyao Liu, Alexander M. Cede, Martin Tiefengraber, Alexis Merlaud, Martina M. Friedrich, Andreas Richter, Ankie Piters, Vinod Kumar, Vinayak Sinha, Thomas Wagner, Yongjoo Choi, Hisahiro Takashima, Yugo Kanaya, Hitoshi Irie, Robert Spurr, Wenfu Sun, and Lorenzo Fabris
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 1561–1589, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1561-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1561-2025, 2025
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We developed an advanced algorithm for global retrieval of TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) HCHO and NO2 vertical column densities with much improved consistency. Sensitivity tests demonstrate the complexity and nonlinear interactions of auxiliary parameters in the air mass factor calculation. An improved agreement is found with measurements from a global ground-based instrument network. The scientific retrieval provides a useful source of information for studies combining HCHO and NO2.
Chengxin Zhang, Xinhan Niu, Hongyu Wu, Zhipeng Ding, Ka Lok Chan, Jhoon Kim, Thomas Wagner, and Cheng Liu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 759–770, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-759-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-759-2025, 2025
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This research utilizes hourly air pollution observations from the world’s first geostationary satellite to develop a spatiotemporal neural network model for full-coverage surface NO2 pollution prediction over the next 24 hours, achieving outstanding forecasting performance and efficacy. These results highlight the profound impact of geostationary satellite observations in advancing air quality forecasting models, thereby contributing to future models for health exposure to air pollution.
Bianca Lauster, Udo Frieß, Jan-Marcus Nasse, Ulrich Platt, and Thomas Wagner
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3881, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3881, 2025
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Remote sensing measurements of scattered sunlight use the atmospheric absorption of O4 (oxygen dimer) to derive cloud and aerosol properties. However, inconsistencies between measurements and radiative transfer simulations were found recently and, so far, there is no consensus on how to deal with these appropriately. In this study, long-term long-path differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) observations are analysed and very good agreement with laboratory measurements was found.
Leon Kuhn, Steffen Beirle, Sergey Osipov, Andrea Pozzer, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6485–6516, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6485-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6485-2024, 2024
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This paper presents a new machine learning model that allows us to compute NO2 concentration profiles from satellite observations. A neural network was trained on synthetic data from the regional chemistry and transport model WRF-Chem. This is the first model of its kind. We present a thorough model validation study, covering various seasons and regions of the world.
Kezia Lange, Andreas Richter, Tim Bösch, Bianca Zilker, Miriam Latsch, Lisa K. Behrens, Chisom M. Okafor, Hartmut Bösch, John P. Burrows, Alexis Merlaud, Gaia Pinardi, Caroline Fayt, Martina M. Friedrich, Ermioni Dimitropoulou, Michel Van Roozendael, Steffen Ziegler, Simona Ripperger-Lukosiunaite, Leon Kuhn, Bianca Lauster, Thomas Wagner, Hyunkee Hong, Donghee Kim, Lim-Seok Chang, Kangho Bae, Chang-Keun Song, Jong-Uk Park, and Hanlim Lee
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6315–6344, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6315-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6315-2024, 2024
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Instruments for air quality observations on geostationary satellites provide multiple observations per day and allow for the analysis of the diurnal variation of important air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2) over large areas. The South Korean instrument GEMS, launched in February 2020, is the first instrument in geostationary orbit and covers a large part of Asia. Our investigations show the observed diurnal evolution of NO2 at different measurement sites.
Matthias Kohl, Christoph Brühl, Jennifer Schallock, Holger Tost, Patrick Jöckel, Adrian Jost, Steffen Beirle, Michael Höpfner, and Andrea Pozzer
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2200, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2200, 2024
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SO2 from explosive volcanic eruptions reaching the stratosphere can oxidize and form sulfate aerosols, potentially persisting for several years and influencing climate and the ozone layer. We developed a new submodel for Explosive Volcanic ERuptions (EVER) that seamlessly includes stratospheric volcanic SO2 emissions in global numerical simulations based on a novel standard historical model setup. Sensitivity studies on the Nabro eruption in 2011 evaluate different emission methods.
Tim Trent, Marc Schröder, Shu-Peng Ho, Steffen Beirle, Ralf Bennartz, Eva Borbas, Christian Borger, Helene Brogniez, Xavier Calbet, Elisa Castelli, Gilbert P. Compo, Wesley Ebisuzaki, Ulrike Falk, Frank Fell, John Forsythe, Hans Hersbach, Misako Kachi, Shinya Kobayashi, Robert E. Kursinski, Diego Loyola, Zhengzao Luo, Johannes K. Nielsen, Enzo Papandrea, Laurence Picon, Rene Preusker, Anthony Reale, Lei Shi, Laura Slivinski, Joao Teixeira, Tom Vonder Haar, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9667–9695, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9667-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9667-2024, 2024
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In a warmer future, water vapour will spend more time in the atmosphere, changing global rainfall patterns. In this study, we analysed the performance of 28 water vapour records between 1988 and 2014. We find sensitivity to surface warming generally outside expected ranges, attributed to breakpoints in individual record trends and differing representations of climate variability. The implication is that longer records are required for high confidence in assessing climate trends.
Steffen Beirle and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3439–3453, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3439-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3439-2024, 2024
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We present a new method for estimating emissions and lifetimes for nitrogen oxides emitted from large cities by using satellite NO2 observations combined with wind fields. The estimate is based on the simultaneous evaluation of the downwind plumes for opposing wind directions. This allows us to derive seasonal mean emissions and lifetimes for 100 cities around the globe.
Fei Liu, Steffen Beirle, Joanna Joiner, Sungyeon Choi, Zhining Tao, K. Emma Knowland, Steven J. Smith, Daniel Q. Tong, Siqi Ma, Zachary T. Fasnacht, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3717–3728, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3717-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3717-2024, 2024
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Using satellite data, we developed a coupled method independent of the chemical transport model to map NOx emissions across US cities. After validating our technique with synthetic data, we charted NOx emissions from 2018–2021 in 39 cities. Our results closely matched EPA estimates but also highlighted some inconsistencies in both magnitude and spatial distribution. This research can help refine strategies for monitoring and managing air quality.
Thomas Wagner and Jānis Puķīte
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 277–297, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-277-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-277-2024, 2024
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We present a radiance calibration method based on the comparison of measurements and radiative transfer simulations of the zenith-scattered sun radiance during twilight. Cloud-free conditions are required. The method can be applied to measurements in the filed, and no laboratory measurements are required. The accuracy is estimated to range from about 4 % at 340 nm to about 10 % at 700 nm.
Glenn-Michael Oomen, Jean-François Müller, Trissevgeni Stavrakou, Isabelle De Smedt, Thomas Blumenstock, Rigel Kivi, Maria Makarova, Mathias Palm, Amelie Röhling, Yao Té, Corinne Vigouroux, Martina M. Friedrich, Udo Frieß, François Hendrick, Alexis Merlaud, Ankie Piters, Andreas Richter, Michel Van Roozendael, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 449–474, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-449-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-449-2024, 2024
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Natural emissions from vegetation have a profound impact on air quality for their role in the formation of harmful tropospheric ozone and organic aerosols, yet these emissions are highly uncertain. In this study, we quantify emissions of organic gases over Europe using high-quality satellite measurements of formaldehyde. These satellite observations suggest that emissions from vegetation are much higher than predicted by models, especially in southern Europe.
Leon Kuhn, Steffen Beirle, Vinod Kumar, Sergey Osipov, Andrea Pozzer, Tim Bösch, Rajesh Kumar, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 185–217, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-185-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-185-2024, 2024
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NO₂ is an important air pollutant. It was observed that the WRF-Chem model shows significant deviations in NO₂ abundance when compared to measurements. We use a 1-month simulation over central Europe to show that these deviations can be mostly resolved by reparameterization of the vertical mixing routine. In order to validate our results, they are compared to in situ, satellite, and MAX-DOAS measurements.
Simon Warnach, Holger Sihler, Christian Borger, Nicole Bobrowski, Steffen Beirle, Ulrich Platt, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5537–5573, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5537-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5537-2023, 2023
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BrO inside volcanic gas plumes but can be used in combination with SO2 to characterize the volcanic property and its activity state. High-quality satellite observations can provide a global inventory of this important quantity. This paper investigates how to accurately detect BrO inside volcanic plumes from the satellite UV spectrum. A sophisticated novel non-volcanic background correction scheme is presented, and systematic errors including cross-interference with formaldehyde are minimized.
Yuhang Zhang, Jintai Lin, Jhoon Kim, Hanlim Lee, Junsung Park, Hyunkee Hong, Michel Van Roozendael, Francois Hendrick, Ting Wang, Pucai Wang, Qin He, Kai Qin, Yongjoo Choi, Yugo Kanaya, Jin Xu, Pinhua Xie, Xin Tian, Sanbao Zhang, Shanshan Wang, Siyang Cheng, Xinghong Cheng, Jianzhong Ma, Thomas Wagner, Robert Spurr, Lulu Chen, Hao Kong, and Mengyao Liu
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4643–4665, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4643-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4643-2023, 2023
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Our tropospheric NO2 vertical column density product with high spatiotemporal resolution is based on the Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) and named POMINO–GEMS. Strong hotspot signals and NO2 diurnal variations are clearly seen. Validations with multiple satellite products and ground-based, mobile car and surface measurements exhibit the overall great performance of the POMINO–GEMS product, indicating its capability for application in environmental studies.
Herizo Narivelo, Paul David Hamer, Virginie Marécal, Luke Surl, Tjarda Roberts, Sophie Pelletier, Béatrice Josse, Jonathan Guth, Mickaël Bacles, Simon Warnach, Thomas Wagner, Stefano Corradini, Giuseppe Salerno, and Lorenzo Guerrieri
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 10533–10561, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10533-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10533-2023, 2023
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Volcanic emissions emit large quantities of gases and primary aerosols that can play an important role in atmospheric chemistry. We present a study of the fate of volcanic bromine emissions from the eruption of Mount Etna around Christmas 2018. Using a numerical model and satellite observations, we analyse the impact of the volcanic plume and how it modifies the composition of the air over the whole Mediterranean basin, in particular on tropospheric ozone through the bromine-explosion cycle.
Steffen Beirle, Christian Borger, Adrian Jost, and Thomas Wagner
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 3051–3073, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3051-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3051-2023, 2023
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We present a catalog of nitrogen oxide emissions from point sources (like power plants or metal smelters) based on satellite observations of NO2 combined with meteorological wind fields.
Christian Borger, Steffen Beirle, and Thomas Wagner
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 3023–3049, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3023-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3023-2023, 2023
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This study presents a long-term data set of monthly mean total column water vapour (TCWV) based on measurements of the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) covering the time range from January 2005 to December 2020. We describe how the TCWV values are retrieved from UV–Vis satellite spectra and demonstrate that the OMI TCWV data set is in good agreement with various different reference data sets. Moreover, we also show that it fulfills typical stability requirements for climate data records.
Ka Lok Chan, Pieter Valks, Klaus-Peter Heue, Ronny Lutz, Pascal Hedelt, Diego Loyola, Gaia Pinardi, Michel Van Roozendael, François Hendrick, Thomas Wagner, Vinod Kumar, Alkis Bais, Ankie Piters, Hitoshi Irie, Hisahiro Takashima, Yugo Kanaya, Yongjoo Choi, Kihong Park, Jihyo Chong, Alexander Cede, Udo Frieß, Andreas Richter, Jianzhong Ma, Nuria Benavent, Robert Holla, Oleg Postylyakov, Claudia Rivera Cárdenas, and Mark Wenig
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 1831–1870, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1831-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1831-2023, 2023
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This paper presents the theoretical basis as well as verification and validation of the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 (GOME-2) daily and monthly level-3 products.
Thomas Wagner, Simon Warnach, Steffen Beirle, Nicole Bobrowski, Adrian Jost, Janis Puķīte, and Nicolas Theys
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1609–1662, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1609-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1609-2023, 2023
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We investigate 3D effects of volcanic plumes on the retrieval results of satellite and ground-based UV–Vis observations. With its small ground pixels of 3.5 x 5.5 km², the TROPOMI instrument can detect much smaller volcanic plumes than previous instruments. At the same time, 3D effects become important. The effect of horizontal photon paths especially can lead to a strong underestimation of the derived plume contents of up to > 50 %, which can be further increased for strong absorbers like SO2.
Siyang Cheng, Xinghong Cheng, Jianzhong Ma, Xiangde Xu, Wenqian Zhang, Jinguang Lv, Gang Bai, Bing Chen, Siying Ma, Steffen Ziegler, Sebastian Donner, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 3655–3677, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-3655-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-3655-2023, 2023
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We made mobile MAX-DOAS measurements in the background atmosphere over the Tibetan Plateau in summer 2021. We retrieved the tropospheric NO2 and HCHO vertical column densities (VCDs) along extended driving routes and found a decreasing trend of the VCDs with altitude. Elevated NO2 VCDs along the driving routes could be attributed to enhanced traffic emissions from the towns crossed. The spatio-temporal distribution of the HCHO VCDs correlated strongly with the surface temperature.
Kezia Lange, Andreas Richter, Anja Schönhardt, Andreas C. Meier, Tim Bösch, André Seyler, Kai Krause, Lisa K. Behrens, Folkard Wittrock, Alexis Merlaud, Frederik Tack, Caroline Fayt, Martina M. Friedrich, Ermioni Dimitropoulou, Michel Van Roozendael, Vinod Kumar, Sebastian Donner, Steffen Dörner, Bianca Lauster, Maria Razi, Christian Borger, Katharina Uhlmannsiek, Thomas Wagner, Thomas Ruhtz, Henk Eskes, Birger Bohn, Daniel Santana Diaz, Nader Abuhassan, Dirk Schüttemeyer, and John P. Burrows
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1357–1389, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1357-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1357-2023, 2023
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We present airborne imaging DOAS and ground-based stationary and car DOAS measurements conducted during the S5P-VAL-DE-Ruhr campaign in the Rhine-Ruhr region. The measurements are used to validate spaceborne NO2 data products from the Sentinel-5 Precursor TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI). Auxiliary data of the TROPOMI NO2 retrieval, such as spatially higher resolved a priori NO2 vertical profiles, surface reflectivity, and cloud treatment are investigated to evaluate their impact.
Bianca Lauster, Steffen Dörner, Carl-Fredrik Enell, Udo Frieß, Myojeong Gu, Janis Puķīte, Uwe Raffalski, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15925–15942, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15925-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15925-2022, 2022
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Polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) are an important component in ozone chemistry. Here, we use two differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) instruments in the Antarctic and Arctic to investigate the occurrence of PSCs based on the colour index, i.e. the colour of the zenith sky. Additionally using radiative transfer simulations, the variability and the seasonal cycle of PSC occurrence are analysed and an unexpectedly high signal during spring suggests the influence of volcanic aerosol.
Miriam Latsch, Andreas Richter, Henk Eskes, Maarten Sneep, Ping Wang, Pepijn Veefkind, Ronny Lutz, Diego Loyola, Athina Argyrouli, Pieter Valks, Thomas Wagner, Holger Sihler, Michel van Roozendael, Nicolas Theys, Huan Yu, Richard Siddans, and John P. Burrows
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6257–6283, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6257-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6257-2022, 2022
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The article investigates different S5P TROPOMI cloud retrieval algorithms for tropospheric trace gas retrievals. The cloud products show differences primarily over snow and ice and for scenes under sun glint. Some issues regarding across-track dependence are found for the cloud fractions as well as for the cloud heights.
Maximilian Herrmann, Moritz Schöne, Christian Borger, Simon Warnach, Thomas Wagner, Ulrich Platt, and Eva Gutheil
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 13495–13526, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13495-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13495-2022, 2022
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Ozone depletion events (ODEs) are a common occurrence in the boundary layer during Arctic spring. Ozone is depleted by bromine species in an autocatalytic reaction cycle. Previous modeling studies assumed an infinite bromine source at the ground. An alternative emission scheme is presented in which a finite amount of bromide in the snow is tracked over time. The Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) is used to study ODEs in the Arctic from February to May 2019.
Christian Borger, Steffen Beirle, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 10603–10621, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10603-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10603-2022, 2022
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In this study, we analyse trends of total column water vapour (TCWV) using multiple years of satellite observations and find, on the global average, an increase in the TCWV amount by about 0.21 % per year. Further investigations of the hydrological cycle reveal that the assumption of temporally invariant relative humidity is not always fulfilled and that the response of the global water vapour turnover time to global warming is 2 to 3 times higher than previously reported values.
Gaia Pinardi, Michel Van Roozendael, François Hendrick, Andreas Richter, Pieter Valks, Ramina Alwarda, Kristof Bognar, Udo Frieß, José Granville, Myojeong Gu, Paul Johnston, Cristina Prados-Roman, Richard Querel, Kimberly Strong, Thomas Wagner, Folkard Wittrock, and Margarita Yela Gonzalez
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3439–3463, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3439-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3439-2022, 2022
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We report on the GOME-2A and GOME-2B OClO dataset (2007 to 2016, from the EUMETSAT's AC SAF) validation using data from nine NDACC zenith-scattered-light DOAS (ZSL-DOAS) instruments distributed in both the Arctic and Antarctic. Specific sensitivity tests are performed on the ground-based data to estimate the impact of the different OClO DOAS analysis settings and their typical errors. Good agreement is found for both the inter-annual variability and the overall OClO seasonal behavior.
Gerrit Kuhlmann, Ka Lok Chan, Sebastian Donner, Ying Zhu, Marc Schwaerzel, Steffen Dörner, Jia Chen, Andreas Hueni, Duc Hai Nguyen, Alexander Damm, Annette Schütt, Florian Dietrich, Dominik Brunner, Cheng Liu, Brigitte Buchmann, Thomas Wagner, and Mark Wenig
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1609–1629, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1609-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1609-2022, 2022
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Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is an air pollutant whose concentration often exceeds air quality guideline values, especially in urban areas. To map the spatial distribution of NO2 in Munich, we conducted the Munich NO2 Imaging Campaign (MuNIC), where NO2 was measured with stationary, mobile, and airborne in situ and remote sensing instruments. The campaign provides a unique dataset that has been used to compare the different instruments and to study the spatial variability of NO2 and its sources.
Leon Kuhn, Jonas Kuhn, Thomas Wagner, and Ulrich Platt
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1395–1414, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1395-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1395-2022, 2022
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We present a novel instrument for imaging measurements of NO2 with high spatiotemporal resolution based on gas correlation spectroscopy, called the GCS NO2 camera. The instrument works by placing two gas cells (cuvettes) in front of two photosensor arrays, one filled with air and one filled with a high concentration of NO2, acting as a non-dispersive spectral filter. NO2 images are then generated on the basis of the signal ratio of the two channels in the spectral region of 430–445 nm.
Dimitris Karagkiozidis, Martina Michaela Friedrich, Steffen Beirle, Alkiviadis Bais, François Hendrick, Kalliopi Artemis Voudouri, Ilias Fountoulakis, Angelos Karanikolas, Paraskevi Tzoumaka, Michel Van Roozendael, Dimitris Balis, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1269–1301, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1269-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1269-2022, 2022
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In this study we focus on the retrieval of aerosol, NO2, and HCHO vertical profiles from multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) observations for the first time over Thessaloniki, Greece. We use two independent inversion algorithms for the profile retrievals. We evaluate their performance, we intercompare their results, and we validate their products with ancillary data, measured by other co-located reference instruments.
Steffen Beirle, Christian Borger, Steffen Dörner, Vinod Kumar, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 987–1006, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-987-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-987-2022, 2022
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We present a formalism that relates the vertical column density (VCD) of the oxygen collision complex O4 to surface values of temperature and pressure, based on physical laws. In addition, we propose an empirical modification which also accounts for surface relative humidity (RH). This allows for simple and quick but still accurate calculation of the O4 VCD without the need for constructing full vertical profiles, which is expected to be useful in particular for MAX-DOAS applications.
Fei Liu, Zhining Tao, Steffen Beirle, Joanna Joiner, Yasuko Yoshida, Steven J. Smith, K. Emma Knowland, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 1333–1349, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1333-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1333-2022, 2022
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In this work, we present a novel method to infer NOx emissions and lifetimes based on tropospheric NO2 observations together with reanalysis wind fields for cities located in polluted backgrounds. We evaluate the accuracy of the method using synthetic NO2 observations derived from a high-resolution model simulation. Our work provides an estimate for uncertainties in satellite-derived emissions inferred from chemical transport model (CTM)-independent approaches.
Tobias Küchler, Stefan Noël, Heinrich Bovensmann, John Philip Burrows, Thomas Wagner, Christian Borger, Tobias Borsdorff, and Andreas Schneider
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 297–320, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-297-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-297-2022, 2022
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We applied the air-mass-corrected differential optical absorption spectroscopy (AMC-DOAS) method to derive total column water vapour (TCWV) from Sentinel-5P measurements and compared it to independent data sets. The correlation coefficients of typically more than 0.9 and the small deviations up to 2.5 kg m−2 reveal good agreement between our data product and other TCWV data sets. In particular for the different Sentinel-5P water vapour products, the deviations are around 1 kg m−2.
Jānis Puķīte, Christian Borger, Steffen Dörner, Myojeong Gu, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 245–272, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-245-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-245-2022, 2022
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Chlorine dioxide (OClO) is an indicator for chlorine activation. New OClO data by TROPOMI (S5P) are interpreted in a meteorological context and related to CALIOP PSC observations. We report very high OClO levels for the northern hemispheric winter 2019/20 with an extraordinarily long period with a stable polar vortex. A minor stratospheric warming in the Southern Hemisphere was also observed in September 2019, where usual OClO values rapidly deactivated 1–2 weeks earlier.
Jonas Kuhn, Nicole Bobrowski, Thomas Wagner, and Ulrich Platt
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7873–7892, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7873-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7873-2021, 2021
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We propose spectrograph implementations using Fabry–Pérot interferometers for atmospheric trace gas remote sensing. Compared with widely used grating spectrographs, we find substantial light throughput and mobility advantages for high resolving powers. Besides lowering detection limits and increasing the spatial and temporal resolution of many atmospheric trace gas measurements, this approach might enable remote sensing of further important gases such as tropospheric OH radicals.
Christophe Lerot, François Hendrick, Michel Van Roozendael, Leonardo M. A. Alvarado, Andreas Richter, Isabelle De Smedt, Nicolas Theys, Jonas Vlietinck, Huan Yu, Jeroen Van Gent, Trissevgeni Stavrakou, Jean-François Müller, Pieter Valks, Diego Loyola, Hitoshi Irie, Vinod Kumar, Thomas Wagner, Stefan F. Schreier, Vinayak Sinha, Ting Wang, Pucai Wang, and Christian Retscher
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7775–7807, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7775-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7775-2021, 2021
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Global measurements of glyoxal tropospheric columns from the satellite instrument TROPOMI are presented. Such measurements can contribute to the estimation of atmospheric emissions of volatile organic compounds. This new glyoxal product has been fully characterized with a comprehensive error budget, with comparison with other satellite data sets as well as with validation based on independent ground-based remote sensing glyoxal observations.
Jānis Puķīte, Christian Borger, Steffen Dörner, Myojeong Gu, Udo Frieß, Andreas Carlos Meier, Carl-Fredrik Enell, Uwe Raffalski, Andreas Richter, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7595–7625, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7595-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7595-2021, 2021
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Chlorine dioxide (OClO) is used as an indicator for chlorine activation. We present a new differential optical absorption spectroscopy retrieval algorithm for OClO from measurements of TROPOMI on the Sentinel-5P satellite. To achieve a substantially improved accuracy for the weak absorber OClO, we consider several additional fit parameters accounting for various higher-order spectral effects. The retrieved OClO slant column densities are compared with ground-based zenith sky measurements.
Song Liu, Pieter Valks, Gaia Pinardi, Jian Xu, Ka Lok Chan, Athina Argyrouli, Ronny Lutz, Steffen Beirle, Ehsan Khorsandi, Frank Baier, Vincent Huijnen, Alkiviadis Bais, Sebastian Donner, Steffen Dörner, Myrto Gratsea, François Hendrick, Dimitris Karagkiozidis, Kezia Lange, Ankie J. M. Piters, Julia Remmers, Andreas Richter, Michel Van Roozendael, Thomas Wagner, Mark Wenig, and Diego G. Loyola
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7297–7327, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7297-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7297-2021, 2021
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In this work, an improved tropospheric NO2 retrieval algorithm from TROPOMI measurements over Europe is presented. The stratospheric estimation is implemented with correction for the dependency of the stratospheric NO2 on the viewing geometry. The AMF calculation is implemented using improved surface albedo, a priori NO2 profiles, and cloud correction. The improved tropospheric NO2 data show good correlations with ground-based MAX-DOAS measurements.
Nicolas Theys, Vitali Fioletov, Can Li, Isabelle De Smedt, Christophe Lerot, Chris McLinden, Nickolay Krotkov, Debora Griffin, Lieven Clarisse, Pascal Hedelt, Diego Loyola, Thomas Wagner, Vinod Kumar, Antje Innes, Roberto Ribas, François Hendrick, Jonas Vlietinck, Hugues Brenot, and Michel Van Roozendael
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16727–16744, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16727-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16727-2021, 2021
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We present a new algorithm to retrieve sulfur dioxide from space UV measurements. We apply the technique to high-resolution TROPOMI measurements and demonstrate the high sensitivity of the approach to weak SO2 emissions worldwide with an unprecedented limit of detection of 8 kt yr−1. This result has broad implications for atmospheric science studies dealing with improving emission inventories and identifying and quantifying missing sources, in the context of air quality and climate.
Ulrich Platt, Thomas Wagner, Jonas Kuhn, and Thomas Leisner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6867–6883, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6867-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6867-2021, 2021
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Absorption spectroscopy of scattered sunlight is extremely useful for the analysis of atmospheric trace gas distributions. A central parameter for the achievable sensitivity of spectroscopic instruments is the light throughput, which can be enhanced in a number of ways. We present new ideas and considerations of how instruments could be optimized. Particular emphasis is on arrays of massively parallel instruments. Such arrays can reduce the size and weight of instruments by orders of magnitude.
Xin Tian, Yang Wang, Steffen Beirle, Pinhua Xie, Thomas Wagner, Jin Xu, Ang Li, Steffen Dörner, Bo Ren, and Xiaomei Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 12867–12894, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12867-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12867-2021, 2021
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The performances of two MAX-DOAS inversion algorithms were evaluated for various aerosol pollution scenarios. One inversion algorithm is based on optimal estimation; the other uses a parameterized approach. In this analysis, three types of profile shapes for aerosols and NO2 were considered: exponential, Boltzmann, and Gaussian. The evaluation results can effectively guide the application of the two inversion algorithms in the actual atmosphere and improve the accuracy of the actual inversion.
Bjorn Stevens, Sandrine Bony, David Farrell, Felix Ament, Alan Blyth, Christopher Fairall, Johannes Karstensen, Patricia K. Quinn, Sabrina Speich, Claudia Acquistapace, Franziska Aemisegger, Anna Lea Albright, Hugo Bellenger, Eberhard Bodenschatz, Kathy-Ann Caesar, Rebecca Chewitt-Lucas, Gijs de Boer, Julien Delanoë, Leif Denby, Florian Ewald, Benjamin Fildier, Marvin Forde, Geet George, Silke Gross, Martin Hagen, Andrea Hausold, Karen J. Heywood, Lutz Hirsch, Marek Jacob, Friedhelm Jansen, Stefan Kinne, Daniel Klocke, Tobias Kölling, Heike Konow, Marie Lothon, Wiebke Mohr, Ann Kristin Naumann, Louise Nuijens, Léa Olivier, Robert Pincus, Mira Pöhlker, Gilles Reverdin, Gregory Roberts, Sabrina Schnitt, Hauke Schulz, A. Pier Siebesma, Claudia Christine Stephan, Peter Sullivan, Ludovic Touzé-Peiffer, Jessica Vial, Raphaela Vogel, Paquita Zuidema, Nicola Alexander, Lyndon Alves, Sophian Arixi, Hamish Asmath, Gholamhossein Bagheri, Katharina Baier, Adriana Bailey, Dariusz Baranowski, Alexandre Baron, Sébastien Barrau, Paul A. Barrett, Frédéric Batier, Andreas Behrendt, Arne Bendinger, Florent Beucher, Sebastien Bigorre, Edmund Blades, Peter Blossey, Olivier Bock, Steven Böing, Pierre Bosser, Denis Bourras, Pascale Bouruet-Aubertot, Keith Bower, Pierre Branellec, Hubert Branger, Michal Brennek, Alan Brewer, Pierre-Etienne Brilouet, Björn Brügmann, Stefan A. Buehler, Elmo Burke, Ralph Burton, Radiance Calmer, Jean-Christophe Canonici, Xavier Carton, Gregory Cato Jr., Jude Andre Charles, Patrick Chazette, Yanxu Chen, Michal T. Chilinski, Thomas Choularton, Patrick Chuang, Shamal Clarke, Hugh Coe, Céline Cornet, Pierre Coutris, Fleur Couvreux, Susanne Crewell, Timothy Cronin, Zhiqiang Cui, Yannis Cuypers, Alton Daley, Gillian M. Damerell, Thibaut Dauhut, Hartwig Deneke, Jean-Philippe Desbios, Steffen Dörner, Sebastian Donner, Vincent Douet, Kyla Drushka, Marina Dütsch, André Ehrlich, Kerry Emanuel, Alexandros Emmanouilidis, Jean-Claude Etienne, Sheryl Etienne-Leblanc, Ghislain Faure, Graham Feingold, Luca Ferrero, Andreas Fix, Cyrille Flamant, Piotr Jacek Flatau, Gregory R. Foltz, Linda Forster, Iulian Furtuna, Alan Gadian, Joseph Galewsky, Martin Gallagher, Peter Gallimore, Cassandra Gaston, Chelle Gentemann, Nicolas Geyskens, Andreas Giez, John Gollop, Isabelle Gouirand, Christophe Gourbeyre, Dörte de Graaf, Geiske E. de Groot, Robert Grosz, Johannes Güttler, Manuel Gutleben, Kashawn Hall, George Harris, Kevin C. Helfer, Dean Henze, Calvert Herbert, Bruna Holanda, Antonio Ibanez-Landeta, Janet Intrieri, Suneil Iyer, Fabrice Julien, Heike Kalesse, Jan Kazil, Alexander Kellman, Abiel T. Kidane, Ulrike Kirchner, Marcus Klingebiel, Mareike Körner, Leslie Ann Kremper, Jan Kretzschmar, Ovid Krüger, Wojciech Kumala, Armin Kurz, Pierre L'Hégaret, Matthieu Labaste, Tom Lachlan-Cope, Arlene Laing, Peter Landschützer, Theresa Lang, Diego Lange, Ingo Lange, Clément Laplace, Gauke Lavik, Rémi Laxenaire, Caroline Le Bihan, Mason Leandro, Nathalie Lefevre, Marius Lena, Donald Lenschow, Qiang Li, Gary Lloyd, Sebastian Los, Niccolò Losi, Oscar Lovell, Christopher Luneau, Przemyslaw Makuch, Szymon Malinowski, Gaston Manta, Eleni Marinou, Nicholas Marsden, Sebastien Masson, Nicolas Maury, Bernhard Mayer, Margarette Mayers-Als, Christophe Mazel, Wayne McGeary, James C. McWilliams, Mario Mech, Melina Mehlmann, Agostino Niyonkuru Meroni, Theresa Mieslinger, Andreas Minikin, Peter Minnett, Gregor Möller, Yanmichel Morfa Avalos, Caroline Muller, Ionela Musat, Anna Napoli, Almuth Neuberger, Christophe Noisel, David Noone, Freja Nordsiek, Jakub L. Nowak, Lothar Oswald, Douglas J. Parker, Carolyn Peck, Renaud Person, Miriam Philippi, Albert Plueddemann, Christopher Pöhlker, Veronika Pörtge, Ulrich Pöschl, Lawrence Pologne, Michał Posyniak, Marc Prange, Estefanía Quiñones Meléndez, Jule Radtke, Karim Ramage, Jens Reimann, Lionel Renault, Klaus Reus, Ashford Reyes, Joachim Ribbe, Maximilian Ringel, Markus Ritschel, Cesar B. Rocha, Nicolas Rochetin, Johannes Röttenbacher, Callum Rollo, Haley Royer, Pauline Sadoulet, Leo Saffin, Sanola Sandiford, Irina Sandu, Michael Schäfer, Vera Schemann, Imke Schirmacher, Oliver Schlenczek, Jerome Schmidt, Marcel Schröder, Alfons Schwarzenboeck, Andrea Sealy, Christoph J. Senff, Ilya Serikov, Samkeyat Shohan, Elizabeth Siddle, Alexander Smirnov, Florian Späth, Branden Spooner, M. Katharina Stolla, Wojciech Szkółka, Simon P. de Szoeke, Stéphane Tarot, Eleni Tetoni, Elizabeth Thompson, Jim Thomson, Lorenzo Tomassini, Julien Totems, Alma Anna Ubele, Leonie Villiger, Jan von Arx, Thomas Wagner, Andi Walther, Ben Webber, Manfred Wendisch, Shanice Whitehall, Anton Wiltshire, Allison A. Wing, Martin Wirth, Jonathan Wiskandt, Kevin Wolf, Ludwig Worbes, Ethan Wright, Volker Wulfmeyer, Shanea Young, Chidong Zhang, Dongxiao Zhang, Florian Ziemen, Tobias Zinner, and Martin Zöger
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 4067–4119, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4067-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4067-2021, 2021
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The EUREC4A field campaign, designed to test hypothesized mechanisms by which clouds respond to warming and benchmark next-generation Earth-system models, is presented. EUREC4A comprised roughly 5 weeks of measurements in the downstream winter trades of the North Atlantic – eastward and southeastward of Barbados. It was the first campaign that attempted to characterize the full range of processes and scales influencing trade wind clouds.
Isabelle De Smedt, Gaia Pinardi, Corinne Vigouroux, Steven Compernolle, Alkis Bais, Nuria Benavent, Folkert Boersma, Ka-Lok Chan, Sebastian Donner, Kai-Uwe Eichmann, Pascal Hedelt, François Hendrick, Hitoshi Irie, Vinod Kumar, Jean-Christopher Lambert, Bavo Langerock, Christophe Lerot, Cheng Liu, Diego Loyola, Ankie Piters, Andreas Richter, Claudia Rivera Cárdenas, Fabian Romahn, Robert George Ryan, Vinayak Sinha, Nicolas Theys, Jonas Vlietinck, Thomas Wagner, Ting Wang, Huan Yu, and Michel Van Roozendael
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 12561–12593, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12561-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12561-2021, 2021
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This paper assess the performances of the TROPOMI formaldehyde observations compared to its predecessor OMI at different spatial and temporal scales. We also use a global network of MAX-DOAS instruments to validate both satellite datasets for a large range of HCHO columns. The precision obtained with daily TROPOMI observations is comparable to monthly OMI observations. We present clear detection of weak HCHO column enhancements related to shipping emissions in the Indian Ocean.
Anoop S. Mahajan, Mriganka S. Biswas, Steffen Beirle, Thomas Wagner, Anja Schönhardt, Nuria Benavent, and Alfonso Saiz-Lopez
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 11829–11842, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11829-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11829-2021, 2021
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Iodine plays a vital role in oxidation chemistry over Antarctica, with past observations showing highly elevated levels of iodine oxide (IO) leading to severe depletion of boundary layer ozone. We present IO observations over three summers (2015–2017) at the Indian Antarctic bases of Bharati and Maitri. IO was observed during all campaigns with mixing ratios below 2 pptv, which is lower than the peak levels observed in West Antarctica, showing the differences in regional chemistry and emissions.
Vinod Kumar, Julia Remmers, Steffen Beirle, Joachim Fallmann, Astrid Kerkweg, Jos Lelieveld, Mariano Mertens, Andrea Pozzer, Benedikt Steil, Marc Barra, Holger Tost, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 5241–5269, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5241-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5241-2021, 2021
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We present high-resolution regional atmospheric chemistry model simulations focused around Germany. We highlight the importance of spatial resolution of the model itself as well as the input emissions inventory and short-scale temporal variability of emissions for simulations. We propose a consistent approach for evaluating the simulated vertical distribution of NO2 using MAX-DOAS measurements while also considering its spatial sensitivity volume and change in sensitivity within this volume.
Steffen Beirle, Christian Borger, Steffen Dörner, Henk Eskes, Vinod Kumar, Adrianus de Laat, and Thomas Wagner
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 2995–3012, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-2995-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-2995-2021, 2021
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A catalog of point sources of nitrogen oxides was created using satellite observations of NO2. Key for the identification of point sources was the divergence, i.e., the difference between upwind and downwind levels of NO2.
The catalog lists 451 locations, of which 242 could be automatically matched to power plants. Other point sources are metal smelters, cement plants, or industrial areas. The catalog thus allows checking and improving of existing emission inventories.
Florian Dinger, Timo Kleinbek, Steffen Dörner, Nicole Bobrowski, Ulrich Platt, Thomas Wagner, Martha Ibarra, and Eveling Espinoza
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 9367–9404, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9367-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9367-2021, 2021
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Monitoring magnitude or chemical composition of volcanic gas emissions can help to forecast volcanic eruptions and provides empirical data on the impact of volcanoes on the chemistry in the local and global atmosphere. This study reports and discusses continuous time series of the sulfur and bromine emission fluxes of Masaya from 2014 to 2020. We observed an annual cyclicity in the BrO / SO2 molar ratio, possibly caused by the annual variability in the atmospheric humidity.
Holger Sihler, Steffen Beirle, Steffen Dörner, Marloes Gutenstein-Penning de Vries, Christoph Hörmann, Christian Borger, Simon Warnach, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3989–4031, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3989-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3989-2021, 2021
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MICRU is an algorithm for the retrieval of effective cloud fractions (CFs) from satellite measurements. CFs describe the amount of clouds, which have a significant impact on the vertical sensitivity profile of trace gases like NO2 and HCHO. MICRU retrieves small CFs with an accuracy of 0.04 over the entire satellite swath. It features an empirical surface reflectivity model accounting for physical anisotropy (BRDF, sun glitter) and instrumental effects. MICRU is also applicable to imager data.
Thomas Wagner, Steffen Dörner, Steffen Beirle, Sebastian Donner, and Stefan Kinne
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3871–3893, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3871-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3871-2021, 2021
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We compare measured and simulated O4 absorptions for conditions of extremely low aerosol optical depth, for which the uncertainties related to imperfect knowledge of aerosol properties do not significantly affect the comparison results. The simulations underestimate the measurements by 15 % to 20 %. Even if no aerosols are considered, the simulated O4 absorptions are systematically lower than the measurements. Our results indicate a fundamental inconsistency between simulations and measurements.
Maximilian Herrmann, Holger Sihler, Udo Frieß, Thomas Wagner, Ulrich Platt, and Eva Gutheil
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 7611–7638, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7611-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7611-2021, 2021
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Time-dependent 3D numerical simulations of tropospheric bromine release and ozone depletion events (ODEs) in the Arctic polar spring of 2009 are compared to observations. Simulation results agree well with the observations at both Utqiaġvik, Alaska, and at Summit, Greenland. In a parameter study, different settings for the bromine release mechanism are evaluated. An enhancement of the bromine release mechanism improves the agreement regarding the occurrence of ODEs with the observations.
Thomas Wagner, Steffen Beirle, Steffen Dörner, Christian Borger, and Roeland Van Malderen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 5315–5353, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5315-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5315-2021, 2021
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A global long-term (1995–2015) data set of total column water vapour (TCWV) derived from satellite observations is used to quantify the influence of teleconnections. Based on a newly developed empirical method more than 40 teleconnection indices are significantly detected in our global TCWV data set. After orthogonalisation, only 20 indices are left significant. The global distribution of the cumulative influence of teleconnection indices is strongest in the tropics and high latitudes.
Bianca Lauster, Steffen Dörner, Steffen Beirle, Sebastian Donner, Sergey Gromov, Katharina Uhlmannsiek, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 769–783, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-769-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-769-2021, 2021
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In urban areas, road traffic is a dominant source of nitrogen oxides. In this study, two multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) instruments on opposite sides of a motorway were used to measure the nitrogen dioxide absorption near Mainz, Germany. Total nitrogen oxide emissions are estimated for the occurring traffic flux. We show that the measured emissions systematically exceed the maximum expected emissions calculated from the European emission standards.
Tijl Verhoelst, Steven Compernolle, Gaia Pinardi, Jean-Christopher Lambert, Henk J. Eskes, Kai-Uwe Eichmann, Ann Mari Fjæraa, José Granville, Sander Niemeijer, Alexander Cede, Martin Tiefengraber, François Hendrick, Andrea Pazmiño, Alkiviadis Bais, Ariane Bazureau, K. Folkert Boersma, Kristof Bognar, Angelika Dehn, Sebastian Donner, Aleksandr Elokhov, Manuel Gebetsberger, Florence Goutail, Michel Grutter de la Mora, Aleksandr Gruzdev, Myrto Gratsea, Georg H. Hansen, Hitoshi Irie, Nis Jepsen, Yugo Kanaya, Dimitris Karagkiozidis, Rigel Kivi, Karin Kreher, Pieternel F. Levelt, Cheng Liu, Moritz Müller, Monica Navarro Comas, Ankie J. M. Piters, Jean-Pierre Pommereau, Thierry Portafaix, Cristina Prados-Roman, Olga Puentedura, Richard Querel, Julia Remmers, Andreas Richter, John Rimmer, Claudia Rivera Cárdenas, Lidia Saavedra de Miguel, Valery P. Sinyakov, Wolfgang Stremme, Kimberly Strong, Michel Van Roozendael, J. Pepijn Veefkind, Thomas Wagner, Folkard Wittrock, Margarita Yela González, and Claus Zehner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 481–510, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-481-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-481-2021, 2021
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This paper reports on the ground-based validation of the NO2 data produced operationally by the TROPOMI instrument on board the Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite. Tropospheric, stratospheric, and total NO2 columns are compared to measurements collected from MAX-DOAS, ZSL-DOAS, and PGN/Pandora instruments respectively. The products are found to satisfy mission requirements in general, though negative mean differences are found at sites with high pollution levels. Potential causes are discussed.
Jan-Lukas Tirpitz, Udo Frieß, François Hendrick, Carlos Alberti, Marc Allaart, Arnoud Apituley, Alkis Bais, Steffen Beirle, Stijn Berkhout, Kristof Bognar, Tim Bösch, Ilya Bruchkouski, Alexander Cede, Ka Lok Chan, Mirjam den Hoed, Sebastian Donner, Theano Drosoglou, Caroline Fayt, Martina M. Friedrich, Arnoud Frumau, Lou Gast, Clio Gielen, Laura Gomez-Martín, Nan Hao, Arjan Hensen, Bas Henzing, Christian Hermans, Junli Jin, Karin Kreher, Jonas Kuhn, Johannes Lampel, Ang Li, Cheng Liu, Haoran Liu, Jianzhong Ma, Alexis Merlaud, Enno Peters, Gaia Pinardi, Ankie Piters, Ulrich Platt, Olga Puentedura, Andreas Richter, Stefan Schmitt, Elena Spinei, Deborah Stein Zweers, Kimberly Strong, Daan Swart, Frederik Tack, Martin Tiefengraber, René van der Hoff, Michel van Roozendael, Tim Vlemmix, Jan Vonk, Thomas Wagner, Yang Wang, Zhuoru Wang, Mark Wenig, Matthias Wiegner, Folkard Wittrock, Pinhua Xie, Chengzhi Xing, Jin Xu, Margarita Yela, Chengxin Zhang, and Xiaoyi Zhao
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 1–35, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1-2021, 2021
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Multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) is a ground-based remote sensing measurement technique that derives atmospheric aerosol and trace gas vertical profiles from skylight spectra. In this study, consistency and reliability of MAX-DOAS profiles are assessed by applying nine different evaluation algorithms to spectral data recorded during an intercomparison campaign in the Netherlands and by comparing the results to colocated supporting observations.
Vinod Kumar, Steffen Beirle, Steffen Dörner, Abhishek Kumar Mishra, Sebastian Donner, Yang Wang, Vinayak Sinha, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 14183–14235, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14183-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14183-2020, 2020
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We present the first long-term MAX-DOAS measurements of aerosols, nitrogen dioxide and formaldehyde tropospheric columns, vertical distributions, and temporal variation from Mohali in the Indo-Gangetic Plain. We investigate the effect of various emission sources and meteorological conditions on the measured pollutants and how they control ozone formation. These measurements are also used to validate the corresponding satellite observations and are also compared against in situ observations.
Gaia Pinardi, Michel Van Roozendael, François Hendrick, Nicolas Theys, Nader Abuhassan, Alkiviadis Bais, Folkert Boersma, Alexander Cede, Jihyo Chong, Sebastian Donner, Theano Drosoglou, Anatoly Dzhola, Henk Eskes, Udo Frieß, José Granville, Jay R. Herman, Robert Holla, Jari Hovila, Hitoshi Irie, Yugo Kanaya, Dimitris Karagkiozidis, Natalia Kouremeti, Jean-Christopher Lambert, Jianzhong Ma, Enno Peters, Ankie Piters, Oleg Postylyakov, Andreas Richter, Julia Remmers, Hisahiro Takashima, Martin Tiefengraber, Pieter Valks, Tim Vlemmix, Thomas Wagner, and Folkard Wittrock
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 6141–6174, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6141-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6141-2020, 2020
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We validate several GOME-2 and OMI tropospheric NO2 products with 23 MAX-DOAS and 16 direct sun instruments distributed worldwide, highlighting large horizontal inhomogeneities at several sites affecting the validation results. We propose a method for quantification and correction. We show the application of such correction reduces the satellite underestimation in almost all heterogeneous cases, but a negative bias remains over the MAX-DOAS and direct sun network ensemble for both satellites.
Yeyuan Huang, Ang Li, Thomas Wagner, Yang Wang, Zhaokun Hu, Pinhua Xie, Jin Xu, Hongmei Ren, Julia Remmers, Xiaoyi Fang, and Bing Dang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 6025–6051, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6025-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6025-2020, 2020
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Mobile DOAS has become an important tool for the quantification of emission sources. In this study, we focused on the error budget of mobile DOAS measurements from NOx and SO2 point sources based on the model simulations, and we also offered recommendations for the optimum settings of such measurements.
Alexis Merlaud, Livio Belegante, Daniel-Eduard Constantin, Mirjam Den Hoed, Andreas Carlos Meier, Marc Allaart, Magdalena Ardelean, Maxim Arseni, Tim Bösch, Hugues Brenot, Andreea Calcan, Emmanuel Dekemper, Sebastian Donner, Steffen Dörner, Mariana Carmelia Balanica Dragomir, Lucian Georgescu, Anca Nemuc, Doina Nicolae, Gaia Pinardi, Andreas Richter, Adrian Rosu, Thomas Ruhtz, Anja Schönhardt, Dirk Schuettemeyer, Reza Shaiganfar, Kerstin Stebel, Frederik Tack, Sorin Nicolae Vâjâiac, Jeni Vasilescu, Jurgen Vanhamel, Thomas Wagner, and Michel Van Roozendael
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 5513–5535, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5513-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5513-2020, 2020
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The AROMAT campaigns took place in Romania in 2014 and 2015. They aimed to test airborne observation systems dedicated to air quality studies and to verify the concept of such campaigns in support of the validation of space-borne atmospheric missions. We show that airborne measurements of NO2 can be valuable for the validation of air quality satellites. For H2CO and SO2, the validation should involve ground-based measurement systems at key locations that the AROMAT measurements help identify.
Yang Wang, Arnoud Apituley, Alkiviadis Bais, Steffen Beirle, Nuria Benavent, Alexander Borovski, Ilya Bruchkouski, Ka Lok Chan, Sebastian Donner, Theano Drosoglou, Henning Finkenzeller, Martina M. Friedrich, Udo Frieß, David Garcia-Nieto, Laura Gómez-Martín, François Hendrick, Andreas Hilboll, Junli Jin, Paul Johnston, Theodore K. Koenig, Karin Kreher, Vinod Kumar, Aleksandra Kyuberis, Johannes Lampel, Cheng Liu, Haoran Liu, Jianzhong Ma, Oleg L. Polyansky, Oleg Postylyakov, Richard Querel, Alfonso Saiz-Lopez, Stefan Schmitt, Xin Tian, Jan-Lukas Tirpitz, Michel Van Roozendael, Rainer Volkamer, Zhuoru Wang, Pinhua Xie, Chengzhi Xing, Jin Xu, Margarita Yela, Chengxin Zhang, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 5087–5116, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5087-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5087-2020, 2020
Marc Schwaerzel, Claudia Emde, Dominik Brunner, Randulph Morales, Thomas Wagner, Alexis Berne, Brigitte Buchmann, and Gerrit Kuhlmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 4277–4293, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4277-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4277-2020, 2020
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Horizontal homogeneity is often assumed for trace gases remote sensing, although it is not valid where trace gas concentrations have high spatial variability, e.g., in cities. We show the importance of 3D effects for MAX-DOAS and airborne imaging spectrometers using 3D-box air mass factors implemented in the MYSTIC radiative transfer solver. In both cases, 3D information is invaluable for interpreting the measurements, as not considering 3D effects can lead to misinterpretation of measurements.
Steven Compernolle, Tijl Verhoelst, Gaia Pinardi, José Granville, Daan Hubert, Arno Keppens, Sander Niemeijer, Bruno Rino, Alkis Bais, Steffen Beirle, Folkert Boersma, John P. Burrows, Isabelle De Smedt, Henk Eskes, Florence Goutail, François Hendrick, Alba Lorente, Andrea Pazmino, Ankie Piters, Enno Peters, Jean-Pierre Pommereau, Julia Remmers, Andreas Richter, Jos van Geffen, Michel Van Roozendael, Thomas Wagner, and Jean-Christopher Lambert
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 8017–8045, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8017-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8017-2020, 2020
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Tropospheric and stratospheric NO2 columns from the OMI QA4ECV NO2 satellite product are validated by comparison with ground-based measurements at 11 sites. The OMI stratospheric column has a small negative bias, and the OMI tropospheric column has a stronger negative bias relative to the ground-based data. Discrepancies are attributed to comparison errors (e.g. difference in horizontal smoothing) and measurement errors (e.g. clouds, aerosols, vertical smoothing and a priori profile assumptions).
Jianzhong Ma, Steffen Dörner, Sebastian Donner, Junli Jin, Siyang Cheng, Junrang Guo, Zhanfeng Zhang, Jianqiong Wang, Peng Liu, Guoqing Zhang, Janis Pukite, Johannes Lampel, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 6973–6990, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-6973-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-6973-2020, 2020
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We made ground-based MAX-DOAS measurements at the Mt. Waliguan WMO GAW global baseline station (WLG) in the Tibetan Plateau during the years 2012–2015. We retrieve the differential slant column densities (dSCDs) of NO2, SO2, HCHO, and BrO from measured spectra at different elevation angles. Mixing ratios of these trace gases in the background troposphere over WLG are derived based on these dSCDs at a 1° elevation angle and the TRACY-2 radiative transfer model simulations.
Christian Borger, Steffen Beirle, Steffen Dörner, Holger Sihler, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 2751–2783, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2751-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2751-2020, 2020
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We present a total column water vapour (TCWV) retrieval analysing measurements from S-5P/TROPOMI in the visible blue spectral range. The retrieval can well capture the global water vapour distribution with similar sensitivity over the land and ocean and agrees well with various reference data sets within the estimated TCWV uncertainties of typically around 10 %–20 %.
Karin Kreher, Michel Van Roozendael, Francois Hendrick, Arnoud Apituley, Ermioni Dimitropoulou, Udo Frieß, Andreas Richter, Thomas Wagner, Johannes Lampel, Nader Abuhassan, Li Ang, Monica Anguas, Alkis Bais, Nuria Benavent, Tim Bösch, Kristof Bognar, Alexander Borovski, Ilya Bruchkouski, Alexander Cede, Ka Lok Chan, Sebastian Donner, Theano Drosoglou, Caroline Fayt, Henning Finkenzeller, David Garcia-Nieto, Clio Gielen, Laura Gómez-Martín, Nan Hao, Bas Henzing, Jay R. Herman, Christian Hermans, Syedul Hoque, Hitoshi Irie, Junli Jin, Paul Johnston, Junaid Khayyam Butt, Fahim Khokhar, Theodore K. Koenig, Jonas Kuhn, Vinod Kumar, Cheng Liu, Jianzhong Ma, Alexis Merlaud, Abhishek K. Mishra, Moritz Müller, Monica Navarro-Comas, Mareike Ostendorf, Andrea Pazmino, Enno Peters, Gaia Pinardi, Manuel Pinharanda, Ankie Piters, Ulrich Platt, Oleg Postylyakov, Cristina Prados-Roman, Olga Puentedura, Richard Querel, Alfonso Saiz-Lopez, Anja Schönhardt, Stefan F. Schreier, André Seyler, Vinayak Sinha, Elena Spinei, Kimberly Strong, Frederik Tack, Xin Tian, Martin Tiefengraber, Jan-Lukas Tirpitz, Jeroen van Gent, Rainer Volkamer, Mihalis Vrekoussis, Shanshan Wang, Zhuoru Wang, Mark Wenig, Folkard Wittrock, Pinhua H. Xie, Jin Xu, Margarita Yela, Chengxin Zhang, and Xiaoyi Zhao
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 2169–2208, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2169-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2169-2020, 2020
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In September 2016, 36 spectrometers from 24 institutes measured a number of key atmospheric pollutants during an instrument intercomparison campaign (CINDI-2) at Cabauw, the Netherlands. Here we report on the outcome of this intercomparison exercise. The three major goals were to characterise the differences between the participating instruments, to define a robust methodology for performance assessment, and to contribute to the harmonisation of the measurement settings and retrieval methods.
Zhuoru Wang, Ka Lok Chan, Klaus-Peter Heue, Adrian Doicu, Thomas Wagner, Robert Holla, and Matthias Wiegner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 1835–1866, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1835-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1835-2020, 2020
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We present a new aerosol profile retrieval algorithm for MAX-DOAS measurements at high-altitude sites and applied to the MAX-DOAS measurements at UFS. The retrieval algorithm is based on a O4 DSCD lookup table which is dedicated to high-altitude MAX-DOAS measurements. The comparison of retrieved aerosol optical depths (AODs) to sun photometer observations shows good agreement with a correlation coefficient (R) of 0.733 and 0.798 at 360 and 477 nm, respectively.
Felix Erdmann, Eric Defer, Olivier Caumont, Richard J. Blakeslee, Stéphane Pédeboy, and Sylvain Coquillat
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 853–875, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-853-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-853-2020, 2020
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This article compares lightning observations from an optical sensor onboard the International Space Station to two ground-based networks using different radio frequencies. The location and timing of coincident flashes agree well for the three instruments. Differences exist for the detected number of flashes and the characteristics. Small flashes in particular are not always detected by all three instruments. About half of the flashes at altitudes below 10 km are not seen by the satellite sensor.
Sebastian Donner, Jonas Kuhn, Michel Van Roozendael, Alkiviadis Bais, Steffen Beirle, Tim Bösch, Kristof Bognar, Ilya Bruchkouski, Ka Lok Chan, Steffen Dörner, Theano Drosoglou, Caroline Fayt, Udo Frieß, François Hendrick, Christian Hermans, Junli Jin, Ang Li, Jianzhong Ma, Enno Peters, Gaia Pinardi, Andreas Richter, Stefan F. Schreier, André Seyler, Kimberly Strong, Jan-Lukas Tirpitz, Yang Wang, Pinhua Xie, Jin Xu, Xiaoyi Zhao, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 685–712, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-685-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-685-2020, 2020
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The calibration of the elevation angles of MAX-DOAS instruments is important for the correct interpretation of such MAX-DOAS measurements. We present and evaluate different methods for the elevation calibration of MAX-DOAS instruments which were applied during the CINDI-2 field campaign.
Fei Liu, Bryan N. Duncan, Nickolay A. Krotkov, Lok N. Lamsal, Steffen Beirle, Debora Griffin, Chris A. McLinden, Daniel L. Goldberg, and Zifeng Lu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 99–116, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-99-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-99-2020, 2020
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We present a novel method to infer CO2 emissions from individual power plants, based on satellite observations of co-emitted NO2. We find that the CO2 emissions estimated by our satellite-based method during 2005–2017 are in reasonable agreement with the CEMS measurements for US power plants. The broader implication of our methodology is that it has the potential to provide an additional constraint on CO2 emissions from power plants in regions of the world without reliable emissions accounting.
Florian Dinger, Stefan Bredemeyer, Santiago Arellano, Nicole Bobrowski, Ulrich Platt, and Thomas Wagner
Solid Earth, 10, 725–740, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-725-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-725-2019, 2019
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Evidence for tidal impacts on volcanism have been gathered by numerous empirical studies. This paper elucidates whether a causal link from the tidal forces to a variation in the volcanic degassing can be traced analytically. We model the response of a simplified magmatic system to the local tidal gravity variations, find that the tide-induced dynamics may significantly alter the bubble coalescence rate, and discuss the consequences for volcanic degassing behaviour.
Thomas Wagner, Steffen Beirle, Nuria Benavent, Tim Bösch, Ka Lok Chan, Sebastian Donner, Steffen Dörner, Caroline Fayt, Udo Frieß, David García-Nieto, Clio Gielen, David González-Bartolome, Laura Gomez, François Hendrick, Bas Henzing, Jun Li Jin, Johannes Lampel, Jianzhong Ma, Kornelia Mies, Mónica Navarro, Enno Peters, Gaia Pinardi, Olga Puentedura, Janis Puķīte, Julia Remmers, Andreas Richter, Alfonso Saiz-Lopez, Reza Shaiganfar, Holger Sihler, Michel Van Roozendael, Yang Wang, and Margarita Yela
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 2745–2817, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2745-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2745-2019, 2019
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In this study the consistency between MAX-DOAS measurements and radiative transfer simulations of the atmospheric O4 absorption is investigated. The study is based on measurements (2 selected days during the MADCAT campaign) as well as synthetic spectra. The uncertainties of all relevant aspects (spectral retrieval and radiative transfer simulations) are quantified. For one of the selected days, measurements and simulations do not agree within their uncertainties.
Yang Wang, Steffen Dörner, Sebastian Donner, Sebastian Böhnke, Isabelle De Smedt, Russell R. Dickerson, Zipeng Dong, Hao He, Zhanqing Li, Zhengqiang Li, Donghui Li, Dong Liu, Xinrong Ren, Nicolas Theys, Yuying Wang, Yang Wang, Zhenzhu Wang, Hua Xu, Jiwei Xu, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 5417–5449, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-5417-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-5417-2019, 2019
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A MAX-DOAS instrument was operated to derive tropospheric vertical profiles of NO2, SO2, HONO, HCHO, CHOCHO and aerosols in the central western North China Plain in May and June 2016. The MAX-DOAS results are verified by comparisons with a collocated Raman lidar, overpass aircraft measurements, a sun photometer and in situ measurements. The contributions of regional transports and local emissions to the pollutants are evaluated based on case studies and statistic analysis.
Udo Frieß, Steffen Beirle, Leonardo Alvarado Bonilla, Tim Bösch, Martina M. Friedrich, François Hendrick, Ankie Piters, Andreas Richter, Michel van Roozendael, Vladimir V. Rozanov, Elena Spinei, Jan-Lukas Tirpitz, Tim Vlemmix, Thomas Wagner, and Yang Wang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 2155–2181, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2155-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2155-2019, 2019
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Multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) is a widely used measurement technique for the detection of a variety of atmospheric trace gases. It enables the retrieval of aerosol and trace gas vertical profiles in the atmospheric boundary layer using appropriate retrieval algorithms. In this study, the ability of eight profile retrieval algorithms to reconstruct vertical profiles is assessed on the basis of synthetic measurements.
Steffen Beirle, Steffen Dörner, Sebastian Donner, Julia Remmers, Yang Wang, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 1785–1806, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1785-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1785-2019, 2019
Song Liu, Pieter Valks, Gaia Pinardi, Isabelle De Smedt, Huan Yu, Steffen Beirle, and Andreas Richter
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 1029–1057, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1029-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1029-2019, 2019
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Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) plays significant roles in both stratospheric and tropospheric chemistry, and the observations from satellites enable reliable monitoring of NO2 columns on a global scale and on long time scales. This work presents a refined algorithm for the retrieval of NO2 columns from the satellite instrument Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 (GOME-2), which shows a clear improvement comparing to the previous algorithm.
Jonas Kuhn, Ulrich Platt, Nicole Bobrowski, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 735–747, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-735-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-735-2019, 2019
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We study a novel remote-sensing technique for atmospheric trace gases absorbing in the UV and visible spectral range. Using Fabry–Perot interferometers with a spectral transmission matched to the trace gas's spectral absorption allows for imaging trace gases with high sensitivity and selectivity. The thereby achieved high spatio-temporal resolution enables the study of small-scale and dynamic processes in the atmosphere. We present sample calculations and a proof-of-concept study.
Mengyao Liu, Jintai Lin, K. Folkert Boersma, Gaia Pinardi, Yang Wang, Julien Chimot, Thomas Wagner, Pinhua Xie, Henk Eskes, Michel Van Roozendael, François Hendrick, Pucai Wang, Ting Wang, Yingying Yan, Lulu Chen, and Ruijing Ni
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 1–21, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1-2019, 2019
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China has become the world’s largest emitter of NOx, which mainly comes from vehicle exhaust, power plants, etc. However, there are no official ground-based measurements before 2013, so satellites have been widely used to monitor and analyze NOx pollution here. Aerosol is the key factor influencing the accuracy of the satellite NOx product. Our study provides a more accurate way to account for aerosol's influence compared to current widely used products.
K. Folkert Boersma, Henk J. Eskes, Andreas Richter, Isabelle De Smedt, Alba Lorente, Steffen Beirle, Jos H. G. M. van Geffen, Marina Zara, Enno Peters, Michel Van Roozendael, Thomas Wagner, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Ronald J. van der A, Joanne Nightingale, Anne De Rudder, Hitoshi Irie, Gaia Pinardi, Jean-Christopher Lambert, and Steven C. Compernolle
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 6651–6678, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-6651-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-6651-2018, 2018
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This paper describes a new, improved data record of 22+ years of coherent nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution measurements from different satellite instruments. Our work helps to ensure that climate data are of sufficient quality to draw reliable conclusions and shape decisions. It shows how dedicated intercomparisons of retrieval sub-steps have led to improved NO2 measurements from the GOME, SCIAMACHY, GOME-2(A), and OMI sensors, and how quality assurance of the new data product is achieved.
Eloise A. Marais, Daniel J. Jacob, Sungyeon Choi, Joanna Joiner, Maria Belmonte-Rivas, Ronald C. Cohen, Steffen Beirle, Lee T. Murray, Luke D. Schiferl, Viral Shah, and Lyatt Jaeglé
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 17017–17027, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-17017-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-17017-2018, 2018
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We intercompare two new products of global upper tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2) retrieved from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI). We evaluate these products with aircraft observations from NASA DC8 aircraft campaigns and interpret the useful information these products can provide about nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the global upper troposphere using the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model.
Roeland Van Malderen, Eric Pottiaux, Gintautas Stankunavicius, Steffen Beirle, Thomas Wagner, Hugues Brenot, and Carine Bruyninx
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2018-1170, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2018-1170, 2018
Revised manuscript not accepted
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The study investigates the long-term time variability of the integrated water vapour retrieved by different techniques (GPS, UV/VIS satellites and numerical weather prediction reanalyses) for a global dataset of almost 120 sites and for the time period 1995–2010. A stepwise multiple linear regression technique is applied to ascribe the time variability of integrated water vapour to surface measurements at the sites, but also using teleconnection patterns or climate/oceanic indices.
Jorge Saturno, Florian Ditas, Marloes Penning de Vries, Bruna A. Holanda, Mira L. Pöhlker, Samara Carbone, David Walter, Nicole Bobrowski, Joel Brito, Xuguang Chi, Alexandra Gutmann, Isabella Hrabe de Angelis, Luiz A. T. Machado, Daniel Moran-Zuloaga, Julian Rüdiger, Johannes Schneider, Christiane Schulz, Qiaoqiao Wang, Manfred Wendisch, Paulo Artaxo, Thomas Wagner, Ulrich Pöschl, Meinrat O. Andreae, and Christopher Pöhlker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 10391–10405, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10391-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10391-2018, 2018
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This study uses satellite observations to track volcanic emissions in eastern Congo and their subsequent transport across the Atlantic Ocean into the Amazon Basin. Aircraft and ground-based observations are used to characterize the influence of volcanogenic aerosol on the chemical and microphysical properties of Amazonian aerosols. Further, this work is an illustrative example of the conditions and dynamics driving the transatlantic transport of African emissions to South America.
Marina Zara, K. Folkert Boersma, Isabelle De Smedt, Andreas Richter, Enno Peters, Jos H. G. M. van Geffen, Steffen Beirle, Thomas Wagner, Michel Van Roozendael, Sergey Marchenko, Lok N. Lamsal, and Henk J. Eskes
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 4033–4058, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-4033-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-4033-2018, 2018
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Nitrogen dioxide and formaldehyde satellite data are used for air quality and climate studies. We quantify and characterise slant column uncertainties from different research groups. Our evaluation is motivated by recently improved techniques and by a desire to provide fully traceable uncertainty budget for climate records generated within the QA4ECV project. The improved slant columns are in agreement but with substantial differences in the reported uncertainties between groups and instruments.
Isabelle De Smedt, Nicolas Theys, Huan Yu, Thomas Danckaert, Christophe Lerot, Steven Compernolle, Michel Van Roozendael, Andreas Richter, Andreas Hilboll, Enno Peters, Mattia Pedergnana, Diego Loyola, Steffen Beirle, Thomas Wagner, Henk Eskes, Jos van Geffen, Klaas Folkert Boersma, and Pepijn Veefkind
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 2395–2426, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2395-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2395-2018, 2018
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This paper introduces the formaldehyde (HCHO) tropospheric vertical column retrieval algorithm implemented in the TROPOMI/Sentinel-5 Precursor operational processor, and comprehensively describes its various retrieval steps. Furthermore, algorithmic improvements developed in the framework of the EU FP7-project QA4ECV are described for future updates of the processor. Detailed error estimates are discussed in the light of Copernicus user requirements and needs for validation are highlighted.
Steffen Beirle, Johannes Lampel, Yang Wang, Kornelia Mies, Steffen Dörner, Margherita Grossi, Diego Loyola, Angelika Dehn, Anja Danielczok, Marc Schröder, and Thomas Wagner
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 10, 449–468, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-449-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-449-2018, 2018
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We present time series of the global distribution of water vapor over more than 2 decades based on satellite measurements from different sensors. A particular focus is the consistency amongst the different sensors to avoid jumps from one instrument to another. This is reached by applying robust and simple retrieval settings consistently. The resulting
Climateproduct allows the study of the temporal evolution of water vapor over the last 20 years on a global scale.
Florian Dinger, Nicole Bobrowski, Simon Warnach, Stefan Bredemeyer, Silvana Hidalgo, Santiago Arellano, Bo Galle, Ulrich Platt, and Thomas Wagner
Solid Earth, 9, 247–266, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-247-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-247-2018, 2018
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We monitored the bromine monoxide-to-sulfur dioxide molar ratio in the effusive gas plume of Cotopaxi volcano in order to gain insight into the geological processes which control the pressure regime of the volcanic system. We observed a conspicuous periodic pattern with a periodicity of about 2 weeks, which significantly correlates with the Earth tidal forcing. Our results support a possible Earth tidal impact on volcanic activity, in particular for the Cotopaxi eruption 2015.
Johannes Lampel, Johannes Zielcke, Stefan Schmitt, Denis Pöhler, Udo Frieß, Ulrich Platt, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 1671–1683, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-1671-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-1671-2018, 2018
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Previous publications on the absorptions of the oxygen dimer O2–O2 (or short: O4) list absorption peaks at 328 nm and 419 nm, for which no spectrally resolved literature cross sections are available. As these absorptions potentially influence the spectral retrieval of various other trace gases, their shape and magnitude need to be quantified. We approximate the absorption peaks at 328 nm and 419 nm by their respective neighboring absorption peaks to estimate their magnitude and peak wavelength.
Johannes Lampel, Yang Wang, Andreas Hilboll, Steffen Beirle, Holger Sihler, Janis Puķīte, Ulrich Platt, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 4819–4831, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4819-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4819-2017, 2017
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Experience of differential atmospheric absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) shows that a spectral shift between measurement and reference spectrum is frequently required in order to achieve optimal fit results. The shift is often attributed to temporal instabilities of the instrument but implicitly solved the problem of the tilt effect discussed in this paper. The tilt effect results from the finite resolution of the measurements and amounts to 2 pm for the example data set.
Yang Wang, Steffen Beirle, Francois Hendrick, Andreas Hilboll, Junli Jin, Aleksandra A. Kyuberis, Johannes Lampel, Ang Li, Yuhan Luo, Lorenzo Lodi, Jianzhong Ma, Monica Navarro, Ivan Ortega, Enno Peters, Oleg L. Polyansky, Julia Remmers, Andreas Richter, Olga Puentedura, Michel Van Roozendael, André Seyler, Jonathan Tennyson, Rainer Volkamer, Pinhua Xie, Nikolai F. Zobov, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 3719–3742, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3719-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3719-2017, 2017
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Slant column densities of nitrous acid (HONO) derived from different MAX-DOAS instruments and retrieval software are systematically compared for the first time during the Multi Axis DOAS – Comparison campaign for Aerosols and Trace gases (MAD-CAT) campaign held at MPIC in Mainz, Germany, from June to October 2013. Through the inter-comparisons and sensitivity studies we quantified the uncertainties in the DOAS fits of HONO from different sources and concluded a recommended setting.
Fei Liu, Steffen Beirle, Qiang Zhang, Ronald J. van der A, Bo Zheng, Dan Tong, and Kebin He
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 9261–9275, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9261-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9261-2017, 2017
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We assess NOx emission trends over Chinese cities based on satellite NO2 observations using a method independent of chemical transport models. NOx emissions over 48 Chinese cities have decreased significantly since 2011. Cities with different dominant emission sources (i.e. power, industrial, and transportation sectors) showed variable emission decline timelines that corresponded to the schedules for emission control in different sectors.
Reza Shaiganfar, Steffen Beirle, Hugo Denier van der Gon, Sander Jonkers, Jeroen Kuenen, Herve Petetin, Qijie Zhang, Matthias Beekmann, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 7853–7890, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-7853-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-7853-2017, 2017
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We determine NOx emissions for Paris in summer 2009 and winter 2009/2010 by combining car MAX-DOAS measurements of NO2 with wind fields. We compare the results with simulations from the CHIMERE model. We derive daily average NOx emissions for Paris of 4.0 × 1025 molecules s−1 for summer and of 6.9 × 1025 molecules s−1 in winter. These values are a factor of about 1.4 and 2.0 larger than the corresponding emissions in the MACC-III emission inventory.
Peter K. Peterson, Denis Pöhler, Holger Sihler, Johannes Zielcke, Stephan General, Udo Frieß, Ulrich Platt, William R. Simpson, Son V. Nghiem, Paul B. Shepson, Brian H. Stirm, Suresh Dhaniyala, Thomas Wagner, Dana R. Caulton, Jose D. Fuentes, and Kerri A. Pratt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 7567–7579, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-7567-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-7567-2017, 2017
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High-spatial-resolution aircraft measurements in the Arctic showed the sustained transport of reactive bromine in a lofted layer via heterogeneous reactions on aerosol particles. This process provides an explanation for free tropospheric reactive bromine and the significant spatial extent of satellite-observed bromine monoxide. The knowledge gained herein improves our understanding of the fate and transport of atmospheric pollutants in the Arctic.
Andreas Carlos Meier, Anja Schönhardt, Tim Bösch, Andreas Richter, André Seyler, Thomas Ruhtz, Daniel-Eduard Constantin, Reza Shaiganfar, Thomas Wagner, Alexis Merlaud, Michel Van Roozendael, Livio Belegante, Doina Nicolae, Lucian Georgescu, and John Philip Burrows
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 1831–1857, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1831-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1831-2017, 2017
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We present airborne remote sensing measurements of NO2 in the urban area of Bucharest. NO2 is a harmful pollutant, which is emitted in combustion processes. The measurements presented here enable the creation of maps, showing the horizontal NO2 distribution across the whole city within a relatively short time window of 1.5 h. These data provide new insight into urban pollution levels and their spatial distribution.
Yang Wang, Steffen Beirle, Johannes Lampel, Mariliza Koukouli, Isabelle De Smedt, Nicolas Theys, Ang Li, Dexia Wu, Pinhua Xie, Cheng Liu, Michel Van Roozendael, Trissevgeni Stavrakou, Jean-François Müller, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 5007–5033, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5007-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5007-2017, 2017
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A long-term MAX-DOAS measurement from 2011 to 2014 was operated in Wuxi, part of the most industrialized area of the Yangtze River delta region of China. The tropospheric VCDs and vertical profiles of NO2, SO2 and HCHO derived from the MAX-DOAS are used to validate the products derived from OMI and GOME-2A/B by different scientific teams (daily- and bimonthly-averaged data). We investigate the effects of clouds, aerosols and a priori profile shapes on satellite retrievals of tropospheric VCDs.
Enno Peters, Gaia Pinardi, André Seyler, Andreas Richter, Folkard Wittrock, Tim Bösch, Michel Van Roozendael, François Hendrick, Theano Drosoglou, Alkiviadis F. Bais, Yugo Kanaya, Xiaoyi Zhao, Kimberly Strong, Johannes Lampel, Rainer Volkamer, Theodore Koenig, Ivan Ortega, Olga Puentedura, Mónica Navarro-Comas, Laura Gómez, Margarita Yela González, Ankie Piters, Julia Remmers, Yang Wang, Thomas Wagner, Shanshan Wang, Alfonso Saiz-Lopez, David García-Nieto, Carlos A. Cuevas, Nuria Benavent, Richard Querel, Paul Johnston, Oleg Postylyakov, Alexander Borovski, Alexander Elokhov, Ilya Bruchkouski, Haoran Liu, Cheng Liu, Qianqian Hong, Claudia Rivera, Michel Grutter, Wolfgang Stremme, M. Fahim Khokhar, Junaid Khayyam, and John P. Burrows
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 955–978, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-955-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-955-2017, 2017
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This work is about harmonization of differential optical absorption spectroscopy retrieval codes, which is a remote sensing technique widely used to derive atmospheric trace gas amounts. The study is based on ground-based measurements performed during the Multi-Axis DOAS Comparison campaign for Aerosols and Trace gases (MAD-CAT) in Mainz, Germany, in summer 2013. In total, 17 international groups working in the field of the DOAS technique participated in this study.
Holger Sihler, Peter Lübcke, Rüdiger Lang, Steffen Beirle, Martin de Graaf, Christoph Hörmann, Johannes Lampel, Marloes Penning de Vries, Julia Remmers, Ed Trollope, Yang Wang, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 881–903, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-881-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-881-2017, 2017
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This paper presents the independent and simple IFR method to retrieve the FOV of an instrument, i.e. the two-dimensional sensitivity distribution. IFR relies on correlated measurements featuring a higher spatial resolution and was applied to two satellite instruments, GOME-2 and OMI, and a DOAS instrument integrated in an SO2 camera. Our results confirm the commonly applied FOV distributions. IFR is applicable for verification exercises as well as degradation monitoring in the field.
Alba Lorente, K. Folkert Boersma, Huan Yu, Steffen Dörner, Andreas Hilboll, Andreas Richter, Mengyao Liu, Lok N. Lamsal, Michael Barkley, Isabelle De Smedt, Michel Van Roozendael, Yang Wang, Thomas Wagner, Steffen Beirle, Jin-Tai Lin, Nickolay Krotkov, Piet Stammes, Ping Wang, Henk J. Eskes, and Maarten Krol
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 759–782, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-759-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-759-2017, 2017
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Choices and assumptions made to represent the state of the atmosphere introduce an uncertainty of 42 % in the air mass factor calculation in trace gas satellite retrievals in polluted regions. The AMF strongly depends on the choice of a priori trace gas profile, surface albedo data set and the correction method to account for clouds and aerosols. We call for well-designed validation exercises focusing on situations when AMF structural uncertainty has the highest impact on satellite retrievals.
Steffen Beirle, Johannes Lampel, Christophe Lerot, Holger Sihler, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 581–598, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-581-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-581-2017, 2017
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We propose to parameterize the instrumental spectral response function (ISRF) as a "super-Gaussian", which can reproduce a variety of shapes, from point-hat to boxcar shape, by just adding one parameter to the "classical" Gaussian.
In addition, the super-Gaussian allows for a straightforward parametrization of the effect of ISRF changes.
Yang Wang, Johannes Lampel, Pinhua Xie, Steffen Beirle, Ang Li, Dexia Wu, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 2189–2215, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-2189-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-2189-2017, 2017
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The air pollution in the Yangtze River delta (YRD), the largest economic region in China, threatens the health of the inhabitants in this region. A long-term MAX-DOAS observation in Wuxi, China (belonging to YRD), is used to characterize vertical distributions (VD) of the aerosols and the precursor trace gases in the boundary to identify the dominating sources. The results are valuable for further validation of satellite products and chemical transport modelings.
Johannes Lampel, Denis Pöhler, Oleg L. Polyansky, Aleksandra A. Kyuberis, Nikolai F. Zobov, Jonathan Tennyson, Lorenzo Lodi, Udo Frieß, Yang Wang, Steffen Beirle, Ulrich Platt, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 1271–1295, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1271-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1271-2017, 2017
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Water vapour is known to absorb radiation from the microwave region to the blue part of the visible spectrum.
Ab initio approaches to model individual absorption lines of the gaseous water molecule predict absorption lines
until its dissociation limit at 243 nm.
We present first evidence of water vapour absorption near 363 nm from field measurements using data
from multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) and long-path (LP)-DOAS measurements.
Nicolas Theys, Isabelle De Smedt, Huan Yu, Thomas Danckaert, Jeroen van Gent, Christoph Hörmann, Thomas Wagner, Pascal Hedelt, Heiko Bauer, Fabian Romahn, Mattia Pedergnana, Diego Loyola, and Michel Van Roozendael
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 119–153, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-119-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-119-2017, 2017
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This paper provides a thorough description of the algorithm to retrieve SO2 columns from TROPOMI/Sentinel-5 Precursor measurements. The different algorithmic steps including error analysis are detailed. Scientific verification of the algorithm and validation needs are also discussed.
Christoph Hörmann, Holger Sihler, Steffen Beirle, Marloes Penning de Vries, Ulrich Platt, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 13015–13034, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-13015-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-13015-2016, 2016
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We present 10 years of bromine monoxide (BrO) satellite observations by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) over the Rann of Kutch salt marsh. The measurements reveal a typical seasonal cycle of BrO with maximum concentrations during April/May. The results indicate that the Rann of Kutch is probably one of the strongest natural point sources of reactive bromine compounds outside the polar regions and is thought to have a significant impact on local and regional ozone chemistry.
Thomas Wagner, Steffen Beirle, Julia Remmers, Reza Shaiganfar, and Yang Wang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 4803–4823, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4803-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4803-2016, 2016
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A method is developed for the calibration of the colour index (CI) and the O4 absorption derived from differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) measurements of scattered sunlight. Calibrated measurements of the CI and the O4 absorption are important for the detection and classification of clouds from MAX-DOAS observations.
Buhalqem Mamtimin, Franz X. Meixner, Thomas Behrendt, Moawad Badawy, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 10175–10194, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-10175-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-10175-2016, 2016
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In this study, we focused on the contributions of soil biogenic NO and HONO emissions from a managed hyperarid ecosystem to the regional NOx emissions during growing season. In particular, the second maximum in summer provides substantial evidence to hypothesize that those biogenic emissions from soils of managed drylands in the growing period may be much more important contributors to regional NOx budgets of dryland regions than previously thought.
Erna Frins, Reza Shaiganfar, Ulrich Platt, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2016-255, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2016-255, 2016
Revised manuscript has not been submitted
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Standard methods like in-situ measurements can hardly register NOx (= NO + NO2) emissions from aircrafts during take-off, when engines run at high load and thus an important amount of fuel is consumed and most of the harmful emissions are produced . The goal of this work is to show that it is possible to measure aircraft emissions generated during take-off (and initial part of the climb) by a remote spectroscopic method like automobile – based – Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS).
Jan Zörner, Marloes Penning de Vries, Steffen Beirle, Holger Sihler, Patrick R. Veres, Jonathan Williams, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 9457–9487, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9457-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9457-2016, 2016
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We present a top-down approach to infer and quantify rain-induced emission pulses of nitrogen oxides from soils using satellite-borne measurements of NO2. We found strong enhancements of NO2 induced by the first intense precipitation after prolonged droughts in many semi-arid regions of the world, in particular in the Sahel. Apart from the clear first-day peak, NO2 VCDs are moderately enhanced compared to background over the following 2 weeks suggesting potential further emissions.
U. Frieß, H. Klein Baltink, S. Beirle, K. Clémer, F. Hendrick, B. Henzing, H. Irie, G. de Leeuw, A. Li, M. M. Moerman, M. van Roozendael, R. Shaiganfar, T. Wagner, Y. Wang, P. Xie, S. Yilmaz, and P. Zieger
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 3205–3222, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-3205-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-3205-2016, 2016
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This article describes the first direct comparison of aerosol extinction profiles from Multi-Axis DOAS measurements of the oxygen collision complex using five different retrieval algorithms. A comparison of the retrieved profiles with co-located aerosol measurements shows good agreement with respect to profile shape and aerosol optical thickness. This study shows that MAX-DOAS is a simple, versatile and cost-effective method for the measurement of aerosol properties in the lower troposphere.
Steffen Beirle, Christoph Hörmann, Patrick Jöckel, Song Liu, Marloes Penning de Vries, Andrea Pozzer, Holger Sihler, Pieter Valks, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 2753–2779, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2753-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2753-2016, 2016
Jānis Puķīte and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 2147–2177, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2147-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2147-2016, 2016
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We address specialities of differential optical absorption spectroscopy of scattered light in the presence of strong absorbers (like ozone), where the optical depth becomes a non-linear function of the absorber concentration. We quantify the non-linearity using higher-order terms by expanding the radiative transfer equation in a Taylor series.
Fei Liu, Steffen Beirle, Qiang Zhang, Steffen Dörner, Kebin He, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 5283–5298, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-5283-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-5283-2016, 2016
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We present a new method to quantify NOx emissions and corresponding atmospheric lifetimes from OMI NO2 observations together with ECMWF wind fields without further model input for sources located in polluted background. The derived NOx emissions show generally good agreement with bottom-up inventories for power plants and cities. Global inventory significantly underestimated NOx emissions in Chinese cities, most likely due to uncertainties associated with downscaling approaches.
Y. Wang, M. Penning de Vries, P. H. Xie, S. Beirle, S. Dörner, J. Remmers, A. Li, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 5133–5156, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-5133-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-5133-2015, 2015
T. Wagner, S. Beirle, S. Dörner, M. Penning de Vries, J. Remmers, A. Rozanov, and R. Shaiganfar
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 4265–4280, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4265-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4265-2015, 2015
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We present a new method for the absolute calibration of atmospheric radiance measurements. Existing methods are based on laboratory measurements, but our method uses the atmospheric radiance measurements themselves. For selected sky conditions these measurements are compared to radiative transfer simulations. The method is very accurate (better than 7%) and might be used for a variety of scientific applications, as well as for the determination of the energy yield of photovoltaic cells.
M. J. M. Penning de Vries, S. Beirle, C. Hörmann, J. W. Kaiser, P. Stammes, L. G. Tilstra, O. N. E. Tuinder, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 10597–10618, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10597-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10597-2015, 2015
M. Beekmann, A. S. H. Prévôt, F. Drewnick, J. Sciare, S. N. Pandis, H. A. C. Denier van der Gon, M. Crippa, F. Freutel, L. Poulain, V. Ghersi, E. Rodriguez, S. Beirle, P. Zotter, S.-L. von der Weiden-Reinmüller, M. Bressi, C. Fountoukis, H. Petetin, S. Szidat, J. Schneider, A. Rosso, I. El Haddad, A. Megaritis, Q. J. Zhang, V. Michoud, J. G. Slowik, S. Moukhtar, P. Kolmonen, A. Stohl, S. Eckhardt, A. Borbon, V. Gros, N. Marchand, J. L. Jaffrezo, A. Schwarzenboeck, A. Colomb, A. Wiedensohler, S. Borrmann, M. Lawrence, A. Baklanov, and U. Baltensperger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 9577–9591, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-9577-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-9577-2015, 2015
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A detailed characterization of air quality in the Paris (France) agglomeration, a megacity, during two summer and winter intensive campaigns and from additional 1-year observations, revealed that about 70% of the fine particulate matter (PM) at urban background is transported into the megacity from upwind regions. Unexpectedly, a major part of organic PM is of modern origin (woodburning and cooking activities, secondary formation from biogenic VOC).
R. Shaiganfar, S. Beirle, H. Petetin, Q. Zhang, M. Beekmann, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 2827–2852, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-2827-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-2827-2015, 2015
M. Grossi, P. Valks, D. Loyola, B. Aberle, S. Slijkhuis, T. Wagner, S. Beirle, and R. Lang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 1111–1133, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-1111-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-1111-2015, 2015
B. Mamtimin, T. Behrendt, M. M. Badawy, T. Wagner, Y. Qi, Z. Wu, and F. X. Meixner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 867–882, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-867-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-867-2015, 2015
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In the paper, very good agreement between measured NO2 (MAX-DOAS) and simulated local ambient NO2 concentrations originating from enhanced soil biogenic NO emission was found. This agreement is considered as the first successful attempt to prove the validity of the chosen approach to upscale laboratory-derived biogenic NO fluxes to ecosystem field conditions. We believe that these topics and key findings make our article suitable for a wider scientific audience and for the interested public.
S. Beirle, C. Hörmann, M. Penning de Vries, S. Dörner, C. Kern, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 8309–8322, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-8309-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-8309-2014, 2014
M. J. M. Penning de Vries, S. Dörner, J. Puķīte, C. Hörmann, M. D. Fromm, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 8149–8163, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-8149-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-8149-2014, 2014
R. Van Malderen, H. Brenot, E. Pottiaux, S. Beirle, C. Hermans, M. De Mazière, T. Wagner, H. De Backer, and C. Bruyninx
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 2487–2512, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-2487-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-2487-2014, 2014
K.-P. Heue, H. Riede, D. Walter, C. A. M. Brenninkmeijer, T. Wagner, U. Frieß, U. Platt, A. Zahn, G. Stratmann, and H. Ziereis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 6621–6642, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-6621-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-6621-2014, 2014
Y. Wang, A. Li, P. H. Xie, T. Wagner, H. Chen, W. Q. Liu, and J. G. Liu
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 1663–1680, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1663-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1663-2014, 2014
T. Wagner, A. Apituley, S. Beirle, S. Dörner, U. Friess, J. Remmers, and R. Shaiganfar
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 1289–1320, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1289-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1289-2014, 2014
C. Liu, S. Beirle, T. Butler, P. Hoor, C. Frankenberg, P. Jöckel, M. Penning de Vries, U. Platt, A. Pozzer, M. G. Lawrence, J. Lelieveld, H. Tost, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 1717–1732, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1717-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1717-2014, 2014
J. Yoon, A. Pozzer, P. Hoor, D. Y. Chang, S. Beirle, T. Wagner, S. Schloegl, J. Lelieveld, and H. M. Worden
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 11307–11316, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-11307-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-11307-2013, 2013
T. Wagner, S. Beirle, H. Sihler, and K. Mies
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 2593–2605, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2593-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2593-2013, 2013
C. Hörmann, H. Sihler, N. Bobrowski, S. Beirle, M. Penning de Vries, U. Platt, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 4749–4781, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-4749-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-4749-2013, 2013
S. Beirle, H. Sihler, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 661–675, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-661-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-661-2013, 2013
J. Z. Ma, S. Beirle, J. L. Jin, R. Shaiganfar, P. Yan, and T. Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 1547–1567, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-1547-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-1547-2013, 2013
T. Wagner, M. O. Andreae, S. Beirle, S. Dörner, K. Mies, and R. Shaiganfar
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 131–149, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-131-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-131-2013, 2013
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Probabilistic hazard analysis of the gas emission of Mefite d'Ansanto, southern Italy
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Thomas Schwitalla, Lisa Jach, Volker Wulfmeyer, and Kirsten Warrach-Sagi
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 1405–1424, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-1405-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-1405-2025, 2025
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During recent decades, Europe has experienced increasing periods of severe drought and heatwave. To provide an overview of how land-surface conditions shape land–atmosphere (LA) coupling, the interannual LA coupling strength variability for the summer seasons of 1991–2022 is investigated by means of ERA5 data. The results clearly reflect ongoing climate change by a shift in the coupling relationships towards reinforced heating and drying by the land surface.
Marcos Roberto Benso, Roberto Fray Silva, Gabriela Chiquito Gesualdo, Antonio Mauro Saraiva, Alexandre Cláudio Botazzo Delbem, Patricia Angélica Alves Marques, José Antonio Marengo, and Eduardo Mario Mendiondo
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 1387–1404, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-1387-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-1387-2025, 2025
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This study applies climate extreme indices to assess climate risks to food security. Using an explainable machine learning analysis, key climate indices affecting maize and soybean yields in Brazil were identified. Results reveal the temporal sensitivity of these indices and critical yield loss thresholds, informing policy and adaptation strategies.
Juan F. Dueñas, Edda Kunze, Huiying Li, and Matthias C. Rillig
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 1377–1386, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-1377-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-1377-2025, 2025
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We investigated the potential of adding mixtures composed of minimum dosages of several popular amendment types to soil. Our goal was to increase the resistance of agricultural soil to drought stress. We found that adding mixtures of three to five amendment types increased the capacity of soil to retain water, reduced soil erosion, and increased fungal abundance while buffering soil from drastic changes in pH. More research is encouraged to validate this approach.
François Collet, Margot Bador, Julien Boé, Laurent Dubus, and Bénédicte Jourdier
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 843–856, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-843-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-843-2025, 2025
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Our aim is to characterize the observed evolution of compound winter low-wind and cold events impacting the French electricity system. The frequency of compound events exhibits a decrease over the 1950–2022 period, which is likely due to a decrease in cold days. Large-scale atmospheric circulation is an important driver of compound event occurrence and has likely contributed to the decrease in cold days, while we cannot draw conclusions on its influence on the decrease in compound events.
Fabio Dioguardi, Giovanni Chiodini, and Antonio Costa
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 657–674, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-657-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-657-2025, 2025
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We present results of non-volcanic-gas (CO2) hazard assessment at the Mefite d’Ansanto area (Italy) where a cold-gas stream, which has already been lethal to humans and animals, forms in the valleys surrounding the emission zone. We took the uncertainty related to the gas emission and meteorological conditions into account. Results include maps of CO2 concentrations at defined probability levels and the probability of overcoming specified CO2 concentrations over specified time intervals.
Sonja Szymczak, Frederick Bott, Vigile Marie Fabella, and Katharina Fricke
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 683–707, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-683-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-683-2025, 2025
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We investigate the correlation between heavy-rainfall events and three associated natural hazards along the German rail network using GIS analyses and random-effects logistic models. The results show that 23 % of floods, 14 % of gravitational mass movements, and 2 % of tree fall events between 2017 and 2020 occurred after a heavy-rainfall event, and the probability of occurrence of flood and tree fall events significantly increased. This study contributes to more resilient rail transport.
Daniel G. Kingston, Liam Cooper, David A. Lavers, and David M. Hannah
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 675–682, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-675-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-675-2025, 2025
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Extreme rainfall comprises a major hydrohazard for New Zealand and is commonly associated with atmospheric rivers – narrow plumes of very high atmospheric moisture transport. Here, we focus on improved forecasting of these events by testing a forecasting tool previously applied to similar situations in western Europe. However, our results for New Zealand suggest the performance of this forecasting tool may vary depending on geographical setting.
Tiago M. Ferreira, Ricardo M. Trigo, Tomás H. Gaspar, Joaquim G. Pinto, and Alexandre M. Ramos
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 609–623, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-609-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-609-2025, 2025
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We investigate the synoptic evolution associated with the occurrence of an atmospheric river that led to a 24 h record-breaking extreme precipitation event (120.3 mm) in Lisbon, Portugal, on 13 December 2022. The synoptic background allowed the formation, on 10 December, of an atmospheric river associated with a deep extratropical cyclone and with a high moisture content and an inflow of moisture, due to the warm conveyor belt, throughout its life cycle. The system made landfall on 12 December.
Elena Xoplaki, Florian Ellsäßer, Jens Grieger, Katrin M. Nissen, Joaquim G. Pinto, Markus Augenstein, Ting-Chen Chen, Hendrik Feldmann, Petra Friederichs, Daniel Gliksman, Laura Goulier, Karsten Haustein, Jens Heinke, Lisa Jach, Florian Knutzen, Stefan Kollet, Jürg Luterbacher, Niklas Luther, Susanna Mohr, Christoph Mudersbach, Christoph Müller, Efi Rousi, Felix Simon, Laura Suarez-Gutierrez, Svenja Szemkus, Sara M. Vallejo-Bernal, Odysseas Vlachopoulos, and Frederik Wolf
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 541–564, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-541-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-541-2025, 2025
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Europe frequently experiences compound events, with major impacts. We investigate these events’ interactions, characteristics, and changes over time, focusing on socio-economic impacts in Germany and central Europe. Highlighting 2018’s extreme events, this study reveals impacts on water, agriculture, and forests and stresses the need for impact-focused definitions and better future risk quantification to support adaptation planning.
Alan Demortier, Marc Mandement, Vivien Pourret, and Olivier Caumont
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 429–449, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-429-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-429-2025, 2025
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The use of numerical weather prediction models enables the forecasting of hazardous weather situations. The incorporation of new temperature and relative humidity observations from personal weather stations into the French limited-area model is evaluated in this study. This leads to the improvement of the associated near-surface variables of the model during the first hours of the forecast. Examples are provided for a sea breeze case during a heatwave and a fog episode.
Francisco Javier Acero, Manuel Antón, Alejandro Jesús Pérez Aparicio, Nieves Bravo-Paredes, Víctor Manuel Sánchez Carrasco, María Cruz Gallego, José Agustín García, Marcelino Núñez, Irene Tovar, Javier Vaquero-Martínez, and José Manuel Vaquero
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 305–320, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-305-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-305-2025, 2025
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The month of June 1925 was found to be exceptional in the southwest interior of the Iberian Peninsula due to the large number of thunderstorms and their significant impacts, with serious losses of human lives and material resources. We analyzed this event from different, complementary perspectives: reconstruction of the history of the events from newspapers, study of monthly meteorological variables of the longest series available, and the analysis of the meteorological synoptic situation.
Tiberiu-Eugen Antofie, Stefano Luoni, Aloïs Tilloy, Andrea Sibilia, Sandro Salari, Gustav Eklund, Davide Rodomonti, Christos Bountzouklis, and Christina Corbane
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 287–304, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-287-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-287-2025, 2025
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This is the first study that uses spatial patterns (clusters/hotspots) and meta-analysis in order to identify the regions at a European level at risk of multi-hazards. The findings point out the socioeconomic dimension as a determining factor in the potential risk of multi-hazards. The outcome provides valuable input for the disaster risk management policy support and will assist national authorities on the implementation of a multi-hazard approach in national risk assessment preparation.
Joona Cornér, Clément Bouvier, Benjamin Doiteau, Florian Pantillon, and Victoria A. Sinclair
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 207–229, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-207-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-207-2025, 2025
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Classification reduces the considerable variability between extratropical cyclones (ETCs) and thus simplifies studying their representation in climate models and changes in the future climate. In this paper we present an objective classification of ETCs using measures of ETC intensity. This is motivated by the aim of finding a set of ETC intensity measures which together comprehensively describe both the dynamical and impact-relevant nature of ETC intensity.
Cedric G. Ngoungue Langue, Christophe Lavaysse, and Cyrille Flamant
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 147–168, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-147-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-147-2025, 2025
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The present study addresses the predictability of heat waves at subseasonal timescales in West African cities over the period 2001–2020. Two models, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and the UK Met Office models, were evaluated using two reanalyses: ERA5 and MERRA. The results suggest that at subseasonal timescales, the forecast models provide a better forecast than climatology, but the hit rate and false alarm rate are sub-optimal.
Florian Knutzen, Paul Averbeck, Caterina Barrasso, Laurens M. Bouwer, Barry Gardiner, José M. Grünzweig, Sabine Hänel, Karsten Haustein, Marius Rohde Johannessen, Stefan Kollet, Mortimer M. Müller, Joni-Pekka Pietikäinen, Karolina Pietras-Couffignal, Joaquim G. Pinto, Diana Rechid, Efi Rousi, Ana Russo, Laura Suarez-Gutierrez, Sarah Veit, Julian Wendler, Elena Xoplaki, and Daniel Gliksman
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 77–117, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-77-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-77-2025, 2025
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Our research, involving 22 European scientists, investigated drought and heat impacts on forests in 2018–2022. Findings reveal that climate extremes are intensifying, with central Europe being most severely impacted. The southern region showed resilience due to historical drought exposure, while northern and Alpine areas experienced emerging or minimal impacts. The study highlights the need for region-specific strategies, improved data collection, and sustainable practices to safeguard forests.
Georgy Ayzel and Maik Heistermann
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 41–47, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-41-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-41-2025, 2025
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Forecasting rainfall over the next hour is an essential feature of early warning systems. Deep learning (DL) has emerged as a powerful alternative to conventional nowcasting technologies, but it still struggles to adequately predict impact-relevant heavy rainfall. We think that DL could do much better if the training tasks were defined more specifically and that such specification presents an opportunity to better align the output of nowcasting models with actual user requirements.
Monica Ionita, Petru Vaideanu, Bogdan Antonescu, Catalin Roibu, Qiyun Ma, and Viorica Nagavciuc
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 4683–4706, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-4683-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-4683-2024, 2024
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Eastern Europe's heat wave history is explored from 1885 to 2023, with a focus on pre-1960 events. The study reveals two periods with more frequent and intense heat waves (HWs): 1920s–1960s and 1980s–present. The research highlights the importance of a long-term perspective, revealing that extreme heat events have occurred throughout the entire study period, and it emphasizes the combined influence of climate change and natural variations on increasing HW severity.
Tristan Shepherd, Frederick Letson, Rebecca J. Barthelmie, and Sara C. Pryor
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 4473–4505, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-4473-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-4473-2024, 2024
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A historic derecho in the USA is presented. The 29 June 2012 derecho caused more than 20 deaths and millions of US dollars of damage. We use a regional climate model to understand how model fidelity changes under different initial conditions. We find changes drive different convective conditions, resulting in large variation in the simulated hazards. The variation using different reanalysis data shows that framing these results in the context of contemporary and future climate is a challenge.
Lena Wilhelm, Cornelia Schwierz, Katharina Schröer, Mateusz Taszarek, and Olivia Martius
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 3869–3894, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-3869-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-3869-2024, 2024
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In our study we used statistical models to reconstruct past hail days in Switzerland from 1959–2022. This new time series reveals a significant increase in hail day occurrences over the last 7 decades. We link this trend to increases in moisture and instability variables in the models. This time series can now be used to unravel the complexities of Swiss hail occurrence and to understand what drives its year-to-year variability.
Marc Lemus-Canovas, Sergi Gonzalez-Herrero, Laura Trapero, Anna Albalat, Damian Insua-Costa, Martin Senande-Rivera, and Gonzalo Miguez-Macho
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2024-192, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2024-192, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for NHESS
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This study explores the 2022 heatwaves in the Pyrenees, examining the factors that contributed to their intensity and distribution. The June event was driven by strong winds that created uneven temperature patterns, while the July heatwave featured calmer conditions and more uniform temperatures. Human-driven climate change has made these heatwaves more severe compared to the past. This research helps us better understand how climate change affects extreme weather in mountainous regions.
Ilona Láng-Ritter, Terhi Kristiina Laurila, Antti Mäkelä, Hilppa Gregow, and VIctoria Anne SInclair
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3019, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3019, 2024
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We present a classification method for extratropical cyclones and windstorms and show their impacts on Finland's electricity grid by analysing 92 most damaging windstorms (2005–2018). The southwest- and northwest-originating windstorms cause the most damage to the power grid. The most relevant parameters for damage are the wind gust speed and extent of wind gusts. Windstorms are more frequent and damaging in autumn and winter, but weaker wind speeds in summer also cause significant damage.
Xiaowei Zhao, Tianzeng Yang, Hongbo Zhang, Tian Lan, Chaowei Xue, Tongfang Li, Zhaoxia Ye, Zhifang Yang, and Yurou Zhang
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 3479–3495, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-3479-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-3479-2024, 2024
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To effectively track and identify droughts, we developed a novel integrated drought index that combines the effects of precipitation, temperature, and soil moisture on drought. After comparison and verification, the integrated drought index shows superior performance compared to a single meteorological drought index or agricultural drought index in terms of drought identification.
Julia Moemken, Inovasita Alifdini, Alexandre M. Ramos, Alexandros Georgiadis, Aidan Brocklehurst, Lukas Braun, and Joaquim G. Pinto
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 3445–3460, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-3445-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-3445-2024, 2024
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European windstorms regularly cause damage to natural and human-made environments, leading to high socio-economic losses. For the first time, we compare estimates of these losses using a meteorological loss index (LI) and the insurance loss (catastrophe) model of Aon Impact Forecasting. We find that LI underestimates high-impact windstorms compared to the insurance model. Nonetheless, due to its simplicity, LI is an effective index, suitable for estimating impacts and ranking storm events.
Baruch Ziv, Uri Dayan, Lidiya Shendrik, and Elyakom Vadislavsky
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 3267–3277, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-3267-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-3267-2024, 2024
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The train effect is related to convective cells that pass over the same place. Trains produce heavy rainfall and sometimes floods and are reported in North America during spring and summer. In Israel, 17 trains associated with Cyprus lows were identified by radar images and were found within the cold sector south of the low center and in the left flank of a maximum wind belt; they cross the Israeli coast, with a mean length of 45 km; last 1–3 h; and yield 35 mm of rainfall up to 60 mm.
Andrew Brown, Andrew Dowdy, and Todd P. Lane
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 3225–3243, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-3225-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-3225-2024, 2024
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A computer model that simulates the climate of southeastern Australia is shown here to represent extreme wind events associated with convective storms. This is useful as it allows us to investigate possible future changes in the occurrences of these events, and we find in the year 2050 that our model simulates a decrease in the number of occurrences. However, the model also simulates too many events in the historical climate compared with observations, so these future changes are uncertain.
Katharina Küpfer, Alexandre Tuel, and Michael Kunz
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2803, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2803, 2024
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Using loss data, we assess when and how single and multiple types of meteorological extremes (river floods and heavy rainfall events, windstorms and convective gusts, and hail). We find that the combination of several types of hazards clusters robustly on a seasonal scale, whereas only some single hazard types occur in clusters. This can be associated with higher losses compared to isolated events. We argue for the relevance of jointly considering multiple types of hazards.
Hofit Shachaf, Colin Price, Dorita Rostkier-Edelstein, and Cliff Mass
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 3035–3047, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-3035-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-3035-2024, 2024
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We have used the temperature and relative humidity sensors in smartphones to estimate the vapor pressure deficit (VPD), an important atmospheric parameter closely linked to fuel moisture and wildfire risk. Our analysis for two severe wildfire case studies in Israel and Portugal shows the potential for using smartphone data to compliment the regular weather station network while also providing high spatial resolution of the VPD index.
Florian Ruff and Stephan Pfahl
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2939–2952, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2939-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2939-2024, 2024
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High-impact river floods are often caused by extreme precipitation. Flood protection relies on reliable estimates of the return values. Observational time series are too short for a precise calculation. Here, 100-year return values of daily precipitation are estimated on a global grid based on a large set of model-generated precipitation events from ensemble weather prediction. The statistical uncertainties in the return values can be substantially reduced compared to observational estimates.
Erik Holmgren and Erik Kjellström
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2875–2893, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2875-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2875-2024, 2024
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Associating extreme weather events with changes in the climate remains difficult. We have explored two ways these relationships can be investigated: one using a more common method and one relying solely on long-running records of meteorological observations.
Our results show that while both methods lead to similar conclusions for two recent weather events in Sweden, the commonly used method risks underestimating the strength of the connection between the event and changes to the climate.
François Bouttier and Hugo Marchal
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2793–2816, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2793-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2793-2024, 2024
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Weather prediction uncertainties can be described as sets of possible scenarios – a technique called ensemble prediction. Our machine learning technique translates them into more easily interpretable scenarios for various users, balancing the detection of high precipitation with false alarms. Key parameters are precipitation intensity and space and time scales of interest. We show that the approach can be used to facilitate warnings of extreme precipitation.
Jinfang Yin, Feng Li, Mingxin Li, Rudi Xia, Xinghua Bao, Jisong Sun, and Xudong Liang
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2024-145, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2024-145, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for NHESS
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A persistent severe rainfall event occurred over North China in July 2023, which was regarded as one of the precipitation extremes of 2023 globally. The extreme rainfall was significant underestimated by forecasters at that time. Flooding from this event affected 1.3 million people, causing severe human casualties and significant economic losses. In this study, we examined the convective initiation and subsequent persistent heavy rainfall over North China based on simulations with the WRF model.
Joy Ommer, Jessica Neumann, Milan Kalas, Sophie Blackburn, and Hannah L. Cloke
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2633–2646, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2633-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2633-2024, 2024
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What’s the worst that could happen? Recent floods are often claimed to be beyond our imagination. Imagination is the picturing of a situation in our mind and the emotions that we connect with this situation. But why is this important for disasters? This survey found that when we cannot imagine a devastating flood, we are not preparing in advance. Severe-weather forecasts and warnings need to advance in order to trigger our imagination of what might happen and enable us to start preparing.
Raphael Portmann, Timo Schmid, Leonie Villiger, David N. Bresch, and Pierluigi Calanca
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2541–2558, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2541-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2541-2024, 2024
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The study presents an open-source model to determine the occurrence of hail damage to field crops and grapevines after hailstorms in Switzerland based on radar, agricultural land use data, and insurance damage reports. The model performs best at 8 km resolution for field crops and 1 km for grapevine and in the main production areas. Highlighting performance trade-offs and the relevance of user needs, the study is a first step towards the assessment of risk and damage for crops in Switzerland.
Dieter Roel Poelman, Hannes Kohlmann, and Wolfgang Schulz
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2511–2522, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2511-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2511-2024, 2024
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EUCLID's lightning data unveil distinctive ground strike point (GSP) patterns in Europe. Over seas, GSPs per flash surpass inland, reaching a minimum in the Alps. Mountainous areas like the Alps and Pyrenees have the closest GSP separation, highlighting terrain elevation's impact. The daily peak current correlates with average GSPs per flash. These findings could significantly influence lightning protection measures, urging a focus on GSP density rather than flash density for risk assessment.
Nicola Loglisci, Giorgio Boni, Arianna Cauteruccio, Francesco Faccini, Massimo Milelli, Guido Paliaga, and Antonio Parodi
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2495–2510, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2495-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2495-2024, 2024
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We analyse the meteo-hydrological features of the 27 and 28 August 2023 event that occurred in Genoa. Rainfall observations were made using rain gauge networks based on either official networks or citizen science networks. The merged analysis stresses the spatial variability in the precipitation, which cannot be captured by the current spatial density of authoritative stations. Results show that at minimal distances the variations in cumulated rainfall over a sub-hourly duration are significant.
Ellina Agayar, Franziska Aemisegger, Moshe Armon, Alexander Scherrmann, and Heini Wernli
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2441–2459, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2441-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2441-2024, 2024
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This study presents the results of a climatological investigation of extreme precipitation events (EPEs) in Ukraine for the period 1979–2019. During all seasons EPEs are associated with pronounced upper-level potential vorticity (PV) anomalies. In addition, we find distinct seasonal and regional differences in moisture sources. Several extreme precipitation cases demonstrate the importance of these processes, complemented by a detailed synoptic analysis.
Antonio Giordani, Michael Kunz, Kristopher M. Bedka, Heinz Jürgen Punge, Tiziana Paccagnella, Valentina Pavan, Ines M. L. Cerenzia, and Silvana Di Sabatino
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2331–2357, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2331-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2331-2024, 2024
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To improve the challenging representation of hazardous hailstorms, a proxy for hail frequency based on satellite detections, convective parameters from high-resolution reanalysis, and crowd-sourced reports is tested and presented. Hail likelihood peaks in mid-summer at 15:00 UTC over northern Italy and shows improved agreement with observations compared to previous estimates. By separating ambient signatures based on hail severity, enhanced appropriateness for large-hail occurrence is found.
Claire L. Ryder, Clément Bézier, Helen F. Dacre, Rory Clarkson, Vassilis Amiridis, Eleni Marinou, Emmanouil Proestakis, Zak Kipling, Angela Benedetti, Mark Parrington, Samuel Rémy, and Mark Vaughan
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2263–2284, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2263-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2263-2024, 2024
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Desert dust poses a hazard to aircraft via degradation of engine components. This has financial implications for the aviation industry and results in increased fuel burn with climate impacts. Here we quantify dust ingestion by aircraft engines at airports worldwide. We find Dubai and Delhi in summer are among the dustiest airports, where substantial engine degradation would occur after 1000 flights. Dust ingestion can be reduced by changing take-off times and the altitude of holding patterns.
Khalil Ur Rahman, Songhao Shang, Khaled Saeed Balkhair, Hamza Farooq Gabriel, Khan Zaib Jadoon, and Kifayat Zaman
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2191–2214, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2191-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2191-2024, 2024
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This paper assesses the impact of drought (meteorological drought) on the hydrological alterations in major rivers of the Indus Basin. Threshold regression and range of variability analysis are used to determine the drought severity and times where drought has caused low flows and extreme low flows (identified using indicators of hydrological alterations). Moreover, this study also examines the degree of alterations in river flows due to drought using the hydrological alteration factor.
Alexander Frank Vessey, Kevin I. Hodges, Len C. Shaffrey, and Jonathan J. Day
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2115–2132, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2115-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2115-2024, 2024
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The risk posed to ships by Arctic cyclones has seldom been quantified due to the lack of publicly available historical Arctic ship track data. This study investigates historical Arctic ship tracks, cyclone tracks, and shipping incident reports to determine the number of shipping incidents caused by the passage of Arctic cyclones. Results suggest that Arctic cyclones have not been hazardous to ships and that ships are resilient to the rough sea conditions caused by Arctic cyclones.
Niklas Ebers, Kai Schröter, and Hannes Müller-Thomy
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2025–2043, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2025-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2025-2024, 2024
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Future changes in sub-daily rainfall extreme values are essential in various hydrological fields, but climate scenarios typically offer only daily resolution. One solution is rainfall generation. With a temperature-dependent rainfall generator climate scenario data were disaggregated to 5 min rainfall time series for 45 locations across Germany. The analysis of the future 5 min rainfall time series showed an increase in the rainfall extremes values for rainfall durations of 5 min and 1 h.
Ran Zhu and Lei Chen
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 1937–1950, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-1937-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-1937-2024, 2024
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There is a positive correlation between the frequency of Jianghuai cyclone activity and precipitation during the Meiyu period. Its occurrence frequency has an obvious decadal variation, which corresponds well with the quasi-periodic and decadal variation in precipitation during the Meiyu period. This study provides a reference for the long-term and short-term forecasting of precipitation during the Meiyu period.
Shao-Yi Lee, Sicheng He, and Tetsuya Takemi
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1304, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1304, 2024
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Summer rainfall extremes over western Japan were calculated every year, using radar, rain-gauges, and model. Similar regions were determined by machine learning. The relationships between regional rainfall extremes and Pacific climate modes. The modelled relationships were similar to the observed ones for the El Niño-Southern Oscillation and the warming trend. However, the model did not reproduce the relationship for Pacific Decadal Variability.
Cees de Valk and Henk van den Brink
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-912, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-912, 2024
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Recently updated flood safety norms in the Netherlands prescribe that sea dikes and other flood-protecting structures should withstand high sea levels reached very rarely, locally down to only once in 10 million years. We show that such levels can be estimated with reasonable accuracy by the cautious use of very large datasets of numerical simulations of weather and storm surge.
Natalia Korhonen, Otto Hyvärinen, Virpi Kollanus, Timo Lanki, Juha Jokisalo, Risto Kosonen, David S. Richardson, and Kirsti Jylhä
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2024-75, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2024-75, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for NHESS
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The skill of hindcasts of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts in forecasting heat wave days (periods with the 5-day moving average temperature being above its local summer 90th percentile) over Europe 1 to 4 weeks ahead is examined. The heat wave days forecasts show potential in warning of heat risk in 1–2 weeks in advance, and enhanced accuracy in forecasting prolonged heat waves, in lead times of up to 3 weeks, when the heat wave had initiated prior to the forecast issuance.
Andi Xhelaj and Massimiliano Burlando
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 1657–1679, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-1657-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-1657-2024, 2024
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The study provides an in-depth analysis of a severe downburst event in Sânnicolau Mare, Romania, utilizing an analytical model and optimization algorithm. The goal is to explore a multitude of generating solutions and to identify potential alternatives to the optimal solution. Advanced data analysis techniques help to discern three main distinct storm scenarios. For this particular event, the best overall solution from the optimization algorithm shows promise in reconstructing the downburst.
Luca G. Severino, Chahan M. Kropf, Hilla Afargan-Gerstman, Christopher Fairless, Andries Jan de Vries, Daniela I. V. Domeisen, and David N. Bresch
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 1555–1578, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-1555-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-1555-2024, 2024
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We combine climate projections from 30 climate models with a climate risk model to project winter windstorm damages in Europe under climate change. We study the uncertainty and sensitivity factors related to the modelling of hazard, exposure and vulnerability. We emphasize high uncertainties in the damage projections, with climate models primarily driving the uncertainty. We find climate change reshapes future European windstorm risk by altering damage locations and intensity.
Daniel Krieger, Sebastian Brune, Johanna Baehr, and Ralf Weisse
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 1539–1554, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-1539-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-1539-2024, 2024
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Previous studies found that climate models can predict storm activity in the German Bight well for averages of 5–10 years but struggle in predicting the next winter season. Here, we improve winter storm activity predictions by linking them to physical phenomena that occur before the winter. We guess the winter storm activity from these phenomena and discard model solutions that stray too far from the guess. The remaining solutions then show much higher prediction skill for storm activity.
João P. A. Martins, Sara Caetano, Carlos Pereira, Emanuel Dutra, and Rita M. Cardoso
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 1501–1520, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-1501-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-1501-2024, 2024
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Over Europe, 2022 was truly exceptional in terms of extreme heat conditions, both in terms of temperature anomalies and their temporal and spatial extent. The satellite all-sky land surface temperature (LST) is used to provide a climatological context to extreme heat events. Where drought conditions prevail, LST anomalies are higher than 2 m air temperature anomalies. ERA5-Land does not represent this effect correctly due to a misrepresentation of vegetation anomalies.
Joseph William Gallear, Marcelo Valadares Galdos, Marcelo Zeri, and Andrew Hartley
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2024-60, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2024-60, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for NHESS
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In Brazil, drought is of national concern and can have major consequences for agriculture. Here, we determine how to develop forecasts for drought impacts on vegetation health using machine learning. Results aim to inform future developments in operational drought monitoring at the National Center for Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters in Brazil (CEMADEN). This information is essential for disaster preparedness and planning of future actions to support areas affected by drought.
Cited articles
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Blakeslee, R. J., Mach, D. M., Bateman, M. G., and Bailey, J. C.: Seasonal variations in the lightning diurnal cycle and implications for the global electric circuit, Atmos. Res., 135–136, 228–243, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2012.09.023, 2014.
Blyth, A. M., Christian Jr., H. J., Driscoll, K., Gadian, A. M., and Latham, J.: Determination of ice precipitation rates and thunderstorm anvil ice contents from satellite observations of lightning, Atmos. Res., 59–60, 217–229, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-8095(01)00117-X, 2001.
Boccippio, D. J., Koshak, W., Blakeslee, R., Driscoll, K., Mach, D., Buechler, D., Boeck, W., Christian, H. J., and Goodman, S. J.: The Optical Transient Detector (OTD): instrument characteristics and cross-sensor validation, J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech., 17, 441–458, 2000.
Boccippio, D. J., Cummins, K. L., Christian, H. J., and Goodman, S. J.: Combined satellite- and surface-based estimation of the intracloud-cloud-to-ground lightning ratio over the continental United States, Mon. Weather Rev., 129, 108–122, 2001.
Boccippio, D. J., Koshak, W. J., and Blakeslee, R. J.: Performance assessment of the optical transient detector and lightning Imaging sensor. Part I: Predicted diurnal variability, J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech., 19, 1318–1332, 2002.
Cecil, D. J., Buechler, D. E., and Blakeslee, R. J.: Gridded lightning climatology from TRMM-LIS and OTD: Dataset description, Atmos. Res., 135–136, 404–414, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2012.06.028, 2014.
Christian, H. J., Blakeslee, R. J., Goodman, S. J., and Mach, D. M.: Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document for the Lightning Imaging Sensor, available at: http://thunder.nsstc.nasa.gov/bookshelf/pubs/atbd-lis-2000.pdf, last access: 22 November 2012, 2000.
Christian, H. J., Blakeslee, R. J., Boccippio, D. J., Boeck, W. L., Buechler, D. E., Driscoll, K. T., Goodman, S. J., Hall, J. M., Koshak, W. J., Mach, D. M., and Stewart, M. F.: Global frequency and distribution of lightning as observed from space by the Optical Transient Detector, J. Geophys. Res., 108, 4005, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JD002347, 2003.
Füllekrug, M., Price, C., Yair, Y., and Williams, E. R.: Letter to the Editor Intense oceanic lightning, Ann. Geophys., 20, 133–137, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-20-133-2002, 2002.
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