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Spaceborne Measurements of Formic and Acetic Acids: A Global View of the Regional Sources
Author(s) -
Franco B.,
Clarisse L.,
Stavrakou T.,
Müller J.F.,
Taraborrelli D.,
HadjiLazaro J.,
Hannigan J. W.,
Hase F.,
Hurtmans D.,
Jones N.,
Lutsch E.,
Mahieu E.,
Ortega I.,
Schneider M.,
Strong K.,
Vigouroux C.,
Clerbaux C.,
Coheur P.F.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2019gl086239
Subject(s) - isoprene , seasonality , environmental science , northern hemisphere , atmosphere (unit) , formic acid , atmospheric sciences , abundance (ecology) , nadir , tropics , climatology , chemistry , environmental chemistry , satellite , meteorology , geology , organic chemistry , geography , physics , ecology , biology , astronomy , copolymer , polymer
Formic (HCOOH) and acetic acids ( CH 3 COOH) are the most abundant carboxylic acids in the Earth's atmosphere and key compounds to aqueous‐phase chemistry. Here we present the first distributions ofCH 3 COOH retrieved from the 2007–2018 satellite observations of the nadir‐looking infrared atmospheric sounding interferometer (IASI), using a neural network‐based retrieval approach. A joint analysis with the IASI HCOOH product reveals that the two species exhibit similar distributions, seasonality, and atmospheric burden, pointing to major common sources. We show that their abundance is highly correlated to isoprene and monoterpenes emissions, as well as to biomass burning. Over Africa, evidence is provided that residual smoldering combustion might be a major driver of the HCOOH andCH 3 COOH seasonality. Earlier seasonal enhancement of HCOOH at Northern Hemisphere middle and high latitudes and late seasonal secondary peaks ofCH 3 COOH in the tropics suggest that sources and production pathways specific to each species are also at play.