Open AccessRetrieval of tropospheric carbon monoxide for the MOPITT experiment
Author(s) -
Pan Liwen,
Gille John C.,
Edwards David P.,
Bailey Paul L.,
Rodgers Clive D.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/98jd01828
Subject(s) - troposphere , environmental science , carbon monoxide , satellite , remote sensing , atmospheric sciences , meteorology , geology , chemistry , biochemistry , aerospace engineering , engineering , catalysis , physics
A retrieval method for deriving the tropospheric carbon monoxide (CO) profile and column amount under clear sky conditions has been developed for the Measurements of Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT) instrument, scheduled for launch in 1998 onboard the EOS‐AM1 satellite. This paper presents a description of the method along with analyses of retrieval information content. These analyses characterize the forward measurement sensitivity, the contribution of a priori information, and the retrieval vertical resolution. Ensembles of tropospheric CO profiles were compiled both from aircraft in situ measurements and from chemical model results and were used in retrieval experiments to characterize the method and to study the sensitivity to different parameters. Linear error analyses were carried out in parallel with the ensemble experiments. Results of these experiments and analyses indicate that MOPITT CO column measurements will have better than 10% precision, and CO profile measurement will have approximately three pieces of independent information that will resolve 3–5 tropospheric layers to approximately 10% precision. These analyses are important for understanding MOPITT data, both for application of data in tropospheric chemistry studies and for comparison with in situ measurements.