Title: An Approach to Estimate Atmospheric Greenhouse Gas Total Columns Mole Fraction from Partial Column Sampling

Abstract

This paper presents a new conceptual approach to estimate total column mole fractions of CO₂ and CH₄ using partial column data. It provides a link between airborne in situ and remote sensing observations of greenhouse gases. The method relies on in situ observations, external ancillary sources of information (e.g., atmospheric transport models), and a regression kriging framework. We evaluate our new approach using National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) AirCore program-in situ vertical profiles of CO₂ and CH₄ collected from weather balloons. Our paper shows that under the specific conditions of this study and assumption of unbiasedness, airborne observations up to 6500-9500maltitude are required to achieve comparable total column CO₂ mole fraction uncertainty as the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) network provides, given as a precision of the ratio between observed and true total column-integrated mole fraction, assuming 400 ppm XCO₂ (2σ, e.g., 0.8 ppm). If properly calibrated, our approach could be applied to vertical profiles of CO₂ collected from aircraft using a few flask samples, while retaining similar uncertainty level. Our total column CH₄ estimates, by contrast, are less accurate than TCCON's. Aircrafts are not as spatially constrained as TCCON ground stations, so our approach adds value tomore » aircraft-based vertical profiles for evaluating remote sensing platforms.« less

Authors:

Tadic, Jovan ^[1]; Biraud, Sébastien ^[1]

---

+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Publication Date:

Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2018

Research Org.:

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)

OSTI Identifier:

1477329

Grant/Contract Number:  

AC02-05CH11231

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

Atmosphere (Basel)

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Name: Atmosphere (Basel); Journal Volume: 9; Journal Issue: 7; Journal ID: ISSN 2073-4433

Publisher:

MDPI

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

58 GEOSCIENCES; 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; total column; validation; TCCON; satellite; airborne measurements; kriging