Three-Dimensional Distribution of Biomass Burning Aerosols from Australian Wildfires Observed by TROPOMI Satellite Observations

We present a novel passive satellite remote sensing approach for observing the three-dimensional distribution of aerosols emitted from wildfires. This method, called AEROS5P, retrieves vertical profiles of aerosol extinction from cloud-free measurements of the TROPOMI satellite sensor onboard the Sentinel 5 Precursor mission. It uses a Tikhonov–Phillips regularization, which iteratively fits near-infrared and visible selected reflectances to simultaneously adjust the vertical distribution and abundance of aerosols. The information on the altitude of the aerosol layers is provided by TROPOMI measurements of the reflectance spectra at the oxygen A-band near 760 nm. In the present paper, we use this new approach for observing the daily evolution of the three-dimensional distribution of biomass burning aerosols emitted by Australian wildfires on 20–24 December 2019. Aerosol optical depths (AOD) derived by vertical integration of the aerosol extinction profiles retrieved by AEROS5P are compared with MODIS, VIIRS and AERONET coincident observations. They show a good agreement in the horizontal distribution of biomass burning aerosols, with a correlation coefficient of 0.87 and a mean absolute error of 0.2 with respect to VIIRS. Moderately lower correlations (0.63) were found between AODs from AEROS5P and MODIS, while the range of values for this comparison was less than half of that with respect to VIIRS. A fair agreement was found between coincident transects of vertical profiles of biomass burning aerosols derived from AEROS5P and from the CALIOP spaceborne lidar. The mean altitudes of these aerosols derived from these two measurements showed a good agreement, with a small mean bias (185 m) and a correlation coefficient of 0.83. Moreover, AEROS5P observations reveal the height of injection of the biomass burning aerosols in 3D. The highest injection heights during the period of analysis were coincident with the largest fire radiative power derived from MODIS. Consistency was also found with respect to the vertical stability of the atmosphere. The AEROS5P approach provides retrievals for cloud-free scenes over several regions, although currently limited to situations with a dominating presence of smoke particles. Future developments will also aim at observing other aerosol species.

Using a Speed-Dependent Voigt Line Shape to Retrieve O2 from Total Carbon Column Observing Network Solar Spectra to Improve Measurements of XCO2

High-resolution, laboratory, absorption spectra of the a 1 Δ g ← X 3 ∑ g - oxygen (O₂) band measured using cavity ring-down spectroscopy were fitted using the Voigt and speed-dependent Voigt line shapes. We found that the speed-dependent Voigt line shape was better able to model the measured absorption coefficients than the Voigt line shape. We used these line shape models to calculate absorption coefficients to retrieve atmospheric total columns abundances of O₂ from ground-based spectra from four Fourier transform spectrometers that are apart of the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) Lower O₂ total columns were retrieved with the speed-dependent Voigt line shape, and the difference between the total columns retrieved using the Voigt and speed-dependent Voigt line shapes increased as a function of solar zenith angle. Previous work has shown that carbon dioxide (CO₂) total columns are better retrieved using a speed-dependent Voigt line shape with line mixing. The column-averaged dry-air mole fraction of CO₂ (XCO₂) was calculated using the ratio between the columns of CO₂ and O₂ retrieved (from the same spectra) with both line shapes from measurements made over a one-year period at the four sites. The inclusion of speed dependence in the O₂ retrievals significantly reduces the airmass dependence of XCO₂ and the bias between the TCCON measurements and calibrated integrated aircraft profile measurements was reduced from 1% to 0.4%. These results suggest that speed dependence should be included in the forward model when fitting near-infrared CO₂ and O₂ spectra to improve the accuracy of XCO₂ measurements.

Multispectrum analysis of the oxygen A-band

Retrievals of atmospheric composition from near-infrared measurements require measurements of airmass to better than the desired precision of the composition. The oxygen bands are obvious choices to quantify airmass since the mixing ratio of oxygen is fixed over the full range of atmospheric conditions. The OCO-2 mission is currently retrieving carbon dioxide concentration using the oxygen A-band for airmass normalization. The 0.25% accuracy desired for the carbon dioxide concentration has pushed the required state-of-the-art for oxygen spectroscopy. To measure O₂ A-band cross-sections with such accuracy through the full range of atmospheric pressure requires a sophisticated line-shape model (Rautian or Speed-Dependent Voigt) with line mixing (LM) and collision induced absorption (CIA). Models of each of these phenomena exist, however, this work presents an integrated self-consistent model developed to ensure the best accuracy. It is also important to consider multiple sources of spectroscopic data for such a study in order to improve the dynamic range of the model and to minimize effects of instrumentation and associated systematic errors. The techniques of Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (FTS) and Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy (CRDS) allow complimentary information for such an analysis. We utilize multispectrum fitting software to generate a comprehensive new database with improved accuracy based on these datasets. The extensive information will be made available as a multi-dimensional cross-section (ABSCO) table and the parameterization will be offered for inclusion in the HITRANonline database.

Pulsed airborne lidar measurements of atmospheric optical depth using the Oxygen A-band at 765 nm

We report on an airborne demonstration of atmospheric oxygen optical depth measurements with an IPDA lidar using a fiber-based laser system and a photon counting detector. Accurate knowledge of atmospheric temperature and pressure is required for NASA's Active Sensing of CO2 Emissions over Nights, Days, and Seasons (ASCENDS) space mission, and climate modeling studies. The lidar uses a doubled erbium-doped fiber amplifier and single photon-counting detector to measure oxygen absorption at 765 nm. Our results show good agreement between the experimentally derived differential optical depth measurements with the theoretical predictions for aircraft altitudes from 3 to 13 km.

Line mixing and collision induced absorption in the oxygen A-band using cavity ring-down spectroscopy

This paper reports on the absorption of molecular oxygen in the region of the A-band near 760 nm under atmospheric conditions relevant for satellite retrieval studies. We use pulsed laser cavity ring-down spectroscopy with a narrow bandwidth laser and use pressure scans to increase the accuracy of the measured oxygen extinction coefficients. Absolute binary absorption coefficients in minima between absorption lines of the A-band spectrum have been measured and tabulated. We use the so-called adjustable branch coupling model including line mixing to calculate the magnetic dipole absorption in order to determine the contribution of collision induced absorption. The line mixing model has been optimized such that the collision induced absorption spectrum is smooth.