Formaldehyde columns from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument: Urban versus background levels and evaluation using aircraft data and a global model

We combine aircraft measurements (Second Texas Air Quality Study, Megacity Initiative: Local and Global Research Observations, Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment: Phase B) over the United States, Mexico, and the Pacific with a 3-D model (GEOS-Chem) to evaluate formaldehyde column (ΩHCHO) retrievals from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and assess the information they provide on HCHO across local to regional scales and urban to background regimes. OMI ΩHCHO correlates well with columns derived from aircraft measurements and GEOS-Chem (R = 0.80). For the full data ensemble, OMI's mean bias is −3% relative to aircraft-derived ΩHCHO (−17% where ΩHCHO > 5 × 1015 molecules cm⁻²) and −8% relative to GEOS-Chem, within expected uncertainty for the retrieval. Some negative bias is expected for the satellite and model, given the plume sampling of many flights and averaging over the satellite and model footprints. Major axis regression for OMI versus aircraft and model columns yields slopes (95% confidence intervals) of 0.80 (0.62 - 1.03) and 0.98 (0.73 - 1.35), respectively, with no significant intercept. Aircraft measurements indicate that the normalized vertical HCHO distribution, required by the satellite retrieval, is well captured by GEOS-Chem, except near Mexico City. Using measured HCHO profiles in the retrieval algorithm does not improve satellite-aircraft agreement, suggesting that use of a global model to specify shape factors does not substantially degrade retrievals over polluted areas. While the OMI measurements show that biogenic volatile organic compounds dominate intra-annual and regional ΩHCHO variability across the United States, smaller anthropogenic ΩHCHO gradients are detectable at finer spatial scales (~20 - 200 km) near many urban areas.

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Copyright 2011 American Geophysical Union.


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Author Boeke, Nicholas
Marshall, Julian
Alvarez, Sergio
Chance, Kelly
Fried, Alan
Kurosu, Thomas
Rappenglück, Bernhard
Richter, Dirk
Walega, James
Weibring, Petter
Millet, Dylan
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2011-03-10T00:00:00
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Not Assigned
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Topic Category geoscientificInformation
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Metadata Date 2023-08-18T18:57:56.244371
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:11541
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Boeke, Nicholas, Marshall, Julian, Alvarez, Sergio, Chance, Kelly, Fried, Alan, Kurosu, Thomas, Rappenglück, Bernhard, Richter, Dirk, Walega, James, Weibring, Petter, Millet, Dylan. (2011). Formaldehyde columns from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument: Urban versus background levels and evaluation using aircraft data and a global model. UCAR/NCAR - Library. http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7jq11kr. Accessed 08 February 2025.

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