Identification

Title

First retrievals of peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) from ground-based FTIR solar spectra recorded at remote sites, comparison with model and satellite data

Abstract

Peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) is the main tropospheric reservoir of NOx (NO þ NO2). Its lifetime can reach several months in the upper cold troposphere. This enables the long-range transport of NOx radicals, under the form of PAN, far from the regions of emission. The subsequent release of NOx through the PAN thermal decomposition leads to the efficient formation of tropospheric ozone (O3), with important consequences for tropospheric oxidative capacity and air quality. The chemical properties of PAN have stimulated the progressive development of remote-sensing products by the satellite community, and recent additions open the prospect for the production of decadal and near-global time series. These products will provide new constraints on the distribution and evolution of this key trace gas in the Earth’s atmosphere, but they will also require reliable measurements for validation and characterization of performance. We present an approach that has been developed to retrieve PAN total columns from ground-based high-resolution solar absorption Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra. This strategy is applied to observations recorded at remote FTIR stations of the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC). The resulting data sets are compared with total column time series derived from IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer) satellite observations and to a global chemical transport model. The results are discussed in terms of their overall consistency, mutual agreement, and seasonal cycles. Noticeable is the fact that the FTIR data point to substantial deficiencies in the global model simulation over high latitudes, a poorly sampled region, with an underestimation of the PAN columns during spring, at the peak of the seasonal cycle. Finally, we suggest avenues for development that should make it possible to limit intra- or intersite biases and extend the retrieval of PAN to other NDACC stations that are more affected by water vapor interferences.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7bz69g5

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

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keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

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reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

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Temporal extent

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Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2021-09-28T00:00:00Z

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Conformity

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Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

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