Satellite Observations of Tropospheric Aerosol and CO From Biomass Burning

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Satellite Observations of Tropospheric Aerosol
and CO From Biomass Burning
David Edwards, Louisa Emmons, Gabrielle Petron,
John Gille NCAR, Boulder CO, USA Didier
Hauglustaine, IPSL/LSCE, Paris, France Allen
Chu, Yoram Kaufman, NASA GSFC, Greenbelt MD, USA
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Introduction
MOPITT Carbon Monoxide and MODIS Aerosol
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The Terra/MOPITT Mission
Definition of trends distributions for
tropospheric CO is essential. A satellite-borne
CO sensor operating for extended periods could
help enormously (WMO, 1985)

• The Measurement Of Pollution In The Troposphere
  mission is a joint CSA/NASA project launched on
  EOS Terra in Dec. 1999
• MOPITT is a thermal and near-IR gas correlation
  radiometer designed to measures tropospheric CO
  profile CH4 column
• Uses a nadir viewing cross-track scan, with a 22
  x 22 km2 pixel size, and 3 day global coverage

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Sept. 2000
MODIS Aerosol

• MODIS can distinguish between coarse and fine
  particles using multiple channels from the
  visible to the near IR
• Coarse aerosol mode Mainly dust
  and sea salt
• Reflects in the VIS NIR Appears red in the VIS
  due to absorption in the blue
• Surface characterization is an issue over land
• Fine aerosol mode Anthropogenic pollution
  and biomass burning
• Reflects mainly in the VIS

Coarse mode
(AOD)
Fine Mode
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Sept. 2000
MODIS
MODIS Aerosol MOPITT CO

• Good correlation is obtained between MODIS fine
  mode AOD MOPITT CO
• Both CO and fine mode aerosol result from
  anthropogenic combustion processes urban
  pollution, industrial emissions, biofuel use,
  biomass burning

Fine Mode AOD
MOPITT
CO Column
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MODIS AOD Fine Mode
MOPITT CO Total Column
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Biomass Burning
A Plume Tracing Case Study
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EP/TOMS Observations of Biomass Burning Over
Southern Africa Sept. 25 2000
Aerosol and Fires
Tropospheric Ozone
Anne Thompson, NASA
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Prescribed burn near Kruger National Park, South
Africa, September 7, 2000. Photo from the
Convair-580 (Flight 1834) during SAFARI
2000 by Peter Hobbs, UWA.
SeaWiFS true-color image acquired over Southern
Africa, September 4, 2000. Data acquired by the
Satellite Applications Center, Pretoria, South
Africa.
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TMI 2100 h Sept. 4, 2000
Forward Trajectories Sept 1-13 2000, z03 km
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Terra Observations of Biomass Burning Plume
Outflow, Sept. 1-5, 2000
MODIS Fine Mode AOD
MOPITT 700 hPa CO
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Plume aging can be followed as the AOD/CO ratio
falls, indicating persistent CO but reduced
aerosol loadings due to the shorter lifetime
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TRMM merged precipitation map Sept. 4, 2000
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Providing global context to local measurements
Long-range transport of biomass burning products
October 1-15, 2001

• MOPITT and ground-based FTIR CO total column
  measurements taken at Lauder, New Zealand.
• The plume from biomass burning causes a peak in
  the measured CO in the usually clean air over New
  Zealand

FTIR data N. Pougatchev, NASA N. Jones, NIWA
Day from 1/1/2000
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TRMM merged precipitation map Sept. 4, 2000
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MOPITT CO Ratio 250 hPa/700 hPa Sept. 1-10, 2000
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SAGE Aerosol, 8 - 13 km August - October, 1997 -
1999
Extinction x 1000 km-1
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Effect of Aerosol on Ozone Production

• Black carbon from biomass burning strongly
  absorbs solar radiation and can potentially
  reduce photolysis rates within biomass burning
  plumes
• Reduction in photolysis can lead to a
  compensating offset to the expected increase in
  O3 production due to the higher concentrations of
  NOx, CO, and other hydrocarbons
• Heterogeneous reactions on BC particles can also
  affect O3 concentrations and the uptake
  coefficient for O3 on BC particles remains
  uncertain

TUV photolysis rate calculation in a BC layer of
AOD at 340 nm of 0.5 in the lowest 3km of the
atmosphere
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Interannual Variability
CO and Aerosol Distributions
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MOPITT 700 hPa CO Zonal Variability 2000-2003

• The peak of the Southern hemisphere biomass
  burning maximum occurs each year in
  September-October and has variable intensity
• The Northern hemisphere winter maximum occurs in
  March-April
• Apparent increase from 2000 to 2003
• The 2002-3 winter maximum was particularly
  intense and started early

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MOPITT CO Column September Mean
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Russian 2002 Forest and Peat Fires
MODIS Fires Smoke, Sept.4 2002
FTIR CO column Zvenigorod-Moscow 2002
E. Grechko, Zvenigorod Research Station
High CO column values due to urban Days 0-200
Urban pollution Around day 250 Forest
and peat fires
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Summer 2003 Fires in Portugal
MODIS Fires and Smoke
MOPITT 700 hPa CO
August 1-8, 2003
August 4, 2003
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Emissions
Comparing CO and Aerosol
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Correlations CO and Fine Mode AOD
South America, Sept. 1-5, 2000
Corr 0.65, Grad 2.3
Southern Africa, Sept. 1-5, 2000
Corr 0.82, Grad 3.5
CO and fine mode AOD correlations are strongest
for intense isolated plumes
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Correlations CO and Fine Mode AOD
Europe/Russia, Sept. 1-10, 2000
Corr 0.16
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Modeled CO distribution
2.
MOPITT Observed CO Distribution
3.
Tropospheric Chemistry and Transport
Inverse Modeling
1.
A priori Emissions
Optimized Emissions
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Observed and Simulated CO Over Source Regions
Apr. 2000 - Mar. 2001
MOPITT data CO simulated with a priori sources CO
simulated with a posteriori sources
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Summary

• The combination of measurements from the new
  tropospheric
  satellite sensors will play an increasingly
  important role in explaining chemistry
  and transport processes in the lower atmosphere
• MOPITT CO and MODIS fine particle measurements
  can be combined to examine the seasonal
  variability and transport of aerosols and trace
  gases in biomass burning plumes
• African Sept. 2000 case study shows that biomass
  burning emissions under the influence of the
  prevailing meteorology provide for both low
  altitude intercontinental transport of pollution
  together with a mechanism for delivering emission
  products to the upper troposphere
• Provides information about the impact of intense
  fire sources on global scale air quality
• Several years of data allow interannual
  variability to be examined and we can begin to
  look for trends and potential climate effects
• Satellite data provide a way to improve source
  emission estimates using top-down modeling
  approaches