IASI satellite observation of pollutants over China during Dragon 3

Cathy Clerbaux (1, 2) , Sarah Safieddine (2) , Anne Boynard (2) , Maya George (2) , Juliette Hadji-Lazaro (2) , Sophie Bauduin (1) , Lieven Clarisse (1) , Martin Van Damme (1) , Simon Whitburn (1) , Pierre-François Coheur (1) , Nan Hao (3) , Pieter Valks (4) , Fuxiang Huang (5) , L Wang (6)

1 Spectroscopie de l'atmosphère, Service de Chimie Quantique et Photophysique
2 TROPO - LATMOS
3 DLR - German Aerospace Center
4 IMF - DLR Institut für Methodik der Fernerkundung / DLR Remote Sensing Technology Institute
5 NSMC - National Satellite Meteorological Center [Beijing]
6 IAP - Institute of Atmospheric Physics [Beijing]

Nadir looking sounders flying onboard satellites can nowadays monitor several key species involved in pollution events. Over China top-down routine and long term observation of carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and ammonia (NH3) is now possible using the IASI mission. The latter is based on a Fourier Transform Spectrometer using the thermal infrared spectral range to sound the atmosphere from a polar orbiting satellite. The mission has been providing global observations of the air composition with an excellent spatial resolution, twice a day since 2007 (MetOp-A) and 4 times per day since 2012 (Metop-A and MetOp-B). From the atmospheric spectra recorded by the instrument, enhanced levels of pollutants can be detected and follow-up over China and Asia. This paper presents the findings over the Dragon 3 (2012-2016) time period, and reviews the IASI capability and limitations to observe local and regional pollution events, as well as seasonal variations due to the monsoon dynamic patterns.

Domains: Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics [physics.ao-ph]; Environmental Sciences

Cathy Clerbaux, Sarah Safieddine, Anne Boynard, Maya George, Juliette Hadji-Lazaro, et al.. IASI satellite observation of pollutants over China during Dragon 3. 2016 Dragon 3 Final Results Symposium, Jul 2016, Wuhan, China. ⟨insu-01350477⟩