Acetone and Peroxyacetyl Nitrate in the Upper Troposphere: MIPAS Satellite Retrievals and 3D Model Studies

Lead Research Organisation: University of Leicester
Department Name: Physics and Astronomy

Abstract

The Earth's atmosphere has a fundamental influence on the health of the planet, and in particular on the wellbeing of humans. These effects occur both directly through the presence of pollutants in the near-surface atmosphere but also indirectly through the effects of climate change. Indeed, there are definite links between pollutants, the natural gases present in the atmosphere and the anthropogenic (human-induced) greenhouse gases which currently force climate change. These links occur via chemical reactions hence the term 'climate-chemistry interactions'. Organic compounds, the signs of life, are one of the important components of atmospheric chemistry but there are still large uncertainties concerning their global modelling. This project will use the latest satellite data to provide, for the first time, measurements of two key organic compounds globally: acetone and peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN). These measurements will then be compared with a proven global chemistry model to investigate the consistency of the model and observations. The result will be an essential reduction in the uncertainties inherent in models which can predict the future effects of climate and the effects of trends in pollutants, natural gases and climate variables.
 
Description For the first time, satellite data has been used to obtain global concentrations of organic compounds with height resolution, I.e., profiles of gases. These gases play a fundamental role in atmospheric chemistry and so we have a whole new way of looking at our atmosphere, the influence of pollutants and the evolution of atmosphere in a changing climate.
Exploitation Route Our results and data will be used by atmospheric chemists to constrain and improve global models of atmospheric chemistry. This will result in an improved predictions so that end users such as policy makers will have better information from which to make decisions.
Sectors Environment
 
Description They have been used by other scientists to develop satellite data sets. Ultimately the influence is on government policy for the environment
First Year Of Impact 2013
Sector Environment
Impact Types Policy & public services
 
Description ESA ESRIN, MIPAS Phase F Extension
Amount £33,323 (GBP)
Funding ID EOS-2014/103 
Organisation European Space Agency 
Sector Public
Country France
Start 10/2014 
End 10/2017
 
Description MIPAS Phase F studies
Amount € 45,000 (EUR)
Organisation European Space Agency 
Sector Public
Country France
Start 10/2014 
End 10/2017
 
Title MIPAS clouds 
Description This database contains a variety of information about clouds and aerosol derived from the MIPAS instrument. This includes 1) cloud index, 2) uncertainty on cloud index, 3) mean radiance in cloud microwindow, 4) mean noise in cloud microwindow, 5) cloud/aerosol top height (km), 6) cloud/aerosol top height standard deviation (km), 7) cloud top temperature (K), 8) cloud top temperature standard deviation (K), 9) cloud extinction (km-1), 10) cloud extinction standard deviation (km-1) 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2016 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact The data have been used in three peer-reviewed publications so far: 1) Spang, R., Arndt, K., Dudhia, A., Höpfner, M., Hoffmann, L., Hurley, J., Grainger, R. G., Griessbach, S., Poulsen, C., Remedios, J. J., Riese, M., Sembhi, H., Siddans, R., Waterfall, A., and Zehner, C.: Fast cloud parameter retrievals of MIPAS/Envisat, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 7135-7164, doi:10.5194/acp-12-7135-2012, 2012. 2) Sembhi, H., Remedios, J., Trent, T., Moore, D. P., Spang, R., Massie, S., and Vernier, J.-P.: MIPAS detection of cloud and aerosol particle occurrence in the UTLS with comparison to HIRDLS and CALIOP, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 5, 2537-2553, doi:10.5194/amt-5-2537-2012, 2012. 3) Eichmann, K.-U., Lelli, L., von Savigny, C., Sembhi, H., and Burrows, J. P.: Global cloud top height retrieval using SCIAMACHY limb spectra: model studies and first results, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 793-815, doi:10.5194/amt-9-793-2016, 2016. 
 
Description Implementation of new retrievals in ESA operational system 
Organisation European Space Agency
Country France 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Provision of PAN retrieval expertise
Collaborator Contribution Implementation into operational code
Impact Code for implementation
Start Year 2010
 
Description NASA Aura/ACMAP proposal 
Organisation Colorado State University
Country United States 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution contributed to developing ideas and writing parts of a proposal to investigate a number of atmospheric compounds with the TES instrument and validation against other satellite instruments.
Collaborator Contribution adding in contributions to the proposal writing.
Impact Unfortunately the proposal was not funded, but we are working with the lead organisation, JPL, to instigate more collaboration opportunities.
Start Year 2016
 
Description NASA Aura/ACMAP proposal 
Organisation European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting ECMWF
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution contributed to developing ideas and writing parts of a proposal to investigate a number of atmospheric compounds with the TES instrument and validation against other satellite instruments.
Collaborator Contribution adding in contributions to the proposal writing.
Impact Unfortunately the proposal was not funded, but we are working with the lead organisation, JPL, to instigate more collaboration opportunities.
Start Year 2016
 
Description NASA Aura/ACMAP proposal 
Organisation Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Country Germany 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution contributed to developing ideas and writing parts of a proposal to investigate a number of atmospheric compounds with the TES instrument and validation against other satellite instruments.
Collaborator Contribution adding in contributions to the proposal writing.
Impact Unfortunately the proposal was not funded, but we are working with the lead organisation, JPL, to instigate more collaboration opportunities.
Start Year 2016
 
Description NASA Aura/ACMAP proposal 
Organisation National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Department Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Country United States 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution contributed to developing ideas and writing parts of a proposal to investigate a number of atmospheric compounds with the TES instrument and validation against other satellite instruments.
Collaborator Contribution adding in contributions to the proposal writing.
Impact Unfortunately the proposal was not funded, but we are working with the lead organisation, JPL, to instigate more collaboration opportunities.
Start Year 2016
 
Description NASA Aura/ACMAP proposal 
Organisation University of Edinburgh
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution contributed to developing ideas and writing parts of a proposal to investigate a number of atmospheric compounds with the TES instrument and validation against other satellite instruments.
Collaborator Contribution adding in contributions to the proposal writing.
Impact Unfortunately the proposal was not funded, but we are working with the lead organisation, JPL, to instigate more collaboration opportunities.
Start Year 2016
 
Description NASA Aura/ACMAP proposal 
Organisation University of Toronto
Country Canada 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution contributed to developing ideas and writing parts of a proposal to investigate a number of atmospheric compounds with the TES instrument and validation against other satellite instruments.
Collaborator Contribution adding in contributions to the proposal writing.
Impact Unfortunately the proposal was not funded, but we are working with the lead organisation, JPL, to instigate more collaboration opportunities.
Start Year 2016
 
Description hosted a pair of work experience students (Leicester) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact 2 year-10 pupils worked with the EOS Eumetcast system to learn about using geostationary satellite weather data and what we can learn from the data.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description hosted work experience student (Leicester) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Year 10 student visiting the University of Leicester. The student was introduced to Earth Observation Science and introduced to tools to analyse Earth Observation data.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description hosted work experience student (Leicester) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact During May 2015, a year-10 student visited the Earth Observation Science group and learnt about near-real-time processing with the Eumetcast system. She learnt about different applications of the SEVIRI and IASI instruments.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description hosted work experience student (Leicester) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Two year-10 students visited during summer 2015 and learnt about a variety of different areas related to Earth Observation. In particular, as a result of the work one of the students decided that they wanted to follow a career in Earth Observation.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015