Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-682
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-682
19 Mar 2024
 | 19 Mar 2024

Assessment of NO2 uncertainty impact on aerosol optical depth retrievals at a global scale

Akriti Masoom, Stelios Kazadzis, Masimo Valeri, Ioannis-Panagiotis Raptis, Gabrielle Brizzi, Kyriakoula Papachristopoulou, Francesca Barnaba, Stefano Casadio, Axel Kreuter, and Fabrizio Niro

Abstract. This work aims at investigating the effect of NO2 absorption on aerosol optical depth (AOD) and Ångström exponent (AE) retrievals of sun photometers by synergistic use of the accurate NO2 characterization for optical depth estimation from co-located ground-based measurements. The analysis was performed for ~7 years (2017–2023) at a global scale for the AOD and AE retrievals by Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) sun photometers which uses OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) climatology for NO2 representation. The deviations in AOD and AE retrievals by NO2 absorption is accounted for using high-frequency columnar NO2 measurements by co-located Pandora spectroradiometer belonging to Pandonia Global Network (PGN). The AERONET retrieved AOD was found to be overestimated in half of the cases while also underestimated in other cases as an impact of the NO2 deviation from “real” (PGN NO2) values. Over or underestimations are relatively low. About one-third of these stations showed a mean deviation in NO2 and AOD (at 380 nm and 440 nm) above 0.5x10-4 mol-m-2 and 0.002, respectively, which can be considered as a systematic contribution to the uncertainties of AOD retrievals that are reported to be in the order of 0.01. However, under extreme NO2 loading scenarios (i.e., 10 % highest deviations), even higher AOD deviations were observed that were at the limit or higher than the reported 0.01 uncertainty of the AOD retrieval. The PGN NO2 based sensitivity analysis of AOD deviation suggested that for PGN NO2 varying between 2x10-4 and 8x10-4 mol-m-2, the median AOD differences were found to rise above 0.01 (even above 0.02) with the increase in NO2 threshold (i.e., the lower limit from 2 x10-4 mol-m-2 to 8 x10-4 mol-m-2). The AOD-derivative product, AE, was also affected by the NO2 correction (discrepancies between the AERONET OMI climatological representation of NO2 values and the real PGN NO2 measurements) on the spectral AOD. The normalized frequency distribution of AE (at 440–870 nm and 380–675 nm wavelength pair) was found to be narrower for broader AOD distribution for some stations and vice versa for other stations and a higher relative error at the shorter wavelength (among the wavelength pairs used for AE estimation) lead to a shift in the peak of the AE distribution towards a higher value. Finally, the AOD and AE trends were calculated based on the original AERONET AOD (based on AERONET OMI climatological NO2) according to the data availability and it was further signified the importance of having a correct (real) NO2 representation in AOD retrievals as it would possibly impact the respective trends.

Publisher's note: Copernicus Publications remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims made in the text, published maps, institutional affiliations, or any other geographical representation in this preprint. The responsibility to include appropriate place names lies with the authors.

Journal article(s) based on this preprint

18 Sep 2024
Assessment of the impact of NO2 contribution on aerosol-optical-depth measurements at several sites worldwide
Akriti Masoom, Stelios Kazadzis, Masimo Valeri, Ioannis-Panagiotis Raptis, Gabrielle Brizzi, Kyriakoula Papachristopoulou, Francesca Barnaba, Stefano Casadio, Axel Kreuter, and Fabrizio Niro
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5525–5549, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5525-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5525-2024, 2024
Short summary
Akriti Masoom, Stelios Kazadzis, Masimo Valeri, Ioannis-Panagiotis Raptis, Gabrielle Brizzi, Kyriakoula Papachristopoulou, Francesca Barnaba, Stefano Casadio, Axel Kreuter, and Fabrizio Niro

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2024-682 NO2 corrections', Anonymous Referee #1, 17 Apr 2024
    • AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Akriti Masoom, 07 Jun 2024
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2024-682', Anonymous Referee #2, 26 Apr 2024
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Akriti Masoom, 07 Jun 2024
  • EC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2024-682', Omar Torres, 14 Jun 2024
  • EC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2024-682', Omar Torres, 14 Jun 2024

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2024-682 NO2 corrections', Anonymous Referee #1, 17 Apr 2024
    • AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Akriti Masoom, 07 Jun 2024
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2024-682', Anonymous Referee #2, 26 Apr 2024
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Akriti Masoom, 07 Jun 2024
  • EC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2024-682', Omar Torres, 14 Jun 2024
  • EC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2024-682', Omar Torres, 14 Jun 2024

Peer review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision | EF: Editorial file upload
AR by Akriti Masoom on behalf of the Authors (07 Jun 2024)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (12 Jun 2024) by Omar Torres
RR by Anonymous Referee #1 (25 Jun 2024)
ED: Publish subject to technical corrections (08 Jul 2024) by Omar Torres
AR by Akriti Masoom on behalf of the Authors (22 Jul 2024)  Author's response   Manuscript 

Journal article(s) based on this preprint

18 Sep 2024
Assessment of the impact of NO2 contribution on aerosol-optical-depth measurements at several sites worldwide
Akriti Masoom, Stelios Kazadzis, Masimo Valeri, Ioannis-Panagiotis Raptis, Gabrielle Brizzi, Kyriakoula Papachristopoulou, Francesca Barnaba, Stefano Casadio, Axel Kreuter, and Fabrizio Niro
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5525–5549, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5525-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5525-2024, 2024
Short summary
Akriti Masoom, Stelios Kazadzis, Masimo Valeri, Ioannis-Panagiotis Raptis, Gabrielle Brizzi, Kyriakoula Papachristopoulou, Francesca Barnaba, Stefano Casadio, Axel Kreuter, and Fabrizio Niro
Akriti Masoom, Stelios Kazadzis, Masimo Valeri, Ioannis-Panagiotis Raptis, Gabrielle Brizzi, Kyriakoula Papachristopoulou, Francesca Barnaba, Stefano Casadio, Axel Kreuter, and Fabrizio Niro

Viewed

Total article views: 527 (including HTML, PDF, and XML)
HTML PDF XML Total BibTeX EndNote
407 90 30 527 12 13
  • HTML: 407
  • PDF: 90
  • XML: 30
  • Total: 527
  • BibTeX: 12
  • EndNote: 13
Views and downloads (calculated since 19 Mar 2024)
Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 19 Mar 2024)

Viewed (geographical distribution)

Total article views: 567 (including HTML, PDF, and XML) Thereof 567 with geography defined and 0 with unknown origin.
Country # Views %
  • 1
1
 
 
 
 
Latest update: 18 Sep 2024
Download

The requested preprint has a corresponding peer-reviewed final revised paper. You are encouraged to refer to the final revised version.

Short summary
Aerosols have a wide impact on climate, radiative forcing and human health which are widely represented by aerosol optical depth (AOD). AOD retrievals require Rayleigh scattering and atmospheric absorption (e.g., ozone, NO2, etc.) corrections. This work analyses NO2 (which has high spatiotemporal variation) uncertainty impact on AOD retrievals using the synergy of co-located ground-based instruments with long-term dataset at a global scale and found significant AOD over- or under- estimations.