edu.ucar.opensky::articles:14212 UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact 2025-12-26T03:25:39.485190 ISO 19115-2 Geographic Information - Metadata - Part 2: Extensions for Imagery and Gridded Data ISO 19115-2:2009(E) https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7qn67r7 Intercomparison of daytime stratospheric NO₂ satellite retrievals and model simulations 2014-07-22T00:00:00Z publication https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7qn67r7 https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-2203-2014 Belmonte Rivas, M. author Veefkind, P. author Boersma, F. author Levelt, P. author Eskes, H. author Gille, John author UCAR/NCAR - Library publisher This paper evaluates the agreement between stratospheric NO₂ retrievals from infrared limb sounders (Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) and High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder (HIRDLS)) and solar UV/VIS backscatter sensors (Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Cartography (SCIAMACHY) limb and nadir) over the 2005–2007 period and across the seasons. The observational agreement is contrasted with the representation of NO₂ profiles in 3-D chemical transport models such as the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM) and TM4. A conclusion central to this work is that the definition of a reference for stratospheric NO₂ columns formed by consistent agreement among SCIAMACHY, MIPAS and HIRDLS limb records (all of which agree to within 0.25 × 10¹⁵ molecules cm⁻² or better than 10%) allows us to draw attention to relative errors in other data sets, e.g., (1) WACCM overestimates NO₂ densities in the extratropical lower stratosphere, particularly in the springtime and over northern latitudes by up to 35% relative to limb observations, and (2) there are remarkable discrepancies between stratospheric NO2 column estimates from limb and nadir techniques, with a characteristic seasonally and latitudinally dependent pattern. We find that SCIAMACHY nadir and OMI stratospheric columns show overall biases of −0.5 × 10¹⁵ molecules cm⁻² (−20%) and +0.6 × 10¹⁵ molecules cm⁻² (+20%) relative to limb observations, respectively. It is argued that additive biases in nadir stratospheric columns are not expected to affect tropospheric retrievals significantly, and that they can be attributed to errors in the total slant column density, related either to algorithmic or instrumental effects. In order to obtain accurate and long-term time series of stratospheric NO₂, an effort towards the harmonization of currently used differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) approaches to nadir retrievals becomes essential, as well as their agreement to limb and ground-based observations, particularly now that limb techniques are giving way to nadir observations as the next generation of climate and air quality monitoring instruments pushes forth. UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact PDF Text theme Resource Type 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z publication Copyright Author(s) 2014. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. None eng geoscientificInformation