Quantitative transport studies based on trace gas assimilation

Abstract

Trace gas assimilation is an attractive method for the generation of synoptic trace gas fields from asynoptic satellite observations. Moreover, it allows for quantitative transport studies based on observational data. In this paper, we present a case study based on CFC-11 measurements of the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere (CRISTA) experiment in November 1994. It is shown that assimilation of CFC-11 into a transport model significantly influences calculated transport quantities compared to results obtained from simulations without trace gas assimilation.