Abstract
Abstract. We evaluate vertical profile retrievals of CO2 from 0.02 cm−1 resolution ground-based near-infrared solar absorption spectra with the GFIT2 algorithm, using improved spectroscopic line lists and line shapes. With these improvements, CO2 profiles were obtained from sequential retrievals in five spectral windows with different vertical sensitivities using synthetic and real spectra. A sensitivity study using synthetic spectra shows that the leading source of uncertainty in the retrieved CO2 profiles is the error in the a priori temperature profile, even with 3-hourly reanalysis a priori profiles. A 2 ∘C error in the temperature profile in the lower troposphere between 0.6 and 0.85 atm causes deviations in the retrieved CO2 profiles that are larger than the typical vertical variations of CO2. To distinguish the effect of errors in the a priori meteorology and trace gas concentration profiles from those in the instrument alignment and spectroscopic parameters, we retrieve CO2 profiles from atmospheric spectra while using an a priori profile built from coincident AirCore, radiosonde, and surface in situ measurements at the Lamont, Oklahoma (USA), Total Carbon Column Observing Network station. In those cases, the deviations in retrieved CO2 profiles are also larger than typical vertical variations of CO2, suggesting that remaining errors in the forward model limit the accuracy of the retrieved profiles. Implementing a temperature retrieval or correction and quantifying and modeling an imperfect instrument alignment are critical to improve CO2 profile retrievals. Without significant advances in modeling imperfect instrument alignment, and improvements in the accuracy of the temperature profile, the CO2 profile retrieval with GFIT2 presents no clear advantage over scaling retrievals for the purpose of ascertaining the total column.
Highlights
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most abundant well-mixed greenhouse gas in the atmosphere and the main driver of the increase in global mean surface temperatures since the start of the industrial era (Ciais et al, 2013; Myhre et al, 2013)
In Sect. 3.2.1, we present CO2 profiles retrieved from real spectra and we attempt to isolate the effect of errors in instrument line shape, in spectroscopic parameters, and in pointing, from the effect of errors in meteorology
In this study we investigated the use of CO2 profile retrievals from near-infrared solar absorption spectra measured by Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON)
Summary
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most abundant well-mixed greenhouse gas in the atmosphere and the main driver of the increase in global mean surface temperatures since the start of the industrial era (Ciais et al, 2013; Myhre et al, 2013). A yearly global carbon budget has been produced by the Global Carbon Project since 2012 (Friedlingstein et al, 2019; Le Quéré et al, 2013, 2014, 2015b, a, 2016, 2018b, a) It presents current knowledge of CO2 emissions to inform policies that aim to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The project uses ensembles of models and inventories, as well as CO2 surface measurements, to estimate different components of the global emissions of CO2. It uses CO2 fluxes obtained from atmospheric inversions (Chevallier et al, 2005; van der Laan-Luijkx et al, 2017; Rödenbeck et al, 2003; Saeki and Patra, 2017) as a Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. Since 2014, the project makes mention of the potential of inversions using space-based measurements of total column CO2 to provide additional constraints on sources and sinks of CO2
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