Characterizing mega-city pollution with TES O₃ and CO measurements

C. Shim (1) , Q. Li (1) , M. Luo (1) , S. Kulawik (1) , H. Worden (1) , J. Worden (1) , A. Eldering (1) , G. Diskin (2) , G. Sachse (2) , A. Weinheimer (3) , D. Knapp (3) , D. Montzca (3) , T. Campos (3)

1 JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
2 NASA Headquarters
3 NCAR - National Center for Atmospheric Research [Boulder]

Concurrent tropospheric O₃ and CO vertical profiles from the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) during the MILAGRO/INTEX-B aircraft campaigns over the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) allow us to characterize mega-city pollution. Outflow from the MCMA occurred predominantly at 600?800 hPa, evident in O₃, CO, and NO_x enhancements in the in situ observations. We examined O₃, CO, and their correlation at 600?800 hPa from TES retrievals, aircraft measurements, and GEOS-Chem model results over the aircraft coverage (within a radius of ~700 km around MCMA). The enhancements in O₃ and CO seen in the in situ measurements are not apparent in TES data, due to the lack of TES coverage during several strong pollution events. However, TES O₃ and CO data are consistent with the aircraft observations on a daily mean basis (50?60 ppbv and 100?130 ppbv for O₃ and CO respectively). The O₃-CO correlation coefficients and enhancement ratios (?O₃/?CO) derived from TES data are in good agreements with those derived from the aircraft observations and GEOS-Chem model results (r : 0.5?0.9; ?O₃/?CO: 0.3?0.4), reflecting significant springtime photochemical production over MCMA and the surrounding region.

Domaines: Océan, Atmosphère

C. Shim, Q. Li, M. Luo, S. Kulawik, H. Worden, et al.. Characterizing mega-city pollution with TES O₃ and CO measurements. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions, 2007, 7 (5), pp.15189-15212. ⟨hal-00303151⟩