Berlin 2005 – scientific programme

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UP: Umweltphysik

UP 9: Poster: Atmosph
äre und Klima

UP 9.8: Poster

Tuesday, March 8, 2005, 10:15–12:15, Poster TU HTF

Spatial distribution of tropospheric NO₂: SCIAMACHY results — •Steffen Beirle, Ulrich Platt, and Thomas Wagner — IUP (Institut für Umweltphysik), Universität Heidelberg

Nitrogen oxides (NO+NO₂=NO_x) are important ozone precursors in the troposphere. Column densities of NO₂ are detectable from satellite platforms using differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS). Tropospheric column densities can be retrieved by estimating and subtracting the stratospheric fraction. From GOME observations, a time series of 8 years (1996-2003) of NO₂ column densities is available on a global scale with a spatial resolution of 320*40km². Since March 2002, SCIAMACHY (onboard ENVISAT) provides the continuation of the GOME time series with a widely improved spatial resolution of 60*30km².

Here we present yearly and seasonal composites of the mean distribution of tropospheric NO₂ from SCIAMACHY data. The small SCIAMACHY ground pixels resolve details in the spatial distribution of tropospheric NO₂ and allow the identification of localized NO_x sources like large cities or power plants as well as estimates of the mean lifetime of tropospheric NO_x.