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Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 7231-7239, 2010
www.atmos-chem-phys.net/10/7231/2010/ doi:10.5194/acp-10-7231-2010 © Author(s) 2010. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. |
First ground-based FTIR observations of methane in the inner tropics over several years
1Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
2Max-Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany
3SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Utrecht, The Netherlands
4Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IES), European Commission Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy
5Max-Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
6Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
Abstract. Total column concentrations of methane have been retrieved from ground-based solar absorption FTIR spectra in the near-infrared recorded in Paramaribo (Suriname). The methane FTIR observations are compared with TM5 model simulations and satellite observations from SCIAMACHY, and represent the first validation of SCIAMACHY retrievals in the inner tropics using ground-based remote sensing techniques. Apart from local biomass burning features, our methane FTIR observations agree well with TM5 model simulations. The comparison of the direct measured CH4/CO2 ratios by FTIR and satellite reveals that the satellite can hardly detect methane emissions of tropical biomass burning due to the used retrieval method.
Citation: Petersen, A. K., Warneke, T., Frankenberg, C., Bergamaschi, P., Gerbig, C., Notholt, J., Buchwitz, M., Schneising, O., and Schrems, O.: First ground-based FTIR observations of methane in the inner tropics over several years, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 7231-7239, doi:10.5194/acp-10-7231-2010, 2010.