Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
www.atmos-chem-phys.net
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8
3
2008
10.5194/acp-8-463-2008
http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/8/463/2008/
http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/8/463/2008/acp-8-463-2008.html
http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/8/463/2008/acp-8-463-2008.pdf
463
470
2008-02-01
Retrieval of global upper tropospheric and stratospheric formaldehyde (H<sub>2</sub>CO) distributions from high-resolution MIPAS-Envisat spectra
T. Steck
N. Glatthor
T. von Clarmann
H. Fischer
J. M. Flaud
B. Funke
U. Grabowski
M. Höpfner
S. Kellmann
A. Linden
A. Perrin
G. P. Stiller
Institut für Meteorologie und Klimaforschung, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Germany
Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphèriques (LISA), Paris, France
Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, CSIC, Granada, Spain
now at: Kepler-Gymnasium, Ulm, Germany
The Fourier transform spectrometer MIPAS (Michelson Interferometer
for Passive Atmospheric Sounding) on Envisat measures infrared
emission of the Earth's atmosphere in a limb viewing mode.
High spectral resolution measurements of MIPAS are sensitive to formaldehyde
from the upper troposphere to the stratopause.
Single profile retrievals of formaldehyde are dominated by a 60%
noise error; however zonal mean values for 30 days of data during 8
September 2003 and 1 December 2003 reduces this error by a factor of
20 or more.
The number of degrees of freedom for single profile retrieval ranges from
2 to 4.5 depending on latitude and number of cloud-free tangent altitudes.
In the upper tropical troposphere zonal mean values of about 70 parts per
trillion by volume (pptv) were found, which have been attributed to biomass
burning emissions. In the
stratosphere, formaldehyde values are determined by photochemical reactions.
In the upper tropical stratosphere, formaldehyde zonal mean maximum values
can reach 130 pptv. Diurnal variations in this region can be up to 50 pptv.
Comparisons with other satellite instruments show generally good agreement in
the region of upper troposphere and lower stratosphere as well as in the upper
stratosphere.
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