IASI measurements of biomass burning and volcanic plumes

P.F. Coheur. 7th AT2, Helsinki, September 30 - October1 2008

IASI measurements of biomass burning and volcanic

plumes

Spectroscopie de l’Atmosphère, Chimie Quantique et Photophysique, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgique

Service d'Aéronomie / CNRS,IPSL, Université Paris 6Paris, France

Cathy Clerbaux, Solène Turquety, Juliette Hadji-Lazaro,

Pierre Coheur, Daniel Hurtmans, Lieven Clarisse

NH3 C2H4 CH3OH


Measurements and Products

CFCs

Short-lived species (days/weeks)and aerosols

Long-lived species (years) Climate

+ CO, O3 (months) Chemistry (C. Clerbaux tuesday)

Inter hemispheric mixing: ~1 year

hemispheric mixing: ~1-2 months

PBL mixing: ~few hours

CO2


MetOp

• Spectral coverage = 645-2760 cm-

1

• Spectral resolution = 0.5 cm-1

• Radiometric noise ~ <0.1-0.2 K

MetOP

IASI instrument

• 12 km pixel x 4 @ nadir • 120 spectra along the swath (±48.3° Scan 2400 km), each 50 km along the trace

IASINadir looking FTS IASI

MetOp: First European meteorological platform on polar orbit (EPS system)

Broad spectral coverage without gaps

Medium spectral resolution

Excellent radiometric performances

Small ground pixel size

Global coverage twice daily (morning and evening orbits)


Trace species in biomass burning plumes

SO2/aerosols in volcanic plumes

IASI measuremen

ts of short-

lived species

Objectives


Fire plumes

Countries most affected: Greece: 270 563 ha;

Italy: 153 884 ha; Albania: 127 880 ha;

Bulgaria: 67 747 ha; Spain: 55956 ha

868 252 ha burned in 14 countries (EFFIS/JRC)

Burnt areas

Fires in Southern Europe in Summer 2007


Greece: 270 563 ha have burned during the summer,releasing large amounts of trace gases and aerosols

Aerosol measurements from space by OMI/AuraAerosol index OMI gridded 1x1 :

Credit S. Turquety (SA)

Fire plumesFires in Southern Europe in Summer 2007


Fire plumes

Rapid transport across the Mediterranean and across North AfricaTransport pathways consistent with OMI aerosol measurements

IASI NRT CO-profile measurements from ULB/SA processing


2 × day


Fire plumes

4 ppm

IASI NRT CO-profile measurements from ULB/SA processing

15 ppm 3 ppm 2 ppm

Remarkably high CO concentrations with peak at low altitude (< 2 km)Note: Peak altitude questionable due to weak sensitivity to the surface. However, consistent with Calipso aerosol profiles



Fire plumes

Plume composition

Ammonia (NH3) Ethene (C2H4) and methanol (CH3OH)



Fire plumesFires in Southern Europe in Summer 2007

Total column retrievals for August 25

NH3

C2H4

CH3OH

molecules cm-2

molecules cm-2

molecules cm-2

Total emitted mass:NH3 = 40 kTonsC2H4 = 6.5 kTonsCH3OH = 7 kTons

Chemistry in the fire

plume

Atmospheric budgets

Plume composition


Fire plumesFires in Boreal regions in Spring/Summer 2008

April/May 2008: Russia worst forest fires in 30 years

MODIS fire counts (red dots) for April 18, 2008

IASI short-lived species in the fire plumeNH3

AM PM


Trace species in biomass burning plumes

SO2/aerosols in volcanic plumes

IASI measuremen

ts of short-

lived species

Objectives


Volcano plumes

35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

-45 -40 -35 -30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5

Inside of plume

Outside of plume

SO2-ν1 SO2-ν3

Sensitive –highly– to high altitude plumes only Use for aerial security

Sensitive to high and low altitude plumes

Jebel-at-Tair

30/09/2007 18:48

Plume composition SO2L. Clarisse, ACPD, 2008


Volcano plumes

35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

-45 -40 -35 -30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5

Jebel-at-Tair

30/09/2007 18:48

Plume composition Aerosols

ICE

ASH SO2

Ash

AVHRR

Jebel-at-TairSept./Oct. 2007

Chaiten, ChileMay 2008

L. Clarisse, ACPD, 2008


Volcano plumes

Etna (Sicily), July 2008Tracking SO2 plumes

GOME-2

July 10 July 12, 2008

IASI


Volcano plumes

Etna (Sicily), July 2008Tracking SO2 plumes

± 3 hours

One day

IASI AIRS

Benefit of different platforms

July 10, 8 PM July 11, 0 AM

July 11, 9 AM July 11, 12 AM

July 11, 6 PM July 11, 9 PM

July 12, 6 AM July 12, 9 AM


Volcano plumes

Kilauea (Hawaii), May 2008Tracking SO2 plumes from

degassing volcanoes

Use of SO2 1 to increase sensitivity to the surface (<5 km)Sensitivity down to less than 1 DU


Conclusions

IASI Small pixel sizeGlobal Earth’s coverage twice dailyWide spectral coverageLow radiometric noise

Fires• Can best be followed on the global scale from CO profile distributions. • Reveals –for some events– signatures of a series of short-lived species including NH3 and organic species

Potential for improving some atmospheric budgetsPotential for performing in-depth chemistry studies in the fire plumes

NRT-identification and tracking of pollution

plumes

Volcanoes• Can best be tracked using SO2 signatures.

3 band provides high sensitivity to high-altitude clouds. Dedicated filter in 3 has been developed for operational monitoring (no false alerts since January 2008 while identifying all major eruptions: Etna, Chaiten, Sulawesi, Okmok, Kasatochi).

1 band provides information for degassing volcanoes (Kilauea)• Continuous spectral channels provides information on volcanic aerosols (ice and ash).


Okmok

July 12 July 23, 2008

Kasatochi SO2 plume seen for more than a month after the eruption

July 2008 eruptions in Alaska

Documents

IASI measurements of biomass burning and volcanic plumes