Articles | Volume 14, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4923-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4923-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Data description paper
| 
08 Nov 2022
Data description paper |
| 08 Nov 2022
| 08 Nov 2022
The polar mesospheric cloud dataset of the Balloon Lidar Experiment (BOLIDE)
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
Bernd Kaifler
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
Markus Rapp
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
David C. Fritts
GATS, Boulder, CO, USA
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Natalie Kaifler, Bernd Kaifler, Markus Rapp, Guiping Liu, Diego Janches, Gerd Baumgarten, and Jose-Luis Hormaechea
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 14029–14044, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-14029-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-14029-2024, 2024
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Noctilucent clouds (NLCs) are silvery clouds that can be viewed during twilight and indicate atmospheric conditions like temperature and water vapor in the upper mesosphere. High-resolution measurements from a remote sensing laser instrument provide NLC height, brightness, and occurrence rate since 2017. Most observations occur in the morning hours, likely caused by strong tidal winds, and NLC ice particles are thus transported from elsewhere to the observing location in the Southern Hemisphere.
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Imagine you want to determine how quickly the pitch of a passing ambulance’s siren changes. If the vehicle is traveling slowly, the pitch changes only slightly, but if it is traveling fast, the pitch also changes rapidly. In a similar way, the wind in the middle atmosphere modulates the wavelength of atmospheric gravity waves. We have investigated the question of how strong the maximum wind may be so that the change in wavelength can still be determined with the help of wavelet transformation.
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We used a lidar to measure polar mesospheric clouds from a balloon floating in the upper stratosphere. The thin-layered ice clouds at 83 km altitude are perturbed by waves. The high-resolution lidar soundings reveal small-scale structures induced by the breaking of those waves. We study these patterns and find that they occur very often. We show their morphology and discuss associated dynamical physical processes, which help to interpret case studies and to guide modelling.
Kevin Ohneiser, Albert Ansmann, Bernd Kaifler, Alexandra Chudnovsky, Boris Barja, Daniel A. Knopf, Natalie Kaifler, Holger Baars, Patric Seifert, Diego Villanueva, Cristofer Jimenez, Martin Radenz, Ronny Engelmann, Igor Veselovskii, and Félix Zamorano
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We present and discuss 2 years of long-term lidar observations of the largest stratospheric perturbation by wildfire smoke ever observed. The smoke originated from the record-breaking Australian fires in 2019–2020 and affects climate conditions and even the ozone layer in the Southern Hemisphere. The obvious link between dense smoke occurrence in the stratosphere and strong ozone depletion found in the Arctic and in the Antarctic in 2020 can be regarded as a new aspect of climate change.
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Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 1715–1732, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1715-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1715-2021, 2021
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The Balloon Lidar Experiment was the first lidar dedicated to measurements in the mesosphere flown on a balloon. During a 6 d flight, it made high-resolution observations of polar mesospheric clouds which form at high latitudes during summer at ~ 83 km altitude and are the highest clouds in Earth's atmosphere. We describe the instrument and assess its performance. We could detect fainter clouds with higher resolution than what is possible with ground-based instruments.
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A deep upper-air sounding stimulated the current investigation of internal gravity waves excited during a minor sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) in the Arctic winter 2015/16. The analysis of the radiosonde profile revealed large kinetic and potential energies in the upper stratosphere without any simultaneous enhancement of upper tropospheric and lower stratospheric values. In combination with high-resolution meteorological analyses we identified an elevated source of gravity wave excitation.
B. Ehard, B. Kaifler, N. Kaifler, and M. Rapp
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 4645–4655, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4645-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4645-2015, 2015
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We evalute four methods currently used for gravity wave extraction from lidar temperature measurements. The spectral response of these methods is determined with the help of synthetic temperature perturbations. Afterwards, the methods are applied to lidar temperature measurements over New Zealand for further evaluation of the four algorithms. Based on the results two methods are recommended for gravity wave extraction.
T. D. Demissie, P. J. Espy, N. H. Kleinknecht, M. Hatlen, N. Kaifler, and G. Baumgarten
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 12133–12142, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-12133-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-12133-2014, 2014
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Summertime gravity waves detected in noctilucent clouds (NLCs) between 64◦ and 74◦N are found to have a similar climatology to those observed between 60◦ and 64◦N, and their direction of propagation is to the north and northeast as observed south of 64◦N. However, a unique population of fast, short wavelength waves propagating towards the SW is observed in the NLC. The sources of the prominent wave structures observed in the NLC are likely to be from waves propagating from near the tropopause.
Birte Klug, Ralf Weigel, Konrad Kandler, Markus Rapp, Manuel Baumgartner, Thomas Böttger, Klaus Dieter Wilhelm, Harald Rott, Thomas Kenntner, Oliver Drescher, and Anna Hundertmark
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-510, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-510, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (AMT).
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The nuclei onto which noctilucent clouds (NLC) form are largely unknown. We investigated the development of an inertia-based particle collector allowing for sampling NLC particles during a sounding rocket flight for off-line single particle physico-chemical analyzes. Computational fluid dynamics simulations (for Mach numbers 1.31 and 1.75) support the design and development process in reference to a basic mechanical concept of particle sampling and sample storage, which is also presented here.
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Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 383–396, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-383-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-383-2025, 2025
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Noctilucent clouds (NLCs) are silvery clouds that can be viewed during twilight and indicate atmospheric conditions like temperature and water vapor in the upper mesosphere. High-resolution measurements from a remote sensing laser instrument provide NLC height, brightness, and occurrence rate since 2017. Most observations occur in the morning hours, likely caused by strong tidal winds, and NLC ice particles are thus transported from elsewhere to the observing location in the Southern Hemisphere.
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Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 949–961, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-949-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-949-2023, 2023
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We used a lidar to measure polar mesospheric clouds from a balloon floating in the upper stratosphere. The thin-layered ice clouds at 83 km altitude are perturbed by waves. The high-resolution lidar soundings reveal small-scale structures induced by the breaking of those waves. We study these patterns and find that they occur very often. We show their morphology and discuss associated dynamical physical processes, which help to interpret case studies and to guide modelling.
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Carsten Baumann, Antti Kero, Shikha Raizada, Markus Rapp, Michael P. Sulzer, Pekka T. Verronen, and Juha Vierinen
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The Arecibo radar was used to probe free electrons of the ionized atmosphere between 70 and 100 km altitude. This is also the altitude region were meteors evaporate and form secondary particulate matter, the so-called meteor smoke particles (MSPs). Free electrons attach to these MSPs when the sun is below the horizon and cause a drop in the number of free electrons, which are the subject of these measurements. We also identified a different number of free electrons during sunset and sunrise.
Neil P. Hindley, Nicholas J. Mitchell, Neil Cobbett, Anne K. Smith, Dave C. Fritts, Diego Janches, Corwin J. Wright, and Tracy Moffat-Griffin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9435–9459, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9435-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9435-2022, 2022
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We present observations of winds in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) from a recently installed meteor radar on the remote island of South Georgia (54° S, 36° W). We characterise mean winds, tides, planetary waves, and gravity waves in the MLT at this location and compare our measured winds with a leading climate model. We find that the observed wintertime winds are unexpectedly reversed from model predictions, probably because of missing impacts of secondary gravity waves in the model.
Abhiram Doddi, Dale Lawrence, David Fritts, Ling Wang, Thomas Lund, William Brown, Dragan Zajic, and Lakshmi Kantha
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4023–4045, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4023-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4023-2022, 2022
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Small-scale turbulent structures are ubiquitous in the atmosphere, yet our understanding of their structure and dynamics is vastly incomplete. IDEAL aimed to improve our understanding of small-scale turbulent flow features in the lower atmosphere. A small, unmanned, fixed-wing aircraft was employed to make targeted observations of atmospheric columns. Measured data were used to guide atmospheric model simulations designed to describe the structure and dynamics of small-scale turbulence.
Kevin Ohneiser, Albert Ansmann, Bernd Kaifler, Alexandra Chudnovsky, Boris Barja, Daniel A. Knopf, Natalie Kaifler, Holger Baars, Patric Seifert, Diego Villanueva, Cristofer Jimenez, Martin Radenz, Ronny Engelmann, Igor Veselovskii, and Félix Zamorano
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 7417–7442, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7417-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7417-2022, 2022
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We present and discuss 2 years of long-term lidar observations of the largest stratospheric perturbation by wildfire smoke ever observed. The smoke originated from the record-breaking Australian fires in 2019–2020 and affects climate conditions and even the ozone layer in the Southern Hemisphere. The obvious link between dense smoke occurrence in the stratosphere and strong ozone depletion found in the Arctic and in the Antarctic in 2020 can be regarded as a new aspect of climate change.
Stefanie Knobloch, Bernd Kaifler, and Markus Rapp
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2021-310, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2021-310, 2022
Preprint withdrawn
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The study tests the quality of temperature measurements from the airborne Rayleigh lidar ALIMA. The ALIMA system was first used during the SouthTRAC campaign in September 2019 in the vicinity of the Southern Andes, Drake Passage and Antarctic Peninsula. The raw lidar measurements are additionally simulated based on reanalysis data for one research flight. Different types of uncertainty influencing the accuracy of the temperature measurements are studied, e.g. atmospheric and technical sources.
Emranul Sarkar, Alexander Kozlovsky, Thomas Ulich, Ilkka Virtanen, Mark Lester, and Bernd Kaifler
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4157–4169, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4157-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4157-2021, 2021
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The biasing effect in meteor radar temperature has been a pressing issue for the last 2 decades. This paper has addressed the underlying reasons for such a biasing effect on both theoretical and experimental grounds. An improved statistical method has been developed which allows atmospheric temperatures at around 90 km to be measured with meteor radar in an independent way such that any subsequent bias correction or calibration is no longer required.
Bernd Kaifler and Natalie Kaifler
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 1715–1732, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1715-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1715-2021, 2021
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This paper describes the Compact Rayleigh Autonomous Lidar (CORAL), which is the first lidar instrument to make fully automatic high-resolution measurements of atmospheric density and temperature between 15 and 90 km altitude. CORAL achieves a much larger measurement cadence than conventional lidars and thus facilitates studies of rare atmospheric phenomena.
Mareike Heckl, Andreas Fix, Matthias Jirousek, Franz Schreier, Jian Xu, and Markus Rapp
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 1689–1713, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1689-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1689-2021, 2021
Joan Stude, Heinfried Aufmhoff, Hans Schlager, Markus Rapp, Frank Arnold, and Boris Strelnikov
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 983–993, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-983-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-983-2021, 2021
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In this paper we describe the instrument ROMARA and show data from the first flight on a research rocket.
On the way through the atmosphere, the instrument detects positive and negative, natural occurring ions before returning back to ground.
ROMARA was successfully launched together with other instruments into a special radar echo.
We detected typical, light ions of positive and negative charge and heavy negative ions, but no heavy positive ions.
Gunter Stober, Diego Janches, Vivien Matthias, Dave Fritts, John Marino, Tracy Moffat-Griffin, Kathrin Baumgarten, Wonseok Lee, Damian Murphy, Yong Ha Kim, Nicholas Mitchell, and Scott Palo
Ann. Geophys., 39, 1–29, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-39-1-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-39-1-2021, 2021
Bernd Kaifler, Dimitry Rempel, Philipp Roßi, Christian Büdenbender, Natalie Kaifler, and Volodymyr Baturkin
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 5681–5695, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5681-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5681-2020, 2020
Short summary
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The Balloon Lidar Experiment was the first lidar dedicated to measurements in the mesosphere flown on a balloon. During a 6 d flight, it made high-resolution observations of polar mesospheric clouds which form at high latitudes during summer at ~ 83 km altitude and are the highest clouds in Earth's atmosphere. We describe the instrument and assess its performance. We could detect fainter clouds with higher resolution than what is possible with ground-based instruments.
Robert Reichert, Bernd Kaifler, Natalie Kaifler, Markus Rapp, Pierre-Dominique Pautet, Michael J. Taylor, Alexander Kozlovsky, Mark Lester, and Rigel Kivi
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 5997–6015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5997-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5997-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
To determine gravity wave properties like wavelengths, periods and propagation directions at mesospheric altitudes (∼ 86 km) we combine lidar and airglow temperature and meteor radar wind data. By means of wavelet transformation we investigate the wave field and determine intrinsic wave properties as functions of time and period. We are able to identify several gravity wave packets by their distinct propagation and discover a superposition with possible wave–wave and wave–mean-flow interaction.
Boris Strelnikov, Martin Eberhart, Martin Friedrich, Jonas Hedin, Mikhail Khaplanov, Gerd Baumgarten, Bifford P. Williams, Tristan Staszak, Heiner Asmus, Irina Strelnikova, Ralph Latteck, Mykhaylo Grygalashvyly, Franz-Josef Lübken, Josef Höffner, Raimund Wörl, Jörg Gumbel, Stefan Löhle, Stefanos Fasoulas, Markus Rapp, Aroh Barjatya, Michael J. Taylor, and Pierre-Dominique Pautet
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 11443–11460, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-11443-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-11443-2019, 2019
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Sounding rockets are the only means of measuring small-scale structures (i.e., spatial scales of kilometers to centimeters) in the Earth's middle atmosphere (50–120 km). We present and analyze brand-new high-resolution measurements of atomic oxygen (O) concentration together with high-resolution measurements of ionospheric plasma and neutral air parameters. We found a new behavior of the O inside turbulent layers, which might be essential to adequately model weather and climate.
Martin Eberhart, Stefan Löhle, Boris Strelnikov, Jonas Hedin, Mikhail Khaplanov, Stefanos Fasoulas, Jörg Gumbel, Franz-Josef Lübken, and Markus Rapp
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 2445–2461, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2445-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2445-2019, 2019
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This paper describes the measurement of atomic oxygen in the upper atmosphere onboard sounding rockets using solid electrolyte sensors. Calibration of the sensors in the laboratory is explained in detail. Results from the WADIS-2 rocket campaign show profiles of atomic oxygen density with a high spatial resolution.
Mario Nachbar, Henrike Wilms, Denis Duft, Tasha Aylett, Kensei Kitajima, Takuya Majima, John M. C. Plane, Markus Rapp, and Thomas Leisner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 4311–4322, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4311-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4311-2019, 2019
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Polar mesospheric clouds (PMC) are water ice clouds forming on nanoparticles in the polar summer mesopause. We investigate the impact of solar radiation on PMC formation in the laboratory. We show that Mie theory calculations combined with an equilibrium temperature model presented in this work predict the warming of the particles very well. Using this model we demonstrate that the impact of solar radiation on ice particle formation is significantly lower than previously assumed.
Mykhaylo Grygalashvyly, Martin Eberhart, Jonas Hedin, Boris Strelnikov, Franz-Josef Lübken, Markus Rapp, Stefan Löhle, Stefanos Fasoulas, Mikhail Khaplanov, Jörg Gumbel, and Ekaterina Vorobeva
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 1207–1220, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-1207-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-1207-2019, 2019
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Based on rocket-borne true common volume observations of atomic oxygen, atmospheric band emission (762 nm), and background atmosphere density and temperature, one-step, two-step, and combined mechanisms of
O2(b1Σg+) formation were analyzed. We found new coefficients for the fit function based on self-consistent temperature, atomic oxygen, and volume emission observations. This can be used for atmospheric band volume emission modeling or the estimation of atomic oxygen by known volume emission.
Andreas Dörnbrack, Sonja Gisinger, Natalie Kaifler, Tanja Christina Portele, Martina Bramberger, Markus Rapp, Michael Gerding, Jens Faber, Nedjeljka Žagar, and Damjan Jelić
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 12915–12931, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-12915-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-12915-2018, 2018
Short summary
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A deep upper-air sounding stimulated the current investigation of internal gravity waves excited during a minor sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) in the Arctic winter 2015/16. The analysis of the radiosonde profile revealed large kinetic and potential energies in the upper stratosphere without any simultaneous enhancement of upper tropospheric and lower stratospheric values. In combination with high-resolution meteorological analyses we identified an elevated source of gravity wave excitation.
Qiang Li, Markus Rapp, Gunter Stober, and Ralph Latteck
Ann. Geophys., 36, 577–586, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-36-577-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-36-577-2018, 2018
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With the powerful MAARSY radar, we detected 3D wind fields and the vertical winds show a non-Gaussian distribution. We further obtained the frequency spectrum of vertical wind. The distribution of the spectral slopes under different wind conditions is derived and their comparisons with the background horizontal winds show that the spectra become steeper with increasing wind velocities under quiet conditions, approach a slope of −5/3 at 10 m/s and then maintain this slope for even stronger winds.
Markus Rapp, Andreas Dörnbrack, and Bernd Kaifler
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 1031–1048, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1031-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1031-2018, 2018
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Temperature profiles from operational weather satellites are used to determine the global distribution of gravity wave activity. This is an important information to constrain global climate models. The quality of this data set is assessed by
systematic comparison to model fields from ECMWF which are considered very high quality. This reveals good agreement between model and observations, albeit the model misses localized centers of wave activity if model resolution is too low.
Isabell Krisch, Peter Preusse, Jörn Ungermann, Andreas Dörnbrack, Stephen D. Eckermann, Manfred Ern, Felix Friedl-Vallon, Martin Kaufmann, Hermann Oelhaf, Markus Rapp, Cornelia Strube, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 14937–14953, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-14937-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-14937-2017, 2017
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Using the infrared limb imager GLORIA, the 3-D structure of mesoscale gravity waves in the lower stratosphere was measured for the first time, allowing for a complete 3-D characterization of the waves. This enables the precise determination of the sources of the waves in the mountain regions of Iceland with backward ray tracing. Forward ray tracing shows oblique propagation, an effect generally neglected in global atmospheric models.
Romy Heller, Christiane Voigt, Stuart Beaton, Andreas Dörnbrack, Andreas Giez, Stefan Kaufmann, Christian Mallaun, Hans Schlager, Johannes Wagner, Kate Young, and Markus Rapp
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 14853–14869, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-14853-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-14853-2017, 2017
Heiner Asmus, Tristan Staszak, Boris Strelnikov, Franz-Josef Lübken, Martin Friedrich, and Markus Rapp
Ann. Geophys., 35, 979–998, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-35-979-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-35-979-2017, 2017
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This work sheds new light on the size distribution of dust grains of meteoric origin in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere region using rocket-borne instrumentation. We found that a large number of very small (~ 0.5 nm) particles are charged and therefore have a significant influence on the charge balance of the lower ionosphere.
Boris Strelnikov, Artur Szewczyk, Irina Strelnikova, Ralph Latteck, Gerd Baumgarten, Franz-Josef Lübken, Markus Rapp, Stefanos Fasoulas, Stefan Löhle, Martin Eberhart, Ulf-Peter Hoppe, Tim Dunker, Martin Friedrich, Jonas Hedin, Mikhail Khaplanov, Jörg Gumbel, and Aroh Barjatya
Ann. Geophys., 35, 547–565, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-35-547-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-35-547-2017, 2017
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The WADIS sounding rocket mission utilized multi-point turbulence measurements in the mesosphere by different techniques, i.e., with ionization gauges carried by rockets and ground-based MAARSY and EISCAT radars. Results show that turbulence energy dissipation rates oscillate in space and time with amplitude of up to 2 orders of magnitude. Spatial oscillations show the same wavelengths as atmospheric gravity waves. Temporal variability reveals periods of atmospheric tides and gravity waves.
Johannes Wagner, Andreas Dörnbrack, Markus Rapp, Sonja Gisinger, Benedikt Ehard, Martina Bramberger, Benjamin Witschas, Fernando Chouza, Stephan Rahm, Christian Mallaun, Gerd Baumgarten, and Peter Hoor
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 4031–4052, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4031-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4031-2017, 2017
Qiang Li, Markus Rapp, Anne Schrön, Andreas Schneider, and Gunter Stober
Ann. Geophys., 34, 1209–1229, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-34-1209-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-34-1209-2016, 2016
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Turbulence is an essential process in the atmosphere and ocean. Clear-air turbulence is a well-known threat for the safety of aviation. Using a powerful MST radar, we detected turbulence and compared it with the results from radiosondes. The correlation between turbulence and background conditions, e.g., Richardson number and wind shears, is determined. There is a nearly negative correlation between turbulence and Richardson number independent of the length scale over which it was calculated.
Carsten Baumann, Markus Rapp, and Antti Kero
Ann. Geophys., 34, 573–580, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-34-573-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-34-573-2016, 2016
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Meteor smoke particles (MSPs), originating from evaporated meteoric matter at 60–110 km altitude, are present in the whole atmosphere including polar regions. As electron precipitation is present at high latitudes, these MSPs are bombarded by energetic electrons. The energetic electrons can enter the MSPs and excite secondary electrons. That can lead to a change of the charge state of these MSPs. The study finds that other charging processes, e.g., electron attachment, are more important.
H. Iimura, D. C. Fritts, D. Janches, W. Singer, and N. J. Mitchell
Ann. Geophys., 33, 1349–1359, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-33-1349-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-33-1349-2015, 2015
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The quasi-5-day wave at mid- and high-latitudes in the mesosphere and lower-thermosphere was compared between the hemispheres using meteor radar horizontal wind measurements, spanning June 2010 to December 2012. Variances of the quasi-5-day wave showed a wave activity from July to August in both hemispheres and in April 2012 in the Northern Hemisphere and November 2012 in the Southern Hemisphere with unique characteristics at each site.
B. Ehard, B. Kaifler, N. Kaifler, and M. Rapp
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 4645–4655, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4645-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4645-2015, 2015
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We evalute four methods currently used for gravity wave extraction from lidar temperature measurements. The spectral response of these methods is determined with the help of synthetic temperature perturbations. Afterwards, the methods are applied to lidar temperature measurements over New Zealand for further evaluation of the four algorithms. Based on the results two methods are recommended for gravity wave extraction.
M. Placke, P. Hoffmann, and M. Rapp
Ann. Geophys., 33, 1091–1096, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-33-1091-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-33-1091-2015, 2015
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Imposed momentum from mesospheric breaking gravity waves (GWs) is conserved by a balance between vertical divergence of GW momentum flux and Coriolis acceleration of the mean meridional wind. We present the first experimental verification of the momentum balance from the Saura MF radar at 69°N. For contributions from GWs only this balance is fulfilled between 70 and 100km during summer when GWs dominate the mesospheric dynamics, but it does not exist in winter due to planetary wave impacts.
V. Matthias, T. G. Shepherd, P. Hoffmann, and M. Rapp
Ann. Geophys., 33, 199–206, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-33-199-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-33-199-2015, 2015
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A vertical coupling process in the northern high-latitude middle atmosphere has been identified during the equinox transitions, which we call the “hiccup” and which acts like a “mini sudden stratospheric warming (SSW)”. We study the average characteristics of the hiccup based on a composite analysis using a nudged model. A comparison of the average characteristics of hiccups and SSWs shows both similarities and differences between the two vertical coupling processes.
T. D. Demissie, P. J. Espy, N. H. Kleinknecht, M. Hatlen, N. Kaifler, and G. Baumgarten
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 12133–12142, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-12133-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-12133-2014, 2014
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Summertime gravity waves detected in noctilucent clouds (NLCs) between 64◦ and 74◦N are found to have a similar climatology to those observed between 60◦ and 64◦N, and their direction of propagation is to the north and northeast as observed south of 64◦N. However, a unique population of fast, short wavelength waves propagating towards the SW is observed in the NLC. The sources of the prominent wave structures observed in the NLC are likely to be from waves propagating from near the tropopause.
H. Wilms, M. Rapp, P. Hoffmann, J. Fiedler, and G. Baumgarten
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 11951–11963, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-11951-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-11951-2013, 2013
V. F. Andrioli, D. C. Fritts, P. P. Batista, B. R. Clemesha, and D. Janches
Ann. Geophys., 31, 2123–2135, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-31-2123-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-31-2123-2013, 2013
C. Baumann, M. Rapp, A. Kero, and C.-F. Enell
Ann. Geophys., 31, 2049–2062, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-31-2049-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-31-2049-2013, 2013
G. Stober, S. Sommer, M. Rapp, and R. Latteck
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 2893–2905, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2893-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2893-2013, 2013
V. Matthias, P. Hoffmann, A. Manson, C. Meek, G. Stober, P. Brown, and M. Rapp
Ann. Geophys., 31, 1397–1415, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-31-1397-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-31-1397-2013, 2013
V. F. Andrioli, D. C. Fritts, P. P. Batista, and B. R. Clemesha
Ann. Geophys., 31, 889–908, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-31-889-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-31-889-2013, 2013
G. Stober, C. Schult, C. Baumann, R. Latteck, and M. Rapp
Ann. Geophys., 31, 473–487, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-31-473-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-31-473-2013, 2013
I. Strelnikova and M. Rapp
Ann. Geophys., 31, 359–375, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-31-359-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-31-359-2013, 2013
M. Rapp, J. M. C. Plane, B. Strelnikov, G. Stober, S. Ernst, J. Hedin, M. Friedrich, and U.-P. Hoppe
Ann. Geophys., 30, 1661–1673, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-30-1661-2012, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-30-1661-2012, 2012
Related subject area
Domain: ESSD – Atmosphere | Subject: Atmospheric chemistry and physics
Calm ocean, stormy sea: atmospheric and oceanographic observations of the Atlantic during the Atlantic References and Convection (ARC) ship campaign
ARMTRAJ: a set of multipurpose trajectory datasets augmenting the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility measurements
Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) airborne field campaign data products between 2013 and 2018
A Global Classification Dataset of Daytime and Nighttime Marine Low-cloud Mesoscale Morphology Based on Deep Learning Methods
19th–20th century semi-quantitative surface ozone along subtropical Europe to tropical Africa Atlantic coasts
CREST: a Climate Data Record of Stratospheric Aerosols
Multiyear high-temporal-resolution measurements of submicron aerosols at 13 French urban sites: data processing and chemical composition
Large synthesis of in situ field measurements of the size distribution of mineral dust aerosols across their life cycles
A 10 km daily-level ultraviolet-radiation-predicting dataset based on machine learning models in China from 2005 to 2020
GHOST: a globally harmonised dataset of surface atmospheric composition measurements
Changes in air pollutant emissions in China during two clean-air action periods derived from the newly developed Inversed Emission Inventory for Chinese Air Quality (CAQIEI)
EEAR-Clim: A high density observational dataset of daily precipitation and air temperature for the Extended European Alpine Region
Version 1 NOAA-20/OMPS Nadir Mapper total column SO2 product: continuation of NASA long-term global data record
GERB Obs4MIPs: a dataset for evaluating diurnal and monthly variations in top-of-atmosphere radiative fluxes in climate models
Multiwavelength aerosol lidars at the Maïdo supersite, Réunion Island, France: instrument description, data processing chain, and quality assessment
PM2.5 concentrations based on near-surface visibility in the Northern Hemisphere from 1959 to 2022
MAP-IO: an atmospheric and marine observatory program on board Marion Dufresne over the Southern Ocean
Retrieving ground-level PM2.5 concentrations in China (2013–2021) with a numerical-model-informed testbed to mitigate sample-imbalance-induced biases
Reconstructing long-term (1980–2022) daily ground particulate matter concentrations in India (LongPMInd)
A comprehensive in-situ and remote sensing data set collected during the HALO–(AC)3 aircraft campaign
Visibility-derived aerosol optical depth over global land from 1959 to 2021
Characterizing clouds with the CCClim dataset, a machine learning cloud class climatology
A Level 3 monthly gridded ice cloud dataset derived from 12 years of CALIOP measurements
IPB-MSA&SO4: a daily 0.25° resolution dataset of in situ-produced biogenic methanesulfonic acid and sulfate over the North Atlantic during 1998–2022 based on machine learning
A long-term high-resolution air quality reanalysis with public facing air quality dashboard over the Contiguous United States (CONUS)
Global Methane Budget 2000–2020
Indicators of Global Climate Change 2023: annual update of key indicators of the state of the climate system and human influence
The Total Carbon Column Observing Network's GGG2020 data version
Global anthropogenic emissions (CAMS-GLOB-ANT) for the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service simulations of air quality forecasts and reanalyses
Deep Convective Microphysics Experiment (DCMEX) coordinated aircraft and ground observations: microphysics, aerosol, and dynamics during cumulonimbus development
High-resolution physicochemical dataset of atmospheric aerosols over the Tibetan Plateau and its surroundings
Introduction to the NJIAS Himawari-8/9 Cloud Feature Dataset for climate and typhoon research
The Tibetan Plateau space-based tropospheric aerosol climatology: 2007–2020
PalVol v1: a proxy-based semi-stochastic ensemble reconstruction of volcanic stratospheric sulfur injection for the last glacial cycle (140 000–50 BP)
Ground- and ship-based microwave radiometer measurements during EUREC4A
Shortwave and longwave components of the surface radiation budget measured at the Thule High Arctic Atmospheric Observatory, Northern Greenland
Cloud condensation nuclei concentrations derived from the CAMS reanalysis
A merged continental planetary boundary layer height dataset based on high-resolution radiosonde measurements, ERA5 reanalysis, and GLDAS
12 years of continuous atmospheric O2, CO2 and APO data from Weybourne Atmospheric Observatory in the United Kingdom
CLAAS-3: the third edition of the CM SAF cloud data record based on SEVIRI observations
Using machine learning to construct TOMCAT model and occultation measurement-based stratospheric methane (TCOM-CH4) and nitrous oxide (TCOM-N2O) profile data sets
High-resolution aerosol data from the top 3.8 kyr of the East Greenland Ice coring Project (EGRIP) ice core
A database of aircraft measurements of carbon monoxide (CO) with high temporal and spatial resolution during 2011–2021
A first global height-resolved cloud condensation nuclei data set derived from spaceborne lidar measurements
A monthly 1° resolution dataset of daytime cloud fraction over the Arctic during 2000–2020 based on multiple satellite products
Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC) Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) trace gas measurements at the University of Toronto Atmospheric Observatory from 2002 to 2020
Deconstruction of tropospheric chemical reactivity using aircraft measurements: the Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom) data
Spatial variability of Saharan dust deposition revealed through a citizen science campaign
Radiative sensitivity quantified by a new set of radiation flux kernels based on the ECMWF Reanalysis v5 (ERA5)
Updated observations of clouds by MODIS for global model assessment
Laura Köhler, Julia Windmiller, Dariusz Baranowski, Michał Brennek, Michał Ciuryło, Lennéa Hayo, Daniel Kȩpski, Stefan Kinne, Beata Latos, Bertrand Lobo, Tobias Marke, Timo Nischik, Daria Paul, Piet Stammes, Artur Szkop, and Olaf Tuinder
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 633–659, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-633-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-633-2025, 2025
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We present atmospheric and oceanic data from the Atlantic References and Convection ship campaign with the Maria S. Merian from Mindelo to Punta Arenas observed with the integrated ship sensors; humidity and temperature profiler; ceilometer; aerosol instruments (Calitoo, Microtops, and DustTrak); radiosondes; uncrewed aircraft vehicles; and conductivity, temperature, and depth scans. The data include three complete profiles of the Intertropical Convergence Zone and a storm in the South Atlantic.
Israel Silber, Jennifer M. Comstock, Michael R. Kieburtz, and Lynn M. Russell
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 29–42, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-29-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-29-2025, 2025
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We present ARMTRAJ, a set of multipurpose trajectory datasets, which augments cloud, aerosol, and boundary layer studies utilizing the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility data. ARMTRAJ data include ensemble run statistics that enhance consistency and serve as uncertainty metrics for air mass coordinates and state variables. ARMTRAJ will soon become a near real-time product that will accompany past, ongoing, and future ARM deployments.
Fan Mei, Jennifer M. Comstock, Mikhail S. Pekour, Jerome D. Fast, Krista L. Gaustad, Beat Schmid, Shuaiqi Tang, Damao Zhang, John E. Shilling, Jason M. Tomlinson, Adam C. Varble, Jian Wang, L. Ruby Leung, Lawrence Kleinman, Scot Martin, Sebastien C. Biraud, Brian D. Ermold, and Kenneth W. Burk
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 5429–5448, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-5429-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-5429-2024, 2024
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Our study explores a comprehensive dataset from airborne field studies (2013–2018) conducted using the US Department of Energy's Gulfstream 1 (G-1). The 236 flights span diverse regions, including the Arctic, US Southern Great Plains, US West Coast, eastern North Atlantic, Amazon Basin in Brazil, and Sierras de Córdoba range in Argentina. This dataset provides unique insights into atmospheric dynamics, aerosols, and clouds and makes data available in a more accessible format.
Yuanyuan Wu, Jihu Liu, Yannian Zhu, Yu Zhang, Yang Cao, Kang-En Huang, Boyang Zheng, Yichuan Wang, Yanyun Li, Quan Wang, Chen Zhou, Yuan Liang, Jianning Sun, Minghuai Wang, and Daniel Rosenfeld
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-536, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-536, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for ESSD
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In this paper, based on deep learning method, we established a global classification dataset of daytime and nighttime marine low-cloud mesoscale morphology. It aims to promote a comprehensive understanding of the cloud dynamics and cloud-climate feedback. Closed mesoscale cellular convection (MCC) clouds occur more frequently at night, while suppressed cumulus exhibit remarkable decrease. Solid stratus and MCC cloud types show clear seasonal variations.
Juan A. Añel, Juan-Carlos Antuña-Marrero, Antonio Cid Samamed, Celia Pérez-Souto, Laura de la Torre, Maria Antonia Valente, Yuri Brugnara, Alfonso Saiz-López, and Luis Gimeno
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-366, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-366, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for ESSD
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Ozone, discovered in 1837, was first measured in 1847 using paper strips that reacted with ozone, providing an indication of its concentration based on color changes. Here we present the data, covering over sixty years of daily observations, conducted along the East Atlantic coast, spanning from the tropics to the northern extratropics.
Viktoria F. Sofieva, Alexei Rozanov, Monika Szelag, John P. Burrows, Christian Retscher, Robert Damadeo, Doug Degenstein, Landon A. Rieger, and Adam Bourassa
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 5227–5241, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-5227-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-5227-2024, 2024
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Climate-related studies need information about the distribution of stratospheric aerosols, which influence the energy balance of the Earth’s atmosphere. In this work, we present a merged dataset of vertically resolved stratospheric aerosol extinction coefficients, which is derived from data of six limb and occultation satellite instruments. The created aerosol climate record covers the period from October 1984 to December 2023. It can be used in various climate-related studies.
Hasna Chebaicheb, Joel F. de Brito, Tanguy Amodeo, Florian Couvidat, Jean-Eudes Petit, Emmanuel Tison, Gregory Abbou, Alexia Baudic, Mélodie Chatain, Benjamin Chazeau, Nicolas Marchand, Raphaële Falhun, Florie Francony, Cyril Ratier, Didier Grenier, Romain Vidaud, Shouwen Zhang, Gregory Gille, Laurent Meunier, Caroline Marchand, Véronique Riffault, and Olivier Favez
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 5089–5109, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-5089-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-5089-2024, 2024
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Long-term (2015–2021) quasi-continuous measurements have been obtained at 13 French urban sites using online mass spectrometry, to acquire the comprehensive chemical composition of submicron particulate matter. The results show their spatial and temporal differences and confirm the predominance of organics in France (40–60 %). These measurements can be used for many future studies, such as trend and epidemiological analyses, or comparisons with chemical transport models.
Paola Formenti and Claudia Di Biagio
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 4995–5007, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4995-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4995-2024, 2024
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Particles from deserts and semi-vegetated areas (mineral dust) are important for Earth's climate and human health, notably depending on their size. In this paper we collect and make a synthesis of a body of these observations since 1972 in order to provide researchers modeling Earth's climate and developing satellite observations from space with a simple way of confronting their results and understanding their validity.
Yichen Jiang, Su Shi, Xinyue Li, Chang Xu, Haidong Kan, Bo Hu, and Xia Meng
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 4655–4672, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4655-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4655-2024, 2024
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Limited ultraviolet (UV) measurements hindered further investigation of its health effects. This study used a machine learning algorithm to predict UV radiation with a daily and 10 km resolution of high accuracy in mainland China in 2005–2020. Then, uneven spatial distribution and population exposure risks as well as increased temporal trend of UV radiation were found in China. The long-term and high-quality UV dataset could further facilitate health-related research in the future.
Dene Bowdalo, Sara Basart, Marc Guevara, Oriol Jorba, Carlos Pérez García-Pando, Monica Jaimes Palomera, Olivia Rivera Hernandez, Melissa Puchalski, David Gay, Jörg Klausen, Sergio Moreno, Stoyka Netcheva, and Oksana Tarasova
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 4417–4495, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4417-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4417-2024, 2024
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GHOST (Globally Harmonised Observations in Space and Time) represents one of the biggest collections of harmonised measurements of atmospheric composition at the surface. In total, 7 275 148 646 measurements from 1970 to 2023, from 227 different components, and from 38 reporting networks are compiled, parsed, and standardised. Components processed include gaseous species, total and speciated particulate matter, and aerosol optical properties.
Lei Kong, Xiao Tang, Zifa Wang, Jiang Zhu, Jianjun Li, Huangjian Wu, Qizhong Wu, Huansheng Chen, Lili Zhu, Wei Wang, Bing Liu, Qian Wang, Duohong Chen, Yuepeng Pan, Jie Li, Lin Wu, and Gregory R. Carmichael
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 4351–4387, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4351-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4351-2024, 2024
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A new long-term inversed emission inventory for Chinese air quality (CAQIEI) is developed in this study, which contains constrained monthly emissions of NOx, SO2, CO, PM2.5, PM10, and NMVOCs in China from 2013 to 2020 with a horizontal resolution of 15 km. Emissions of different air pollutants and their changes during 2013–2020 were investigated and compared with previous emission inventories, which sheds new light on the complex variations of air pollutant emissions in China.
Giulio Bongiovanni, Michael Matiu, Alice Crespi, Anna Napoli, Bruno Majone, and Dino Zardi
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-285, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-285, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for ESSD
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EEAR-Clim is a new and unprecedented observational dataset gathering in-situ daily measurements of air temperature and precipitation from a network of about 9000 weather stations covering the European Alps. Data collected, including time series from recordings up to 2020 and significantly enhancing data coverage at high elevations, were tested for quality and homogeneity. The dataset aims to serve as a powerful tool for better understanding climate change over the European Alpine region.
Can Li, Nickolay A. Krotkov, Joanna Joiner, Vitali Fioletov, Chris McLinden, Debora Griffin, Peter J. T. Leonard, Simon Carn, Colin Seftor, and Alexander Vasilkov
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 4291–4309, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4291-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4291-2024, 2024
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Sulfur dioxide (SO2), a poisonous gas from human activities and volcanoes, causes air pollution, acid rain, and changes to climate and the ozone layer. Satellites have been used to monitor SO2 globally, including remote areas. Here we describe a new satellite SO2 dataset from the OMPS instrument that flies on the N20 satellite. Results show that the new dataset agrees well with the existing ones from other satellites and can help to continue the global monitoring of SO2 from space.
Jacqueline E. Russell, Richard J. Bantges, Helen E. Brindley, and Alejandro Bodas-Salcedo
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 4243–4266, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4243-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4243-2024, 2024
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We present a dataset of top-of-atmosphere diurnally resolved reflected solar and emitted thermal energy for Earth system model evaluation. The multi-year, monthly hourly dataset, derived from observations made by the Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget instrument, covers the range 60° N–60° S, 60° E–60° W at 1° resolution. Comparison with two versions of the Hadley Centre Global Environmental Model highlight how the data can be used to assess updates to key model parameterizations.
Dominique Gantois, Guillaume Payen, Michaël Sicard, Valentin Duflot, Nelson Bègue, Nicolas Marquestaut, Thierry Portafaix, Sophie Godin-Beekmann, Patrick Hernandez, and Eric Golubic
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 4137–4159, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4137-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4137-2024, 2024
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We describe three instruments that have been measuring interactions between aerosols (particles of various origin) and light over Réunion Island since 2012. Aerosols directly or indirectly influence the temperature in the atmosphere and can interact with clouds. Details are given on how we derived aerosol properties from our measurements and how we assessed the quality of our data before sharing them with the scientific community. A good correlation was found between the three instruments.
Hongfei Hao, Kaicun Wang, Guocan Wu, Jianbao Liu, and Jing Li
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 4051–4076, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4051-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4051-2024, 2024
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In this study, daily PM2.5 concentrations are estimated from 1959 to 2022 using a machine learning method at more than 5000 terrestrial sites in the Northern Hemisphere based on hourly atmospheric visibility data, which are extracted from the Meteorological Terminal Aviation Routine Weather Report (METAR).
Pierre Tulet, Joel Van Baelen, Pierre Bosser, Jérome Brioude, Aurélie Colomb, Philippe Goloub, Andrea Pazmino, Thierry Portafaix, Michel Ramonet, Karine Sellegri, Melilotus Thyssen, Léa Gest, Nicolas Marquestaut, Dominique Mékiès, Jean-Marc Metzger, Gilles Athier, Luc Blarel, Marc Delmotte, Guillaume Desprairies, Mérédith Dournaux, Gaël Dubois, Valentin Duflot, Kevin Lamy, Lionel Gardes, Jean-François Guillemot, Valérie Gros, Joanna Kolasinski, Morgan Lopez, Olivier Magand, Erwan Noury, Manuel Nunes-Pinharanda, Guillaume Payen, Joris Pianezze, David Picard, Olivier Picard, Sandrine Prunier, François Rigaud-Louise, Michael Sicard, and Benjamin Torres
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 3821–3849, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3821-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3821-2024, 2024
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The MAP-IO program aims to compensate for the lack of atmospheric and oceanographic observations in the Southern Ocean by equipping the ship Marion Dufresne with a set of 17 scientific instruments. This program collected 700 d of measurements under different latitudes, seasons, sea states, and weather conditions. These new data will support the calibration and validation of numerical models and the understanding of the atmospheric composition of this region of Earth.
Siwei Li, Yu Ding, Jia Xing, and Joshua S. Fu
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 3781–3793, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3781-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3781-2024, 2024
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Surface PM2.5 data have gained widespread application in health assessments and related fields, while the inherent uncertainties in PM2.5 data persist due to the lack of ground-truth data across the space. This study provides a novel testbed, enabling comprehensive evaluation across the entire spatial domain. The optimized deep-learning model with spatiotemporal features successfully retrieved surface PM2.5 concentrations in China (2013–2021), with reduced biases induced by sample imbalance.
Shuai Wang, Mengyuan Zhang, Hui Zhao, Peng Wang, Sri Harsha Kota, Qingyan Fu, Cong Liu, and Hongliang Zhang
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 3565–3577, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3565-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3565-2024, 2024
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Long-term, open-source, gap-free daily ground-level PM2.5 and PM10 datasets for India (LongPMInd) were reconstructed using a robust machine learning model to support health assessment and air quality management.
André Ehrlich, Susanne Crewell, Andreas Herber, Marcus Klingebiel, Christof Lüpkes, Mario Mech, Sebastian Becker, Stephan Borrmann, Heiko Bozem, Matthias Buschmann, Hans-Christian Clemen, Elena De La Torre Castro, Henning Dorff, Regis Dupuy, Oliver Eppers, Florian Ewald, Geet George, Andreas Giez, Sarah Grawe, Christophe Gourbeyre, Jörg Hartmann, Evelyn Jäkel, Philipp Joppe, Olivier Jourdan, Zsófia Jurányi, Benjamin Kirbus, Johannes Lucke, Anna E. Luebke, Maximilian Maahn, Nina Maherndl, Christian Mallaun, Johanna Mayer, Stephan Mertes, Guillaume Mioche, Manuel Moser, Hanno Müller, Veronika Pörtge, Nils Risse, Greg Roberts, Sophie Rosenburg, Johannes Röttenbacher, Michael Schäfer, Jonas Schaefer, Andreas Schäfler, Imke Schirmacher, Johannes Schneider, Sabrina Schnitt, Frank Stratmann, Christian Tatzelt, Christiane Voigt, Andreas Walbröl, Anna Weber, Bruno Wetzel, Martin Wirth, and Manfred Wendisch
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-281, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-281, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for ESSD
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This paper provides an overview of the HALO–(AC)3 aircraft campaign data sets, the campaign specific instrument operation, data processing, and data quality. The data set comprises in-situ and remote sensing observations from three research aircraft, HALO, Polar 5, and Polar 6. All data are published in the PANGAEA database by instrument-separated data subsets. It is highlighted how the scientific analysis of the HALO–(AC)3 data benefits from the coordinated operation of three aircraft.
Hongfei Hao, Kaicun Wang, Chuanfeng Zhao, Guocan Wu, and Jing Li
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 3233–3260, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3233-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3233-2024, 2024
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In this study, we employed a machine learning technique to derive daily aerosol optical depth from hourly visibility observations collected at more than 5000 airports worldwide from 1959 to 2021 combined with reanalysis meteorological parameters.
Arndt Kaps, Axel Lauer, Rémi Kazeroni, Martin Stengel, and Veronika Eyring
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 3001–3016, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3001-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3001-2024, 2024
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CCClim displays observations of clouds in terms of cloud classes that have been in use for a long time. CCClim is a machine-learning-powered product based on multiple existing observational products from different satellites. We show that the cloud classes in CCClim are physically meaningful and can be used to study cloud characteristics in more detail. The goal of this is to make real-world clouds more easily understandable to eventually improve the simulation of clouds in climate models.
David Winker, Xia Cai, Mark Vaughan, Anne Garnier, Brian Magill, Melody Avery, and Brian Getzewich
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 2831–2855, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2831-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2831-2024, 2024
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Clouds play important roles in both weather and climate. In this paper we describe version 1.0 of a unique global ice cloud data product derived from over 12 years of global spaceborne lidar measurements. This monthly gridded product provides a unique vertically resolved characterization of the occurrence and properties, optical and physical, of thin ice clouds and the tops of deep convective clouds. It should provide significant value for cloud research and model evaluation.
Karam Mansour, Stefano Decesari, Darius Ceburnis, Jurgita Ovadnevaite, Lynn M. Russell, Marco Paglione, Laurent Poulain, Shan Huang, Colin O'Dowd, and Matteo Rinaldi
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 2717–2740, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2717-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2717-2024, 2024
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We propose and evaluate machine learning predictive algorithms to model freshly formed biogenic methanesulfonic acid and sulfate concentrations. The long-term constructed dataset covers the North Atlantic at an unprecedented resolution. The improved parameterization of biogenic sulfur aerosols at regional scales is essential for determining their radiative forcing, which could help further understand marine-aerosol–cloud interactions and reduce uncertainties in climate models
Rajesh Kumar, Piyush Bhardwaj, Cenlin He, Jennifer Boehnert, Forrest Lacey, Stefano Alessandrini, Kevin Sampson, Matthew Casali, Scott Swerdlin, Olga Wilhelmi, Gabriele G. Pfister, Benjamin Gaubert, and Helen Worden
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-180, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-180, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for ESSD
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We have created a 14-year hourly air quality dataset at 12 km resolution by combining satellite observations of atmospheric composition with air quality models over the contiguous United States (CONUS) . The dataset has been found to reproduce key observed features of air quality over the CONUS. To enable easy visualization and interpretation of county level air quality measures and trends by stakeholders, an ArcGIS air quality dashboard has also been developed.
Marielle Saunois, Adrien Martinez, Benjamin Poulter, Zhen Zhang, Peter Raymond, Pierre Regnier, Joseph G. Canadell, Robert B. Jackson, Prabir K. Patra, Philippe Bousquet, Philippe Ciais, Edward J. Dlugokencky, Xin Lan, George H. Allen, David Bastviken, David J. Beerling, Dmitry A. Belikov, Donald R. Blake, Simona Castaldi, Monica Crippa, Bridget R. Deemer, Fraser Dennison, Giuseppe Etiope, Nicola Gedney, Lena Höglund-Isaksson, Meredith A. Holgerson, Peter O. Hopcroft, Gustaf Hugelius, Akihito Ito, Atul K. Jain, Rajesh Janardanan, Matthew S. Johnson, Thomas Kleinen, Paul Krummel, Ronny Lauerwald, Tingting Li, Xiangyu Liu, Kyle C. McDonald, Joe R. Melton, Jens Mühle, Jurek Müller, Fabiola Murguia-Flores, Yosuke Niwa, Sergio Noce, Shufen Pan, Robert J. Parker, Changhui Peng, Michel Ramonet, William J. Riley, Gerard Rocher-Ros, Judith A. Rosentreter, Motoki Sasakawa, Arjo Segers, Steven J. Smith, Emily H. Stanley, Joel Thanwerdas, Hanquin Tian, Aki Tsuruta, Francesco N. Tubiello, Thomas S. Weber, Guido van der Werf, Doug E. Worthy, Yi Xi, Yukio Yoshida, Wenxin Zhang, Bo Zheng, Qing Zhu, Qiuan Zhu, and Qianlai Zhuang
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-115, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-115, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for ESSD
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Methane (CH4) is the second most important human-influenced greenhouse gas in terms of climate forcing after carbon dioxide (CO2). A consortium of multi-disciplinary scientists synthesize and update the budget of the sources and sinks of CH4. This edition benefits from important progresses in estimating emissions from lakes and ponds, reservoirs, and streams and rivers. For the 2010s decade, global CH4 emissions are estimated at 575 Tg CH4 yr-1, including ~65 % from anthropogenic sources.
Piers M. Forster, Chris Smith, Tristram Walsh, William F. Lamb, Robin Lamboll, Bradley Hall, Mathias Hauser, Aurélien Ribes, Debbie Rosen, Nathan P. Gillett, Matthew D. Palmer, Joeri Rogelj, Karina von Schuckmann, Blair Trewin, Myles Allen, Robbie Andrew, Richard A. Betts, Alex Borger, Tim Boyer, Jiddu A. Broersma, Carlo Buontempo, Samantha Burgess, Chiara Cagnazzo, Lijing Cheng, Pierre Friedlingstein, Andrew Gettelman, Johannes Gütschow, Masayoshi Ishii, Stuart Jenkins, Xin Lan, Colin Morice, Jens Mühle, Christopher Kadow, John Kennedy, Rachel E. Killick, Paul B. Krummel, Jan C. Minx, Gunnar Myhre, Vaishali Naik, Glen P. Peters, Anna Pirani, Julia Pongratz, Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, Sonia I. Seneviratne, Sophie Szopa, Peter Thorne, Mahesh V. M. Kovilakam, Elisa Majamäki, Jukka-Pekka Jalkanen, Margreet van Marle, Rachel M. Hoesly, Robert Rohde, Dominik Schumacher, Guido van der Werf, Russell Vose, Kirsten Zickfeld, Xuebin Zhang, Valérie Masson-Delmotte, and Panmao Zhai
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 2625–2658, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2625-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2625-2024, 2024
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This paper tracks some key indicators of global warming through time, from 1850 through to the end of 2023. It is designed to give an authoritative estimate of global warming to date and its causes. We find that in 2023, global warming reached 1.3 °C and is increasing at over 0.2 °C per decade. This is caused by all-time-high greenhouse gas emissions.
Joshua L. Laughner, Geoffrey C. Toon, Joseph Mendonca, Christof Petri, Sébastien Roche, Debra Wunch, Jean-Francois Blavier, David W. T. Griffith, Pauli Heikkinen, Ralph F. Keeling, Matthäus Kiel, Rigel Kivi, Coleen M. Roehl, Britton B. Stephens, Bianca C. Baier, Huilin Chen, Yonghoon Choi, Nicholas M. Deutscher, Joshua P. DiGangi, Jochen Gross, Benedikt Herkommer, Pascal Jeseck, Thomas Laemmel, Xin Lan, Erin McGee, Kathryn McKain, John Miller, Isamu Morino, Justus Notholt, Hirofumi Ohyama, David F. Pollard, Markus Rettinger, Haris Riris, Constantina Rousogenous, Mahesh Kumar Sha, Kei Shiomi, Kimberly Strong, Ralf Sussmann, Yao Té, Voltaire A. Velazco, Steven C. Wofsy, Minqiang Zhou, and Paul O. Wennberg
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 2197–2260, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2197-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2197-2024, 2024
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This paper describes a new version, called GGG2020, of a data set containing column-integrated observations of greenhouse and related gases (including CO2, CH4, CO, and N2O) made by ground stations located around the world. Compared to the previous version (GGG2014), improvements have been made toward site-to-site consistency. This data set plays a key role in validating space-based greenhouse gas observations and in understanding the carbon cycle.
Antonin Soulie, Claire Granier, Sabine Darras, Nicolas Zilbermann, Thierno Doumbia, Marc Guevara, Jukka-Pekka Jalkanen, Sekou Keita, Cathy Liousse, Monica Crippa, Diego Guizzardi, Rachel Hoesly, and Steven J. Smith
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 2261–2279, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2261-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2261-2024, 2024
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Anthropogenic emissions are the result of transportation, power generation, industrial, residential and commercial activities as well as waste treatment and agriculture practices. This work describes the new CAMS-GLOB-ANT gridded inventory of 2000–2023 anthropogenic emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases. The methodology to generate the emissions is explained and the datasets are analysed and compared with publicly available global and regional inventories for selected world regions.
Declan L. Finney, Alan M. Blyth, Martin Gallagher, Huihui Wu, Graeme J. Nott, Michael I. Biggerstaff, Richard G. Sonnenfeld, Martin Daily, Dan Walker, David Dufton, Keith Bower, Steven Böing, Thomas Choularton, Jonathan Crosier, James Groves, Paul R. Field, Hugh Coe, Benjamin J. Murray, Gary Lloyd, Nicholas A. Marsden, Michael Flynn, Kezhen Hu, Navaneeth M. Thamban, Paul I. Williams, Paul J. Connolly, James B. McQuaid, Joseph Robinson, Zhiqiang Cui, Ralph R. Burton, Gordon Carrie, Robert Moore, Steven J. Abel, Dave Tiddeman, and Graydon Aulich
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 2141–2163, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2141-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2141-2024, 2024
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The DCMEX (Deep Convective Microphysics Experiment) project undertook an aircraft- and ground-based measurement campaign of New Mexico deep convective clouds during July–August 2022. The campaign coordinated a broad range of instrumentation measuring aerosol, cloud physics, radar signals, thermodynamics, dynamics, electric fields, and weather. The project's objectives included the utilisation of these data with satellite observations to study the anvil cloud radiative effect.
Jianzhong Xu, Xinghua Zhang, Wenhui Zhao, Lixiang Zhai, Miao Zhong, Jinsen Shi, Junying Sun, Yanmei Liu, Conghui Xie, Yulong Tan, Kemei Li, Xinlei Ge, Qi Zhang, and Shichang Kang
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 1875–1900, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1875-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1875-2024, 2024
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A comprehensive aerosol observation project was carried out in the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and its surroundings in recent years to investigate the properties and sources of atmospheric aerosols as well as their regional differences by performing multiple intensive field observations. The release of this dataset can provide basic and systematic data for related research in the atmospheric, cryospheric, and environmental sciences in this unique region.
Xiaoyong Zhuge, Xiaolei Zou, Lu Yu, Xin Li, Mingjian Zeng, Yilun Chen, Bing Zhang, Bin Yao, Fei Tang, Fengjiao Chen, and Wanlin Kan
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 1747–1769, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1747-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1747-2024, 2024
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The Himawari-8/9 level-2 operational cloud product has a low spatial resolution and is available only during the daytime. To supplement this official dataset, a new dataset named the NJIAS Himawari-8/9 Cloud Feature Dataset (HCFD) was constructed. The NJIAS HCFD provides a comprehensive description of cloud features over the East Asia and west North Pacific regions for the years 2016–2022 by 30 retrieved cloud variables. The NJIAS HCFD has been demonstrated to outperform the official dataset.
Honglin Pan, Jianping Huang, Jiming Li, Zhongwei Huang, Minzhong Wang, Ali Mamtimin, Wen Huo, Fan Yang, Tian Zhou, and Kanike Raghavendra Kumar
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 1185–1207, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1185-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1185-2024, 2024
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We applied several correction procedures and rigorously checked for data quality constraints during the long observation period spanning almost 14 years (2007–2020). Nevertheless, some uncertainties remain, mainly due to technical constraints and limited documentation of the measurements. Even though not completely accurate, this strategy is expected to at least reduce the inaccuracy of the computed characteristic value of aerosol optical parameters.
Julie Christin Schindlbeck-Belo, Matthew Toohey, Marion Jegen, Steffen Kutterolf, and Kira Rehfeld
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 1063–1081, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1063-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1063-2024, 2024
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Volcanic forcing of climate resulting from major explosive eruptions is a dominant natural driver of past climate variability. To support model studies of the potential impacts of explosive volcanism on climate variability across timescales, we present an ensemble reconstruction of volcanic stratospheric sulfur injection over the last 140 000 years that is based primarily on tephra records.
Sabrina Schnitt, Andreas Foth, Heike Kalesse-Los, Mario Mech, Claudia Acquistapace, Friedhelm Jansen, Ulrich Löhnert, Bernhard Pospichal, Johannes Röttenbacher, Susanne Crewell, and Bjorn Stevens
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 681–700, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-681-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-681-2024, 2024
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This publication describes the microwave radiometric measurements performed during the EUREC4A campaign at Barbados Cloud Observatory (BCO) and aboard RV Meteor and RV Maria S Merian. We present retrieved integrated water vapor (IWV), liquid water path (LWP), and temperature and humidity profiles as a unified, quality-controlled, multi-site data set on a 3 s temporal resolution for a core period between 19 January 2020 and 14 February 2020.
Daniela Meloni, Filippo Calì Quaglia, Virginia Ciardini, Annalisa Di Bernardino, Tatiana Di Iorio, Antonio Iaccarino, Giovanni Muscari, Giandomenico Pace, Claudio Scarchilli, and Alcide di Sarra
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 543–566, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-543-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-543-2024, 2024
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Solar and infrared radiation are key factors in determining Arctic climate. Only a few sites in the Arctic perform long-term measurements of the surface radiation budget (SRB). At the Thule High Arctic Atmospheric Observatory (THAAO, 76.5° N, 68.8° W) in Northern Greenland, solar and infrared irradiance measurements were started in 2009. These data are of paramount importance in studying the impact of the atmospheric (mainly clouds and aerosols) and surface (albedo) parameters on the SRB.
Karoline Block, Mahnoosh Haghighatnasab, Daniel G. Partridge, Philip Stier, and Johannes Quaas
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 443–470, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-443-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-443-2024, 2024
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Aerosols being able to act as condensation nuclei for cloud droplets (CCNs) are a key element in cloud formation but very difficult to determine. In this study we present a new global vertically resolved CCN dataset for various humidity conditions and aerosols. It is obtained using an atmospheric model (CAMS reanalysis) that is fed by satellite observations of light extinction (AOD). We investigate and evaluate the abundance of CCNs in the atmosphere and their temporal and spatial occurrence.
Jianping Guo, Jian Zhang, Jia Shao, Tianmeng Chen, Kaixu Bai, Yuping Sun, Ning Li, Jingyan Wu, Rui Li, Jian Li, Qiyun Guo, Jason B. Cohen, Panmao Zhai, Xiaofeng Xu, and Fei Hu
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 1–14, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1-2024, 2024
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A global continental merged high-resolution (PBLH) dataset with good accuracy compared to radiosonde is generated via machine learning algorithms, covering the period from 2011 to 2021 with 3-hour and 0.25º resolution in space and time. The machine learning model takes parameters derived from the ERA5 reanalysis and GLDAS product as input, with PBLH biases between radiosonde and ERA5 as the learning targets. The merged PBLH is the sum of the predicted PBLH bias and the PBLH from ERA5.
Karina E. Adcock, Penelope A. Pickers, Andrew C. Manning, Grant L. Forster, Leigh S. Fleming, Thomas Barningham, Philip A. Wilson, Elena A. Kozlova, Marica Hewitt, Alex J. Etchells, and Andy J. Macdonald
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 5183–5206, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5183-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5183-2023, 2023
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We present a 12-year time series of continuous atmospheric measurements of O2 and CO2 at the Weybourne Atmospheric Observatory in the United Kingdom. These measurements are combined into the term atmospheric potential oxygen (APO), a tracer that is not influenced by land biosphere processes. The datasets show a long-term increasing trend in CO2 and decreasing trends in O2 and APO between 2010 and 2021.
Nikos Benas, Irina Solodovnik, Martin Stengel, Imke Hüser, Karl-Göran Karlsson, Nina Håkansson, Erik Johansson, Salomon Eliasson, Marc Schröder, Rainer Hollmann, and Jan Fokke Meirink
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 5153–5170, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5153-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5153-2023, 2023
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This paper describes CLAAS-3, the third edition of the Cloud property dAtAset using SEVIRI, which was created based on observations from geostationary Meteosat satellites. CLAAS-3 cloud properties are evaluated using a variety of reference datasets, with very good overall results. The demonstrated quality of CLAAS-3 ensures its usefulness in a wide range of applications, including studies of local- to continental-scale cloud processes and evaluation of climate models.
Sandip S. Dhomse and Martyn P. Chipperfield
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 5105–5120, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5105-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5105-2023, 2023
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There are no long-term stratospheric profile data sets for two very important greenhouse gases: methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). Along with radiative feedback, these species play an important role in controlling ozone loss in the stratosphere. Here, we use machine learning to fuse satellite measurements with a chemical model to construct long-term gap-free profile data sets for CH4 and N2O. We aim to construct similar data sets for other important trace gases (e.g. O3, Cly, NOy species).
Tobias Erhardt, Camilla Marie Jensen, Florian Adolphi, Helle Astrid Kjær, Remi Dallmayr, Birthe Twarloh, Melanie Behrens, Motohiro Hirabayashi, Kaori Fukuda, Jun Ogata, François Burgay, Federico Scoto, Ilaria Crotti, Azzurra Spagnesi, Niccoló Maffezzoli, Delia Segato, Chiara Paleari, Florian Mekhaldi, Raimund Muscheler, Sophie Darfeuil, and Hubertus Fischer
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 5079–5091, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5079-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5079-2023, 2023
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The presented paper provides a 3.8 kyr long dataset of aerosol concentrations from the East Greenland Ice coring Project (EGRIP) ice core. The data consists of 1 mm depth-resolution profiles of calcium, sodium, ammonium, nitrate, and electrolytic conductivity as well as decadal averages of these profiles. Alongside the data a detailed description of the measurement setup as well as a discussion of the uncertainties are given.
Chaoyang Xue, Gisèle Krysztofiak, Vanessa Brocchi, Stéphane Chevrier, Michel Chartier, Patrick Jacquet, Claude Robert, and Valéry Catoire
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 4553–4569, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-4553-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-4553-2023, 2023
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To understand tropospheric air pollution at regional and global scales, an infrared laser spectrometer called SPIRIT was used on aircraft to rapidly and accurately measure carbon monoxide (CO), an important indicator of air pollution, during the last decade. Measurements were taken for more than 200 flight hours over three continents. Levels of CO are mapped with 3D trajectories for each flight. Additionally, this can be used to validate model performance and satellite measurements.
Goutam Choudhury and Matthias Tesche
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 3747–3760, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3747-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3747-2023, 2023
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Aerosols in the atmosphere that can form liquid cloud droplets are called cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Accurate measurements of CCN, especially CCN of anthropogenic origin, are necessary to quantify the effect of anthropogenic aerosols on the present-day as well as future climate. In this paper, we describe a novel global 3D CCN data set calculated from satellite measurements. We also discuss the potential applications of the data in the context of aerosol–cloud interactions.
Xinyan Liu, Tao He, Shunlin Liang, Ruibo Li, Xiongxin Xiao, Rui Ma, and Yichuan Ma
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 3641–3671, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3641-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3641-2023, 2023
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We proposed a data fusion strategy that combines the complementary features of multiple-satellite cloud fraction (CF) datasets and generated a continuous monthly 1° daytime cloud fraction product covering the entire Arctic during the sunlit months in 2000–2020. This study has positive significance for reducing the uncertainties for the assessment of surface radiation fluxes and improving the accuracy of research related to climate change and energy budgets, both regionally and globally.
Shoma Yamanouchi, Stephanie Conway, Kimberly Strong, Orfeo Colebatch, Erik Lutsch, Sébastien Roche, Jeffrey Taylor, Cynthia H. Whaley, and Aldona Wiacek
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 3387–3418, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3387-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3387-2023, 2023
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Nineteen years of atmospheric composition measurements made at the University of Toronto Atmospheric Observatory (TAO; 43.66° N, 79.40° W; 174 m.a.s.l.) are presented. These are retrieved from Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) solar absorption spectra recorded with a spectrometer from May 2002 to December 2020. The retrievals have been optimized for fourteen species: O3, HCl, HF, HNO3, CH4, C2H6, CO, HCN, N2O, C2H2, H2CO, CH3OH, HCOOH, and NH3.
Michael J. Prather, Hao Guo, and Xin Zhu
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 3299–3349, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3299-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3299-2023, 2023
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The Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom) measured the chemical composition in air parcels from 0–12 km altitude on 2 km horizontal by 80 m vertical scales for four seasons, resolving most scales of chemical heterogeneity. ATom is one of the first missions designed to calculate the chemical evolution of each parcel, providing semi-global diurnal budgets for ozone and methane. Observations covered the remote troposphere: Pacific and Atlantic Ocean basins, Southern Ocean, Arctic basin, Antarctica.
Marie Dumont, Simon Gascoin, Marion Réveillet, Didier Voisin, François Tuzet, Laurent Arnaud, Mylène Bonnefoy, Montse Bacardit Peñarroya, Carlo Carmagnola, Alexandre Deguine, Aurélie Diacre, Lukas Dürr, Olivier Evrard, Firmin Fontaine, Amaury Frankl, Mathieu Fructus, Laure Gandois, Isabelle Gouttevin, Abdelfateh Gherab, Pascal Hagenmuller, Sophia Hansson, Hervé Herbin, Béatrice Josse, Bruno Jourdain, Irene Lefevre, Gaël Le Roux, Quentin Libois, Lucie Liger, Samuel Morin, Denis Petitprez, Alvaro Robledano, Martin Schneebeli, Pascal Salze, Delphine Six, Emmanuel Thibert, Jürg Trachsel, Matthieu Vernay, Léo Viallon-Galinier, and Céline Voiron
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 3075–3094, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3075-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3075-2023, 2023
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Saharan dust outbreaks have profound effects on ecosystems, climate, health, and the cryosphere, but the spatial deposition pattern of Saharan dust is poorly known. Following the extreme dust deposition event of February 2021 across Europe, a citizen science campaign was launched to sample dust on snow over the Pyrenees and the European Alps. This campaign triggered wide interest and over 100 samples. The samples revealed the high variability of the dust properties within a single event.
Han Huang and Yi Huang
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 3001–3021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3001-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3001-2023, 2023
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We present a newly generated set of ERA5-based radiative kernels and compare them with other published kernels for the top of the atmosphere and surface radiation budgets. For both, the discrepancies in sensitivity values are generally of small magnitude, except for temperature kernels for the surface, likely due to improper treatment in the perturbation experiments used for kernel computation. The kernel bias is not a major cause of the inter-GCM (general circulation model) feedback spread.
Robert Pincus, Paul A. Hubanks, Steven Platnick, Kerry Meyer, Robert E. Holz, Denis Botambekov, and Casey J. Wall
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 2483–2497, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2483-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2483-2023, 2023
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This paper describes a new global dataset of cloud properties observed by a specific satellite program created to facilitate comparison with a matching observational proxy used in climate models. Statistics are accumulated over daily and monthly timescales on an equal-angle grid. Statistics include cloud detection, cloud-top pressure, and cloud optical properties. Joint histograms of several variable pairs are also available.
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Short summary
We measured polar mesospheric clouds (PMCs), our Earth’s highest clouds at the edge of space, with a Rayleigh lidar from a stratospheric balloon. We describe how we derive the cloud’s brightness and discuss the stability of the gondola pointing and the sensitivity of our measurements. We present our high-resolution PMC dataset that is used to study dynamical processes in the upper mesosphere, e.g. regarding gravity waves, mesospheric bores, vortex rings, and Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities.
We measured polar mesospheric clouds (PMCs), our Earth’s highest clouds at the edge of space,...
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