Validation of Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS) chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22) in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere

Abstract

The Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS) is currently providing the only measurements of vertically resolved chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22) from space. This study assesses the ACE-FTS HCFC-22 v5.2 product in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, as well as simulations of HCFC-22 from a 39-year specified dynamics run of the Canadian Middle Atmosphere Model (CMAM39) in the same region. In general, ACE-FTS HCFC-22 observations tend to agree with subsampled CMAM39 data to within ±5%, except for between 15 and 25km in the extratropical regions where ACE-FTS exhibits a negative bias of 5%-30% and near 6km in the tropics where ACE-FTS exhibits a bias of -15%. When comparing against correlative satellite, aircraft, and balloon data, ACE-FTS typically exhibits a low bias on the order of 0%-10% between 1/45 and 15km and is within ±15% between 1/415 and 25km. ACE-FTS, CMAM39, and surface flask measurements from the NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory's surface air-sampling network all exhibit consistent tropospheric HCFC-22 trends ranging between 6.8 and 7.8pptyr-1 (within 95% confidence) for 2004-2012 and between 3.1 and 4.7pptyr-1 (within 95% confidence) for 2012-2018. Interhemispheric differences (IHDs) of HCFC-22 were also derived using ACE-FTS, NOAA, and CMAM39 data, and all three yielded consistent and correlated (r≥0.42) IHD time series, with the results indicating that surface IHD values decreased at a rate of 2.2±1.1ppt per decade between 2004 and 2018.