Daily global maps of carbon monoxide from NASA's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder

Abstract

We present the first observations of tropospheric carbon monoxide (CO) by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) onboard NASA's Aqua satellite. AIRS daily coverage of ∼70% of the planet represents a significant evolutionary advance in satellite trace gas remote sensing. Tropospheric CO abundances are retrieved from AIRS 4.55 μm spectral region using the full AIRS retrieval algorithm run in a research mode. The presented AIRS daily global CO maps from 22-29 September 2002 show large-scale, long-range transport of CO from anthropogenic and natural sources, most notably from biomass burning. The sequence of daily maps reveal CO advection from Brazil to the South Atlantic in qualitative agreement with previous observations. Forward trajectory analysis confirms this scenario and indicates much longer range transport into the southern Indian Ocean. Preliminary comparisons to in situ aircraft profiles indicate AIRS CO retrievals are approaching the 15% accuracy target set by pre-launch simulations. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.