Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Atmospheric Sciences
Evaluating the spatial patterns of NOx emissions in polluted areas with TROPOMI NO2
Published: 2023-05-18
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Environmental Health and Protection, Environmental Monitoring
Satellite datasets are increasingly used to evaluate NOx emissions inventories. Such studies often require the use of a chemical transport model or a complex statistical framework to account for meteorological factors that can complicate the comparison. Here, we apply a novel method to compare inventory-based emissions directly to Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) NO2 data without a [...]
Ammonia emissions from a dairy housing and a wastewater treatment plant quantified with an inverse dispersion method accounting for deposition loss
Published: 2023-04-17
Subjects: Agriculture, Atmospheric Sciences, Environmental Engineering
Ammonia (NH3) emissions negatively impact air, soil, and water quality, hence human health and biodiversity. Significant emissions, including the largest sources, originate from single or multiple structures, such as livestock facilities and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The inverse dispersion method (IDM) is effective in measuring total emissions from such [...]
Assessment of simulations of a polar low with the Canadian Regional Climate Model
Published: 2023-04-14
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Meteorology
Polar lows (PLs), which are intense maritime polar mesoscale cyclones, are associated with severe weather conditions. Due to their small size and rapid development, PL forecasting remains a challenge. Convection-permitting models are adequate to forecast PLs since, compared to coarser models, they provide a better representation of convection as well as surface and near-surface processes. A PL [...]
High-resolution methane mapping with the EnMAP satellite imaging spectroscopy mission
Published: 2023-04-06
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Environmental Monitoring
Methane mitigation from anthropogenic sources such as fossil fuels and waste management has been found as one of the most promising strategies to curb global warming in the near future. Satellite-based imaging spectrometers have demonstrated to be well-suited to detect and quantify these emissions at high spatial resolution. These instruments produce so-called hyperspectral data cubes of the [...]
Ground ozone rise caused by the larger emission reduction of nitrogen oxides than volatile organic components
Published: 2023-04-05
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences
Ground-level ozone (O3) pollution has shifted from being a scientific topic to a governmental imperative in China. We analyze the mechanism for the O3 rise observed in Shanghai during the lockdown in the spread of COVID-19 in 2022 by combining utilizing ground-level observed data, an observation-based model, and a chemical transport model. We find that the increase in O3 can be mainly [...]
Did hydroclimate conditions contribute to the political dynamics of Majapahit? A preliminary analysis
Published: 2023-02-21
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Climate, Earth Sciences, Environmental Studies, Geography, Human Geography, Nature and Society Relations, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Majapahit was the largest Hindu-Buddhist empire that ruled the Indonesian archipelago from the late 13th to mid-16th centuries CE. Only now there is still a lot of history surrounding the Majapahit era that has yet to be revealed. One is about how environmental factors influenced the political dynamics at that time. This study tries to discuss the influence of hydroclimate regimes using the Paleo [...]
Performance and sensitivity of column-wise and pixel-wise methane retrievals for imaging spectrometers
Published: 2023-02-16
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences
Airborne imaging spectrometers are increasingly used to map methane (CH4) at high spatial resolution (e.g., 3-5 m). This study presents an analysis of two common approaches to retrieve methane from imaging spectrometer data. The approaches are (1) the columnwise matched filter (CMF), and (2) the physics-based Iterative Maximum A Posteriori – Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy [...]
Soil moisture modulation of midlatitude heat waves
Published: 2023-02-10
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Climate, Earth Sciences, Hydrology, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Heat waves are broadly expected to increase in severity and frequency under climate change. Case studies highlight a number of physical mechanisms that play a role in present-day heat waves, which typically occur during a coalescence of anomalous atmospheric and land surface conditions. However, a unified model of heat wave physics is lacking, primarily owing to difficulty in disentangling the [...]
Size Resolved Aerosol Characterization and In-field Comparative Evaluation of TSI 1 nm SMPS at Lake Michigan Coastal Station
Published: 2023-01-31
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences
The atmospheric particle size distribution was measured at a rural lakeshore site (Zion, IL 42.468 N, 87.810 W) during the Lake Michigan Ozone Study (LMOS 2017) in May and June 2017. The full aerosol size distribution was continuously measured by two scanning mobility particle sizers and an aerodynamic particle sizer in the range of 1.02 to 8671 nm (electrical mobility diameter). The Zion site, [...]
Deforestation as an anthropogenic driver of mercury pollution
Published: 2023-01-24
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences
Deforestation reduces the capacity of the terrestrial biosphere to take up the toxic pollutant mercury (Hg) and enhances the release of secondary Hg from soils. The consequences of deforestation for Hg cycling are not currently considered by anthropogenic emissions inventories or specifically addressed under the global Minamata Convention on Mercury. Using global Hg modeling constrained by field [...]
Weakening of the Indian Ocean Dipole in the mid-Holocene due to the mean oceanic climatology change
Published: 2023-01-10
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Climate, Meteorology, Oceanography
The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) is one of the leading modes of interannual climate variability in the tropical Indian Ocean (IO). Paleoclimate provides real climate scenarios to examine IOD behaviors and the linkage to basic states. Based on 18 models from the Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project phase 3 and 4 (PMIP 3/4), the IOD change from the preindustrial period to mid-Holocene is [...]
The Dry Sky: Futures for Humanity’s Modification of the Atmospheric Water Cycle
Published: 2022-12-22
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Climate, Fresh Water Studies, Hydrology, Meteorology, Natural Resource Economics, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Nature and Society Relations, Sustainability, Water Resource Management
Humanity is modifying the atmospheric water cycle, via land use, climate change, air pollution, and weather modification. Given the implications of this, we present a theoretical framing of atmospheric water as an economic good. Historically, atmospheric water was tacitly considered a ‘public good’ since it was neither actively consumed (rival) nor controlled (exclusive). However, given [...]
Air Quality-Related Equity Implications of U.S. Decarbonization Policy
Published: 2022-10-22
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Sciences, Sustainability
We quantify potential air pollution exposure reductions resulting from U.S. federal carbon policy, and consider the implications of resulting health benefits for exposure disparities across racial/ethnic groups. We assess reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of 50% in 2030 relative to 2005 levels, comparable in magnitude to the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Using energy-economic scenarios [...]
North African dust absorbs less solar radiation than estimated by models and remote-sensing retrievals
Published: 2022-10-17
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Climate
Desert dust accounts for a large fraction of shortwave radiation absorbed by aerosols, which adds to the climate warming produced by greenhouse gases. However, it remains uncertain exactly how much shortwave radiation dust absorbs. We leverage in-situ measurements of dust single-scattering albedo to constrain absorption at mid-visible wavelength by North African dust, which accounts for [...]
Skilful forecasts of summer rainfall in the Yangtze River Basin from November
Published: 2022-10-10
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Climate
Variability in the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) brings the risk of heavy flooding or drought to the Yangtze River Basin, with potentially devastating impacts. Early forecasts of the likelihood of enhanced or reduced monsoon rainfall can enable better management of water and hydropower resources by decision-makers, supporting livelihoods and major economic and population centres across Eastern [...]