Validation of the Updated SAO OMI Formaldehyde Retrieval

Gonzalo Gonzalez Abad1, Xiong Liu2, Cheng Liu1, Caroline R Nowlan2, Kelly Chance1, Alan Fried3, Scott J Janz4, Yugo Kanaya5 and Olga Puentedura6, (1)Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA, United States, (2)Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, United States, (3)University of Colorado at Boulder, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, Boulder, United States, (4)NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, United States, (5)JAMSTEC Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 3173-25, Showa-machi, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 236-0001, Japan, Tel: +81-45-778-5365, Fax: +81-45-778-5706, Kanagawa, Japan, (6)INTA Instituto de Tecnica Aeroespacial, Torrejon de Ardoz, Spain
Abstract:
The new SAO OMI formaldehyde retrieval, version v3.0.2 publicly released in June 2014, introduces major changes with respect to the previous version of the product. These changes include optimization of fitting window and fitting parameters, update of reference cross sections, reference sector normalization to the Pacific Ocean and a new air mass factor calculation. In this context it is necessary to assess the accuracy of the new product and perform a validation exercise. We compare the new data with other satellite retrievals from OMI, GOME-2 and SCIAMACHY performed by the Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy, with in situ airborne measurements recorded using a Difference Frequency Generation Absorption Spectrometer (DFGAS) instrument, with aircraft passive remote sensing retrievals from the ACAM and GeoTASO instruments recorded during the DISCOVER-AQ field campaigns in Maryland and Texas and with ground-based DOAS measurements.
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