CO2 Total Column Variability From Ground-Based FTIR Measurements Over Central Mexico

Abstract:

There are now several space missions dedicated to measure greenhouse gases in order to improve the understanding of the carbon cycle. Ground based measurement sites are of great value in the validation process, however there are only a few stations in tropical latitudes. We present measurements of solar-absorption infrared spectra recorded on two locations over Central Mexico: the High-Altitude Station Altzomoni (19.12 N, 98.65 W), located in the Izta-Popo National Park outside of Mexico City; and the UNAM's Atmospheric Observatory (19.32 N, 99.17 W) in Mexico City. These measurements were performed using a high resolution Fourier transform infrared spectrometer FTIR (Bruker, HR 120/5) at Altzomoni and a moderate resolution FTIR (Bruker, Vertex 80) within the city. In this work, we present the first results for total vertical columns of CO2 derived from near-infrared spectra recorded at both locations using the retrieval code PROFFIT. We present the seasonal cycle and variability from the measurements, as well as the full diagnostics of the retrieval in order assess its quality and discuss the differences of both instruments and locations (altitudes, urban vs remote). This work aims to contribute to generate high quality datasets for satellite validation.