A33G-3271:
Decadal Variability of Ammonia Observed by AIRS over CONUS

Wednesday, 17 December 2014
Juying X Warner1, Zigang Wei1 and Lawrence Larrabee Strow2, (1)University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD, United States, (2)University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, United States
Abstract:
Atmospheric InfraRed Sensor provides twice daily and nearly global coverage of tropospheric compositions not only due to AIRS wide swaths but also due to the cloud clearing approach that increases the global coverage to above 50% of the total measurements. With longer than 10 years of data records, these measurements have been used not only for daily monitoring purposes but also for inter-annual variability and short-term trend studies. We have developed a new daily and global tropospheric ammonia product from AIRS measurements. AIRS NH3 is retrieved from an add-on module to the AIRS operational codes; and this module uses the Optimal Estimation (OE) technique. Globally, AIRS captures NH3 emissions from biogenic and anthropogenic activities over most emission regions. We will focus, in this presentation, the ammonia distribution over the US, and will particularly emphasize its variability in the last 10 years. Validation examples using in situ measurements for AIRS NH3 will also be presented.