Identification

Title

Spatial and temporal variation in CO over Alberta using measurements from satellites, aircraft, and ground stations

Abstract

Alberta is Canada's largest oil producer, and its oil sands deposits comprise 30% of the world's oil reserves. The process of bitumen extraction and upgrading releases trace gases and aerosols to the atmosphere. In this study we present satellite-based analysis to explore, for the first time, various contributing factors that affect tropospheric carbon monoxide (CO) levels over Alberta. The multispectral product that uses both near-infrared (NIR) and the thermal-infrared (TIR) radiances for CO retrieval from the Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) is examined for the 12-year period from 2002 to 2013. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) thermal anomaly product from 2001 to 2013 is employed to investigate the seasonal and temporal variations in forest fires. Additionally, in situ CO measurements at industrial and urban sites are compared to satellite data. Furthermore, the available MOZAIC/IAGOS (Measurement of Ozone, Water Vapor, Carbon Monoxide, Nitrogen Oxide by Airbus In-Service Aircraft/In service Aircraft for Global Observing System) aircraft CO profiles (April 2009-December 2011) are used to validate MOPITT CO data. The climatological time curtain plot and spatial maps for CO over northern Alberta indicate the signatures of transported CO for two distinct biomass burning seasons: summer and spring. Distinct seasonal patterns of CO at the urban sites (Edmonton and Calgary) point to the strong influence of traffic. Meteorological parameters play an important role in the CO spatial distribution at various pressure levels. Northern Alberta shows a stronger upward lifting motion which leads to larger CO total column values, while the poor dispersion in central and southern Alberta exacerbates the surface CO pollution. Interannual variations in satellite data depict a slightly decreasing trend for both regions, while the decline trend is more evident from ground observations, especially at the urban sites. MOPITT CO vertical averages and MOZAIC/IAGOS aircraft profiles were in good agreement within the standard deviations at all pressure levels. There is consistency between the time evolution of high-CO episodes monitored by satellite and ground measurements and the fire frequency peak time, which implies that biomass burning has affected the tropospheric CO distribution in northern Alberta. These findings have further demonstrated the potential use of the MOPITT V5 multispectral (NIR + TIR) product for assessing a complicated surface process.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d71g0nfz

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2015-04-14T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact