Smith Point Overview during DISCOVER-AQ Houston, Sept 2013
Anne Thompson (NASA & PSU), Deborah Zweers (NASA & GESTAR), Debra Kollonige (UMD), Doug Martins (PSU)
AQAST Meeting, Houston, Jan 2014Thanks to S. Miller & H. Halliday (PSU), R. Clark (MU)
Highlights
• FACILITIES– NATIVE (Nittany Atmospheric Trailer & Integrated Validation
Experiment) – Penn State Mobile Lab– Millersville Univ tethered balloon, sodar
• Ozone-NO-NOy-NO2 Overview & Late Sept. Episode– Ozonesondes– Special NO2 sonde
• Methane-CO2 Overview & Late Sept. Episode– Satellite methane comparison– Isotopic C – methane sources
NATIVE OPERATIONS AT SMITH POINT 28/8-27/9 2013
Ozone.met.psu.eduAll Data at NASA/Langley ArchiveCo-located with Millersville (MU) tethered balloon & trailers
Photos: D K Martins
Additional InstrumentsAt Smith Point:PSUPiccaro with 13-CQuadrupole PTR-MS1 Direct-sun PandoraMOPSGSFC2 Column PandorasCimel
Millersville U vans, Tethered balloonNOAA RadiometersTCEQ Wind Profiler
Pollution Episode, 24-26 Sept
25 Sept Outlier in Sondes;Mostly moderate in DAQ
NATIVEOzone
Houston Ozone Overview-SEAC4RS & DISCOVER-AQ
• Considerable variability throughout troposphere & at TTL• Mixtures of stratospheric air (inferred from H2O-O3 relation)
• O3 below ~5 km varies with marine flow, < 40 ppbv, vs recirc of pollution (> 50 ppbv)
NO2-Sonde Operations: Balloon & NATIVE
Photos: Deb Stein Zweers
NO2-Sonde Profiles 11:28 – 12:23 LTAl
titud
e [m
]
NO2 [ppbv], Temp [C]
25 Sep 2013
Preliminary Data: Deb Stein Zweers
ABOVE:NOy to 50 ppbv,NO ~10 ppbvNO2 15-30 ppbvAT SURFACELEFT:NO2 – SONDE,> 40 ppbv
PSU Native CH4 & CO2: Smith Point** Pollution event on September 24th & 25th stands out in their timeseries too!!!
PSU Native CH4 & CO2: Smith Point** Pollution event on September 24th & 25th stands out in their timeseries too!!!
XCH4
[ppm
v]
GOSAT measured XCH4 on September 25th , but lack of retrievals nearby Smith Point and its ~1400LT crossover time missed the ground enhancement. However, XCH4 was higher North of Smith Point on the 24th (not shown).
PSU Native CH4 & 13CH4: Smith Point CH4 isotopic signature is suggestive of biogenic emissions as source of enhancement. Background concentrations of CH4 (& < 2.5 ppmv) are mixture of natural gas (-35 to -50%) and
biogenic sources (-50 to -70%) making the mean campaign signature to be ~ -55%. Smith Point seems to be biogenic dominant (as is probably expected) since the background signature
found in Dlugokencky et al 2011 was ~-47%.
CH4 & 13CH4: Pollution Event vs. Entire Campaign
Intercept (-59%) for scatter plot (13CH4 vs 1/CH4) shows source of the >2.5 ppmv enhancements on 24-25 Sep. likely wetland (biogenic) emissions.
Most CH4 < 2.5 ppmv originates from sources NW of Smith Point during campaign (greater Houston)
Enhancements on the 24th & 25th > 3.0 ppmv from the Northeast (wetlands/rice paddies?)