Characterizing sampling biases in the trace gas climatologies of the SPARC Data Initiative
Journal article, 2013
Monthly zonal mean climatologies of atmospheric measurements from satellite instruments can have biases due to the nonuniform sampling of the atmosphere by the instruments. We characterize potential sampling biases in stratospheric trace gas climatologies of the Stratospheric Processes and Their Role in Climate (SPARC) Data Initiative using chemical fields from a chemistry climate model simulation and sampling patterns from 16 satellite-borne instruments. The exercise is performed for the long-lived stratospheric trace gases O3 and H2O. Monthly sampling biases for O3 exceed 10% for many instruments in the high-latitude stratosphere and in the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere, while annual mean sampling biases reach values of up to 20% in the same regions for some instruments. Sampling biases for H2O are generally smaller than for O3, although still notable in the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere and Southern Hemisphere high latitudes. The most important mechanism leading to monthly sampling bias is nonuniform temporal sampling, i.e., the fact that for many instruments, monthly means are produced from measurements which span less than the full month in question. Similarly, annual mean sampling biases are well explained by nonuniformity in the month-to-month sampling by different instruments. Nonuniform sampling in latitude and longitude are shown to also lead to nonnegligible sampling biases, which are most relevant for climatologies which are otherwise free of biases due to nonuniform temporal sampling.
Author
M. Toohey
GEOMAR - Helmholtz Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel
M. I. Hegglin
University of Reading
S. Tegtmeier
GEOMAR - Helmholtz Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel
J. Anderson
Hampton University
J.A. Anel
University of Oxford
Universidad de Vigo
A. Bourassa
University of Saskatchewan
Samuel Brohede
Chalmers, Earth and Space Sciences, Global Environmental Measurements and Modelling
D. Degenstein
University of Saskatchewan
L. Froidevaux
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
R. Fuller
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
B. Funke
CSIC - Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA)
J. Gille
National Center for Atmospheric Research
University of Colorado at Boulder
A. Jones
University of Toronto
Y. Kasai
Japan National Institute of Information and Communications Technology
K. Krüger
Universitetet i Oslo
GEOMAR - Helmholtz Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel
E. Kyrölä
Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI)
J.L. Neu
A. Rozanov
University of Bremen
L. Smith
National Center for Atmospheric Research
Joachim Urban
Chalmers, Earth and Space Sciences, Global Environmental Measurements and Modelling
T. von Clarmann
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
K.A. Walker
University of Toronto
R.H.J. Wang
Georgia Institute of Technology
Journal of Geophysical Research
01480227 (ISSN) 21562202 (eISSN)
Vol. 118 20 11,847-11,8620148-0227 (ISBN)
Driving Forces
Sustainable development
Subject Categories (SSIF 2011)
Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences
Earth and Related Environmental Sciences
Climate Research
DOI
10.1002/jgrd.50874
ISBN
0148-0227