Mitigation of satellite OCO-2 CO<sub>2</sub> biases in the vicinity of clouds with 3D calculations using the Education and Research 3D Radiative Transfer Toolbox (EaR<sup>3</sup>T)

<p>Accurate and continuous measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2</sub></span>) are essential for climate change research and monitoring of emission reduction efforts. NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-2 an...

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Main Authors: Y.-W. Chen, K. S. Schmidt, H. Chen, S. T. Massie, S. S. Kulawik, H. Iwabuchi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2025-04-01
Series:Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
Online Access:https://amt.copernicus.org/articles/18/1859/2025/amt-18-1859-2025.pdf
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author Y.-W. Chen
Y.-W. Chen
K. S. Schmidt
K. S. Schmidt
H. Chen
S. T. Massie
S. S. Kulawik
H. Iwabuchi
author_facet Y.-W. Chen
Y.-W. Chen
K. S. Schmidt
K. S. Schmidt
H. Chen
S. T. Massie
S. S. Kulawik
H. Iwabuchi
author_sort Y.-W. Chen
collection DOAJ
description <p>Accurate and continuous measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2</sub></span>) are essential for climate change research and monitoring of emission reduction efforts. NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-2 and 3) satellites have been deployed to infer the column-averaged CO<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2</sub></span> dry-air mixing ratio (X<span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M6" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><msub><mi/><mrow class="chem"><msub><mi mathvariant="normal">CO</mi><mn mathvariant="normal">2</mn></msub></mrow></msub></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="18pt" height="10pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="6172ae6a090f3e065e799a521e1bfe18"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="amt-18-1859-2025-ie00001.svg" width="18pt" height="10pt" src="amt-18-1859-2025-ie00001.png"/></svg:svg></span></span>) from passive spectroscopy, with a designed uncertainty of less than 1 ppm for the regional average. This accuracy is often not met in cloudy regions because clouds in the vicinity of a footprint introduce biases in the X<span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M7" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><msub><mi/><mrow class="chem"><msub><mi mathvariant="normal">CO</mi><mn mathvariant="normal">2</mn></msub></mrow></msub></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="18pt" height="10pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="989f6c75ce6bcd7c76d55b99cb9ba719"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="amt-18-1859-2025-ie00002.svg" width="18pt" height="10pt" src="amt-18-1859-2025-ie00002.png"/></svg:svg></span></span> retrievals. These arise from limitations in the one-dimensional (1D) forward radiative transfer (RT) model, which does not capture the spectral radiance perturbations introduced by clouds adjacent to a clear footprint. Our paper introduces a three-dimensional (3D) RT pipeline to explicitly account for these effects in real-world satellite observations. This is done by ingesting collocated imagery and reanalysis products to calculate the cloud-induced perturbations at the footprint level. To make that computationally feasible, a simple approximation for their spectral dependence is used. The calculated perturbations are then used to reverse (undo) the cloud vicinity effects at the radiance level, at which point the standard 1D OCO-2 retrieval code can be applied without modifications. For two cases over land, we demonstrate that this approach indeed reduces the X<span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M8" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><msub><mi/><mrow class="chem"><msub><mi mathvariant="normal">CO</mi><mn mathvariant="normal">2</mn></msub></mrow></msub></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="18pt" height="10pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="35d0ef4c1024065a846229745b188a25"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="amt-18-1859-2025-ie00003.svg" width="18pt" height="10pt" src="amt-18-1859-2025-ie00003.png"/></svg:svg></span></span> anomalies near clouds. We also characterize the dependence of the X<span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M9" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><msub><mi/><mrow class="chem"><msub><mi mathvariant="normal">CO</mi><mn mathvariant="normal">2</mn></msub></mrow></msub></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="18pt" height="10pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="63e67ec2b1b20349090e8dc0af598eb8"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="amt-18-1859-2025-ie00004.svg" width="18pt" height="10pt" src="amt-18-1859-2025-ie00004.png"/></svg:svg></span></span> footprint-level bias on the distance from clouds and other key scene parameters, such as surface reflectance. Although this dependence may be specific to cloud type, aerosols, and other factors, we illustrate how it could be parameterized to bypass our physics-based 3D-RT pipeline for use in an operational framework. In the future, we intend to explore this possibility by applying our tool to a variety of scenes over land and ocean.</p>
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spelling doaj-art-c5ad985bc3c943ca889b6ca54fa107772025-08-20T02:28:19ZengCopernicus PublicationsAtmospheric Measurement Techniques1867-13811867-85482025-04-01181859188410.5194/amt-18-1859-2025Mitigation of satellite OCO-2 CO<sub>2</sub> biases in the vicinity of clouds with 3D calculations using the Education and Research 3D Radiative Transfer Toolbox (EaR<sup>3</sup>T)Y.-W. Chen0Y.-W. Chen1K. S. Schmidt2K. S. Schmidt3H. Chen4S. T. Massie5S. S. Kulawik6H. Iwabuchi7Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO, USALaboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO, USADepartment of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO, USALaboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO, USALaboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO, USALaboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO, USABay Area Environmental Research Institute, Earth Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USACenter for Atmospheric and Oceanic Studies, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan<p>Accurate and continuous measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2</sub></span>) are essential for climate change research and monitoring of emission reduction efforts. NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-2 and 3) satellites have been deployed to infer the column-averaged CO<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2</sub></span> dry-air mixing ratio (X<span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M6" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><msub><mi/><mrow class="chem"><msub><mi mathvariant="normal">CO</mi><mn mathvariant="normal">2</mn></msub></mrow></msub></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="18pt" height="10pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="6172ae6a090f3e065e799a521e1bfe18"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="amt-18-1859-2025-ie00001.svg" width="18pt" height="10pt" src="amt-18-1859-2025-ie00001.png"/></svg:svg></span></span>) from passive spectroscopy, with a designed uncertainty of less than 1 ppm for the regional average. This accuracy is often not met in cloudy regions because clouds in the vicinity of a footprint introduce biases in the X<span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M7" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><msub><mi/><mrow class="chem"><msub><mi mathvariant="normal">CO</mi><mn mathvariant="normal">2</mn></msub></mrow></msub></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="18pt" height="10pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="989f6c75ce6bcd7c76d55b99cb9ba719"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="amt-18-1859-2025-ie00002.svg" width="18pt" height="10pt" src="amt-18-1859-2025-ie00002.png"/></svg:svg></span></span> retrievals. These arise from limitations in the one-dimensional (1D) forward radiative transfer (RT) model, which does not capture the spectral radiance perturbations introduced by clouds adjacent to a clear footprint. Our paper introduces a three-dimensional (3D) RT pipeline to explicitly account for these effects in real-world satellite observations. This is done by ingesting collocated imagery and reanalysis products to calculate the cloud-induced perturbations at the footprint level. To make that computationally feasible, a simple approximation for their spectral dependence is used. The calculated perturbations are then used to reverse (undo) the cloud vicinity effects at the radiance level, at which point the standard 1D OCO-2 retrieval code can be applied without modifications. For two cases over land, we demonstrate that this approach indeed reduces the X<span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M8" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><msub><mi/><mrow class="chem"><msub><mi mathvariant="normal">CO</mi><mn mathvariant="normal">2</mn></msub></mrow></msub></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="18pt" height="10pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="35d0ef4c1024065a846229745b188a25"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="amt-18-1859-2025-ie00003.svg" width="18pt" height="10pt" src="amt-18-1859-2025-ie00003.png"/></svg:svg></span></span> anomalies near clouds. We also characterize the dependence of the X<span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M9" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><msub><mi/><mrow class="chem"><msub><mi mathvariant="normal">CO</mi><mn mathvariant="normal">2</mn></msub></mrow></msub></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="18pt" height="10pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="63e67ec2b1b20349090e8dc0af598eb8"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="amt-18-1859-2025-ie00004.svg" width="18pt" height="10pt" src="amt-18-1859-2025-ie00004.png"/></svg:svg></span></span> footprint-level bias on the distance from clouds and other key scene parameters, such as surface reflectance. Although this dependence may be specific to cloud type, aerosols, and other factors, we illustrate how it could be parameterized to bypass our physics-based 3D-RT pipeline for use in an operational framework. In the future, we intend to explore this possibility by applying our tool to a variety of scenes over land and ocean.</p>https://amt.copernicus.org/articles/18/1859/2025/amt-18-1859-2025.pdf
spellingShingle Y.-W. Chen
Y.-W. Chen
K. S. Schmidt
K. S. Schmidt
H. Chen
S. T. Massie
S. S. Kulawik
H. Iwabuchi
Mitigation of satellite OCO-2 CO<sub>2</sub> biases in the vicinity of clouds with 3D calculations using the Education and Research 3D Radiative Transfer Toolbox (EaR<sup>3</sup>T)
Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
title Mitigation of satellite OCO-2 CO<sub>2</sub> biases in the vicinity of clouds with 3D calculations using the Education and Research 3D Radiative Transfer Toolbox (EaR<sup>3</sup>T)
title_full Mitigation of satellite OCO-2 CO<sub>2</sub> biases in the vicinity of clouds with 3D calculations using the Education and Research 3D Radiative Transfer Toolbox (EaR<sup>3</sup>T)
title_fullStr Mitigation of satellite OCO-2 CO<sub>2</sub> biases in the vicinity of clouds with 3D calculations using the Education and Research 3D Radiative Transfer Toolbox (EaR<sup>3</sup>T)
title_full_unstemmed Mitigation of satellite OCO-2 CO<sub>2</sub> biases in the vicinity of clouds with 3D calculations using the Education and Research 3D Radiative Transfer Toolbox (EaR<sup>3</sup>T)
title_short Mitigation of satellite OCO-2 CO<sub>2</sub> biases in the vicinity of clouds with 3D calculations using the Education and Research 3D Radiative Transfer Toolbox (EaR<sup>3</sup>T)
title_sort mitigation of satellite oco 2 co sub 2 sub biases in the vicinity of clouds with 3d calculations using the education and research 3d radiative transfer toolbox ear sup 3 sup t
url https://amt.copernicus.org/articles/18/1859/2025/amt-18-1859-2025.pdf
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