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  1. Home
  2. Essential Climate Variables
  3. Precursors for Aerosols and Ozone

 

Precursors for Aerosols and Ozone

Precursor species lead to the production of aerosols and ozone. Precursors include nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and formaldehyde (HCHO). Aerosols and ozone in the near-surface atmosphere can directly harm human health and produce detrimental environmental impacts (e.g., crop damage, acid rain). Reductions in near-surface aerosols and ozone have been observed in specific regions where the emissions of some precursors are regulated.

  Domain: Atmosphere
  Subdomain: Atmospheric Composition
  Scientific Area: Carbon cycle and other GHGs
  ECV Steward:  
  Products:  CO Tropospheric Column, CO Mole fraction, NO2 Mole Fraction, HCHO Tropospheric Column, SO2 Tropospheric Column, SO2 Stratospheric Column, NO2 Tropospheric Column

 


ECV Products and Requirements

These products and requirements reflect the Implementation Plan 2022 (GCOS-244).

The requirements are found in the complete 2022 ECVs Requirements document as well: ECV Precursors for Aerosols and Ozone.

Products     CO Tropospheric Column CO Mole fraction     NO2 Mole Fraction
  (*) Unit Values Values   Unit Values
Horizontal Resolution G km 10 10   km 20
B 30 30   100
T 100 100   500
Vertical Resolution G m - 1   km 1
B - 3   3
T - 5   5
Temporal Resolution G d 1/24 1/24   d 1/4
B 1 1   1
T 30 30   30
Timeliness G d 1 1   d 1
B 7 7   7
T 30 30   30
Required Measurement Uncertainty (2-sigma) G ppb 1 1   ppb 20
B 5 5   40
T 10 10   60
Stability G ppb/decade <1 <1   ppb/decade 4
B 1 1   8
T 2 3   12

 

Products     HCHO Tropospheric Column SO2 Tropospheric Column SO2 Stratospheric Column NO2 Tropospheric Column
  (*) Unit Values Values Values Values
Horizontal Resolution G km 10 10 10 10
B 30 30 30 30
T 100 100 100 100
Vertical Resolution G   - - - -
B - - - -
T - - - -
Temporal Resolution G d 1/24 1/24 1/24 1/24
B 1 1 1 1
T 30 30 30 30
Timeliness G d 1 1 1 1
B 7 7 7 7
T 30 30 30 30
Required Measurement Uncertainty (2-sigma) G molecules cm-2 max (20%, 8E15) max (30%,6E15) max(30%,6E15) max(20%, 1E15)
B max (40%,16E15) max(60%, 12E15) max(60%, 12E15) max(40%, 2E15)
T max (100%,40E15) max(100%, 20E15) max(100%, 20E15) max(100%, 5E15)
Stability G molecules cm-2 / decade max (4%, 8E15) max(6%,1.2E15) max(10%,3E15) max(4%, 1E15)
B max (8%,8E15) max(12%, 2.4E15) max(20%,4E15) max(8%, 1E15)
T max (20%,8E15) max(20%, 4E15) max(30%, 7E15) max(20%, 1E15)

 

(*) Goal (G): an ideal requirement above which further improvements are not necessary. Breakthrough (B): an intermediate level between threshold and goal which, if achieved, would result in a significant improvement for the targeted application. The breakthrough value may also indicate the level at which specified uses within climate monitoring become possible. It may be appropriate to have different breakthrough values for different uses. Threshold (T): the minimum requirement to be met to ensure that data are useful


Data Sources

This list provides sources for openly accessible data sets with worldwide coverage for which metadata is available. It is curated by the respective GCOS ECV Steward(s). The list does not claim to be complete. Anyone with a suitable dataset who wishes it to be added to this list should contact the GCOS Secretariat.

In Situ and Ground-Based Remote Sensing:

  • Earth System Research Laboratory Global Monitoring Division CO data

https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/dv/iadv/

  • Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC)

http://www.ndsc.ncep.noaa.gov/

  • World Data Centre for Reactive Gases (WDCRG)

http://www.gaw-wdcrg.org/

  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

https://gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov/reanalysis/


Reanalysis:

  • REANALYSES.ORG (Inventory for Reanalysis)

http://reanalyses.org

  • Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS), MACC Reanalysis of global atmospheric composition, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)

http://apps.ecmwf.int/datasets/data/cams-ghg-inversions/

  • Monitoring Atmospheric Composition & Climate (MACC), European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)

http://apps.ecmwf.int/datasets/data/macc-ghg-inversions/


Satellite:

  • Satellite ECV Inventory by the CEOS/CGMS Working Group on Climate (WGClimate)

http://climatemonitoring.info/ecvinventory

  • NASA Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT)

https://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/project/mopitt/mopitt_table

 

EU Copernicus

 

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