The MLS N2O Product
Basic Information
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is produced almost entirely at the Earth's surface,
about 70% from biological processes (natural decay process of land and ocean)
and the rest from human activities (e.g. agricultural fertilizion and fossil-fuel buring)
Since the 1950's an increase in N2O of about 0.3%/year has been seen in
this important greenhouse gas.
The N2O concentration is greatest (typically 310 ppbv) in the troposphere
where it is a well-mixed gas and gradually decreases with height in the
stratosphere due to destruction primarily by photolysis with ultraviolet light
to yield N2 and atomic O3. Another destruction pathway is via reactions
with excited oxygen atoms which yields NO molecules.
N2O is a good tracer of the movement of air parcels because its
long life-time (over 100 years at 20 km) is much greater than that
of atmospheric dynamical processes.
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The N2O Molecule
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How it is part of MLS Science Objectives
N2O studies contribute to the further investigation of stratospheric ozone layer stability. MLS measurements of nitrous oxide are important in understanding the
transport of air and therefore are used in tracking dynamical
processes and differentiating these effects from chemical processes
that affect ozone destruction.
How EOS MLS measures N2O
The standard product for N2O is taken from the 640 GHz (Core+R4B) retrieval.
(map from 2005d264)
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N2O Information from the Spectroscopy Database
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Quick Product Information for data version v2.2
- Swath Name: N2O
- Vertical Resolution:
5.5 km from 100 - 68.1 hPa
4 - 6 km from 46.4 to 1 hPa and above
- Useful Range: 100 - 1 hPa
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- DAAC Short Name: ML2N2O
- Precision: 20-25 ppbv at 100-68 hPa
13 - 16 ppbv from 46.4 - 1.00 hPa
- Accuracy: TBD
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The results of simulations show a reported precision for N2O of around 20 ppbv in the mid-stratosphere, corresponding to ~10%. The precision is poorer in the lowermost stratosphere and also worsens in the upper stratosphere. This reported precision overestimates the scatter seen in retrieval simulations by about 50%. Simulations also show that average biases are typically under ~10%, although individual points in the lower stratosphere can show biases as large as 100% in the winter polar vortex conditions.
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v2.2 N2O Averaging Kernel
colored lines are individual kernels; thick dashed line is full width at half maximum, thick solid is integrated kernel value
Publications related to the MLS N2O data product
2008
- Manney, G.L., W.H. Daffer, K.B. Strawbridge, K.A. Walker, C.D. Boone, P.F. Bernath, T. Kerzenmacher, M.J. Schwartz, K. Strong, R.J. Sica, K. Kruger, H.C. Pumphrey, L. Froidevaux, A. Lambert, M.L. Santee, N.J. Livesey, E.E. Remsberg, M.G. Mlynczak, J.R. Russell III, "The High Arctic in Extreme Winters: Vortex, Temperature, and MLS and ACE-FTS Trace Gas Evolution", vol 8, pgs. 505-522, 2008. Reprint
- Schoeberl, M.R., A.R. Douglass, P.A. Newman, L.R. Lait, D. Lary, J. Waters, N. Livesey, L. Froidevaux, A. Lambert, W. Read, M.J. Filipiak, H.C. Pumphrey, "QBO and Annual Cycle Variations in Tropical Lower Stratosphere Trace Gases from HALOE and Aura MLS Observations", vol 113, pgs. D05301, 2008. Reprint
- Santee, M.L., I.A. MacKenzie, G.L. Manney, M.P. Chipperfield, P.F. Bernath, K.A. Walker, C.D. Boone, L. Froidevaux, N.J. Livesey, J.W. Waters, "A study of stratospheric chlorine partitioning based on new", vol 113, pgs. D12307, 2008. Reprint
- El Amraoui, L., N. Semane, V.-H. Peuch, M.L. Santee, "Investigation of dynamical processes in the polar stratospheric vortex during the unusually cold winter 2004/2005", vol 35, pgs. L03803, 2008. Reprint
- Coffey, M.T., J.W. Hannigan, A. Goldman, D.E. Kinnison, J.C. Gille, J. Barnett, L. Froidevaux, A. Lambert, M.L. Santee, N.J. Livesey, B.M. Fisher, S.S. Kulawik, R. Beer, "Airborne Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) observations in support of EOS Aura validation", vol 113, pgs. D16S42, 2008. Reprint
2007
- Manney, G.L., W.H. Daffer, J.M. Zawodny, P.F. Bernath, K.W. Hoppel, K.A. Walker, B.W. Knosp, C. Boone, E.E. Remsberg, M.L. Santee, V. Lynn Harvey, S. Pawson, D.R. Jackson, L. Deaver, C.T. McElroy, C.A. McLinden, J.R. Drummond, H.C. Pumphrey, A. Lambert, M.J. Schwartz, L. Froidevaux, S. McLeod, L.L. Takacs, M.J. Suarez, C.R. Trepte, D.T. Cuddy, N.J. Livesey, R.S. Harwood, J.W. Waters, "Solar Occultation Satellite Data and Derived Meteorological Products: Sampling Issues and Comparisons with Aura MLS", vol 112, pgs. D24S50, 2007. Reprint
- Lambert, A., W.G. Read, N.J. Livesey, M.L. Santee, G.L. Manney, L. Froidevaux, D.L. Wu, M.J. Schwartz, H.C. Pumphrey, C. Jimenez, G.E. Nedoluha, R.E. Cofield, D.T. Cuddy, W.H. Daffer, B.J. Drouin, R.A. Fuller, R.F. Jarnot, B.W. Knosp, H.M. Pickett, V.S. Perun, W.V. Snyder, P.C. Stek, R.P. Thurstans, P.A. Wagner, J.W. Waters, K.W. Jucks, G.C. Toon, R.A. Stachnik, P.F. Bernath, C.D. Boone, K.A. Walker, J. Urban, D. Murtagh, J.W. Elkins, E. Atlas, "Validation of the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder middle atmosphere water vapor and nitrous oxide measurements", vol 112, pgs. D24S36, 2007. Reprint
- Strahan, S.E., B.N. Duncan, P. Hoor, "Observationally derived transport diagnostics for the lowermost stratosphere and their application to the GMI chemistry and transport model
", vol 7, pgs. 2435-2445, 2007. Reprint
2006
- Froidevaux, L., N.J. Livesey, W.G. Read, Y.B. Jiang, C.J. Jimenez, M.J. Filipiak, M.J. Schwartz, M.L. Santee, H.C. Pumphrey, J.H. Jiang, D.L. Wu, G.L. Manney, B.J. Drouin, J.W. Waters, E.J. Fetzer, P.F. Bernath, C.D. Boone, K.A. Walker, K.W. Jucks, G.C. Toon, J.J. Margitan, B. Sen, C.R. Webster, L.E. Christensen, J.W. Elkins, E. Atlas, R.A. Lueb, R. Hendershot, "Early validation analyses of atmospheric profiles from EOS MLS on the Aura satellite", vol 44, num no. 5, 2006. Reprint
- Cofield, R.E., P.C. Stek, "Design and field-of-view calibration of 114-660 GHz optics of the Earth Observing System Microwave Limb Sounder", vol 44, num no. 5, pgs. 1166-1181, 2006. Reprint
- Barret, B., P. Ricaud, M.L. Santee, J-L. Attie, J. Urban, E. Le Flochmoen, G. Berthet, D. Murtagh, P. Eriksson, A. Jones, J. de La Noe, E. Dupuy, L. Froidevaux, N.J. Livesey, J.W. Waters, M.J. Filipiak, "Intercomparisons of Trace Gas Profiles from the Odin/SMR and Aura/MLS Limb Sounders", vol 111, pgs. D21302, 2006. Reprint
- Douglass, A.R., R.S. Stolarski, S.E. Strahan, B.C. Polansky, "Sensitivity of Arctic ozone loss to polar stratospheric cloud volume and chlorine and bromine loading in a chemistry and transport model", vol 33, pgs. L17809, 2006. Reprint
- Manney, G.L., N.J. Livesey, C.J. Jimenez, H.C. Pumphrey, M.L. Santee, I.A. MacKenzie, J.W. Waters, "EOS Microwave Limb Sounder Observations of 'frozen-in' anticyclone air in Arctic summer", vol 33, pgs. L06810, 2006. Reprint Supplemental Summary
- Manney, G.L., M.L. Santee, L. Froidevaux, K. Hoppel, N.J. Livesey, J.W. Waters, "EOS MLS observations of ozone loss in the 2004-2005 Arctic winter", vol 33, pgs. L04802, 2006. Reprint Summary
2005
- Manney, G.L., M.L. Santee, N.J. Livesey, L. Froidevaux, W.G. Read, H.C. Pumphrey, J.W. Waters, S. Pawson, "EOS Microwave Limb Sounder Observations of the Antarctic Polar Vortex Breakup in 2004", vol 32, pgs. L12811, 2005. Reprint Summary
- Santee, M.L., G.L. Manney, N.J. Livesey, L. Froidevaux, H.C. Pumphrey, W.G. Read, M.J. Schwartz, J.W. Waters, "Polar processing and development of the 2004 Antarctic ozone hole: First results from Aura MLS", vol 32, pgs. L12817, 2005. Reprint Summary
2003
- Muller, R., S. Tilmes, J-U. Groos, D.S. McKenna, M. Muller, U. Schmidt, G.C. Toon, R.A. Stachnik, J.J. Margitan, J.W. Elkins, J. Arvelius, J.M. Russell, "Chlorine activation and chemical loss deduced from HALOE and balloon measurements in the Arctic during the winter of 1999-2000", vol 108, num D5, pgs. 8302, 2003. Reprint
1998
- Minschwaner, K., R.W. Carver, B.P. Briegleb, A.E. Roche, "Infrared radiative forcing and atmospheric lifetimes of trace species based on observations from UARS", vol 103, num D18, pgs. 23,243-23,253, 1998. Reprint
1997
- Engel, A., U. Schmidt, R.A. Stachnik, "Partitioning Between Chlorine Reservoir Species Deduced from Observations in the Arctic Winter Stratosphere", vol 27, pgs. 107-126, 1997. Reprint
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