Fourth Conference on Atmospheric Chemistry

8.1

Observations of enhanced CO concentrations from biomass burning in Africa and South America as measured by Terra/MOPITT

David P. Edwards, NCAR, Boulder, CO; and J. L. Attie, J. F. Lamarque, J. C. Gille, and J. R. Drummond

An important scientific goal of the Terra MOPITT instrument is to identify anthropogenic sources of carbon monoxide (CO) and to investigate the transport of pollution within the troposphere. In this paper we present observations of enhanced CO concentrations retrieved from MOPITT measurements over Africa, the Atlantic and South America. The seasonal variation of the CO plume origins is seen to correlate well with the moving burning regions as detected by the TRMM VIRS instrument. We examine the CO convection and transport over the Atlantic as indicated by the MOPITT profile measurements and examine trajectories to study the eventual fate of the CO emitted by burning once it reaches the free troposphere. We further discuss how the MOPITT CO retrievals can be combined with measurements of NOx to examine the origin of tropospheric ozone precursors in the tropics.

Session 8, Aircraft and remote sensing of atmospheric trace gases and aerosols
Tuesday, 15 January 2002, 4:45 PM-5:30 PM

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