Trace Gas and Aerosol Climatologies – SPARC Data Initiative
The SPARC initiative on Trace Gas Climatologies (or: SPARC Data Initiative) aims to compare vertically-resolved chemical trace gas climatologies derived from satellite measurements (extending from the upper troposphere to the lower mesosphere, but with a primary focus on the stratosphere).
Accurate knowledge of trace gas climatologies (including their variability) is crucial not only for their intrinsic value but also for validation of numerical model simulations; the SPARC CCMVal activity noted that for some species satellite products appear to contradict each other, and recommended an assessment of the various data products available to support future model evaluations. The SPARC Data Initiative aims to tackle this task and is analysing a variety of long- and short-lived trace gas species (O3, H2O, CH4, N2O, HNO3, NOx, HCl, ClO, OClO, HOCl, HF, BrO, SF6, CO, aerosols, and others). While the analysis of ozone, aerosol, and water vapour climatologies will support other ongoing SPARC activities focused on characterising long-term changes, this work will also provide valuable information on data quality to data merging activities currently being carried out by NASA and ESA. The outcome of the SPARC Data Initiative will be published in a peer-reviewed SPARC Report, which will constitute the first SPARC assessment of long- and short-lived trace gas species (apart from aerosol, ozone, and water vapour).
SPARC Data Initiative Trace Gas and Aerosol Climatologies
The goal of the SPARC Data Initiative is to improve our knowledge and understanding of the overall uncertainty in chemical trace gas and aerosol observations from a multi-national suite of limb-viewing satellite instruments. This knowledge is crucial when using datasets from multiple instruments for data merging activities and the validation of chemistry-climate models. The SPARC Data Initiative Team, which consists of representatives from each instrument team and data analysts, has compiled zonal mean monthly mean time series of all available chemical trace gas and aerosol data in a common format (NetCDF). Data description and analyses are summarized in the SPARC report No. 8 (2017), with an update to the evaluations published in Hegglin et al. (2021). Report conclusions are based on the existing data versions at the time of the report formulation and should be used as basis for the evaluation of updated versions.
The Data Initiative has also been facilitated through an ISSI International Team activity, with the team consisting of both data analysts and experts from most of the major satellite instrument groups.
Activity leaders
Michaela I. Hegglin, Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, UK, m.i.hegglin@reading.ac.uk
Susann Tegtmeier, University of Saskatchewan, Canada, susann.tegtmeier@usask.ca
Published results
Data publications:
Hegglin, M. I., S. Tegtmeier, J. Anderson, A. E. Bourassa, S. Brohede, D. Degenstein, L. Froidevaux, B. Funke, J. Gille, Y. Kasai, E. Kyrölä, J. Lumpe, D. Murtagh, J. L. Neu, K. Pérot, E. Remsberg, A. Rozanov, M. Toohey, T. von Clarmann, K. A. Walker, H.-J. Wang, R. Damadeo, R. Fuller, G. Lingenfelser, C. Roth, N. J. Ryan, C. Sioris, L. Smith, and Weigel, K. (2020). SPARC Data Initiative monthly zonal mean composition measurements from stratospheric limb sounders (1978-2018) (Version p01) [Data set]. Earth System Science Data (ESSD). Zenodo. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.4265393.
Tegtmeier, M. I. Hegglin, J. Anderson, B. Funke, J. C. Gille, A. Jones, L. Smith, T. von Clarmann, K. A. Walker: The SPARC Data Initiative CFC-11, CFC-12, HF and SF6 climatologies from international satellite limb sounders. PANGAEA, doi: 10.1594/PANGAEA.849223, 2016.
Journal publications:
Hegglin, M. I., Tegtmeier, S., Anderson, J., Bourassa, A. E., Brohede, S., Degenstein, D., Froidevaux, L., Funke, B., Gille, J., Kasai, Y., Kyrölä, E. T., Lumpe, J., Murtagh, D., Neu, J. L., Pérot, K., Remsberg, E. E., Rozanov, A., Toohey, M., Urban, J., von Clarmann, T., Walker, K. A., Wang, H.-J., Arosio, C., Damadeo, R., Fuller, R. A., Lingenfelser, G., McLinden, C., Pendlebury, D., Roth, C., Ryan, N. J., Sioris, C., Smith, L., and Weigel, K., 2021: Overview and update of the SPARC Data Initiative: comparison of stratospheric composition measurements from satellite limb sounders, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 1855-1903, doi: 10.5194/essd-13-1855-2021.
Hegglin, M.I., S. Tegtmeier, J. Anderson, L. Froidevaux, R. Fuller, B. Funke, A. Jones, G. Lingenfelser, J. Lumpe, D. Pendlebury, E. Remsberg, A. Rozanov, M. Toohey, J. Urban, T. von Clarmann, K. A. Walker, R. Wang and K. Weigel, 2013: SPARC Data Initiative: Comparison of water vapor climatologies from international satellite limb sounders. J. Geopyhs. Res., doi: 10.1002/jgrd.50752.
Hegglin, M.I., D. A. Plummer, T. G. Shepherd, J. F. Scinocca, J. Anderson, L. Froidevaux, B. Funke, D. Hurst, A. Rozanov, J. Urban, T. von Clarmann, K. A. Walker, H. J. Wang, S. Tegtmeier, and K. Weigel, 2014: Vertical structure of stratospheric water vapour trends derived from merged satellite data. Nature Geoscience, 7 (10), pp. 768-776. ISSN 1752-0894 doi: 10.1038/ngeo2236
Kreyling, D., H. Sagawa, I. Wohltmann, R. Lehmann, and Y. Kasai, 2013: SMILES zonal and diurnal variation climatology of stratospheric and mesospheric trace gasses: O3, HCl, HNO3, ClO, BrO, HOCl, HO2, and temperature. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 118(11), 888–11,903, doi:10.1002/2012JD019420.
Neu, J. L., M. I. Hegglin, S. Tegtmeier, A. Bourassa, D. Degenstein, L. Froidevaux, R. Fuller , B. Funke, J. Gille, A. Jones, A. Rozanov, M. Toohey, T. von Clarmann, K. A. Walker, and J. R. Worden, 2014: The SPARC Data Initiative: Comparison of upper troposphere/lower stratosphere ozone climatologies from limb-viewing instruments and the nadir-viewing Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 119 (11), pp. 6971-6990. ISSN 0148-0227 doi: 10.1002/2013JD020822
Shepherd, T. G., D. A. Plummer, J. F. Scinocca, M. I. Hegglin, V. E. Fioletov, M. C. Reader, E. Remsberg, T. von Clarmann, and H. J. Wang, 2014: Reconciliation of halogen-induced ozone loss with the total-column ozone record. Nature Geosci., 7 (6)., pp. 443-449. ISSN 1752-0908 doi: 10.1038/NGEO2155
Tegtmeier, S., M. I. Hegglin, J. Anderson, B. Funke, J. Gille, A. Jones, L. Smith, T. von Clarmann, and K. A. Walker, 2016: The SPARC Data Initiative: comparisons of CFC-11, CFC-12, HF and SF6 climatologies from international satellite limb sounders. Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 8, 61-78, doi:10.5194/essd-8-61-2016.
Tegtmeier, S., M. I. Hegglin, J. Anderson, A. Bourassa, S. Brohede, D. Degenstein, L. Froidevaux, R. Fuller, B. Funke, J. Gille, A. Jones, Y. Kasai, K. Krüger, E. Kyrölä, G. Lingenfelser, J. Lumpe, B. Nardi, J. Neu, D. Pendlebury, E. Remsberg, A. Rozanov, L. Smith, M. Toohey, J. Urban, T. von Clarmann, K.A. Walker and H.J. Wang, 2013: The SPARC Data Initiative: A comparison of ozone climatologies from international satellite limb sounder. J. Geopyhs. Res., doi: 10.1002/2013JD019877.
Toohey, M., M. I. Hegglin, S. Tegtmeier, J. Anderson, J. A. Anel, A. Bourassa, S. Brohede, D. Degenstein, L. Froidevaux, R. Fuller, B. Funke, J. Gille, A. Jones, Y. Kasai, K. Krueger, E. Kyrölä, J. L. Neu, A. Rozanov, L. Smith, J. Urban, T. von Clarmann, K. A. Walker, and R. H. J. Wang, 2013: Characterizing sampling bias in the trace gas climatologies of the SPARC Data Initiative. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 118 (20), 11847-11862. ISSN 2169-8996 doi: 10.1002/jgrd.50874
SPARC Science Report:
SPARC, 2017: The SPARC Data Initiative: Assessment of stratospheric trace gas and aerosol climatologies from satellite limb sounders. By M. I. Hegglin and S. Tegtmeier (eds.), SPARC Report No. 8, WCRP-5/2017, available at www.sparc-climate.org/publications/sparc-reports/sparc-report-no8.
SPARC activity updates:
SPARC Newsletter No. 49 (2017) p. 7: Tegtmeier, S. and Hegglin, M. I., The SPARC Data Initiative – Results of a long journey, .
SPARC Newsletter No. 36 (2011), p.22: The SPARC Data Initiative, by M. I. Hegglin and S. Tegtmeier.