Frank Baier

Bio: Frank Baier is an academic researcher from German Aerospace Center. The author has contributed to research in topics: Data assimilation & Ozone layer. The author has an hindex of 7, co-authored 26 publications receiving 531 citations. Previous affiliations of Frank Baier include Karlsruhe Institute of Technology & University of Cologne.

The MACC reanalysis: an 8 yr data set of atmospheric composition

Abstract: . An eight-year long reanalysis of atmospheric composition data covering the period 2003–2010 was constructed as part of the FP7-funded Monitoring Atmospheric Composition and Climate project by assimilating satellite data into a global model and data assimilation system. This reanalysis provides fields of chemically reactive gases, namely carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen oxides, and formaldehyde, as well as aerosols and greenhouse gases globally at a horizontal resolution of about 80 km for both the troposphere and the stratosphere. This paper describes the assimilation system for the reactive gases and presents validation results for the reactive gas analysis fields to document the data set and to give a first indication of its quality. Tropospheric CO values from the MACC reanalysis are on average 10–20% lower than routine observations from commercial aircrafts over airports through most of the troposphere, and have larger negative biases in the boundary layer at urban sites affected by air pollution, possibly due to an underestimation of CO or precursor emissions. Stratospheric ozone fields from the MACC reanalysis agree with ozonesondes and ACE-FTS data to within ±10% in most seasons and regions. In the troposphere the reanalysis shows biases of −5% to +10% with respect to ozonesondes and aircraft data in the extratropics, but has larger negative biases in the tropics. Area-averaged total column ozone agrees with ozone fields from a multi-sensor reanalysis data set to within a few percent. NO2 fields from the reanalysis show the right seasonality over polluted urban areas of the NH and over tropical biomass burning areas, but underestimate wintertime NO2 maxima over anthropogenic pollution regions and overestimate NO2 in northern and southern Africa during the tropical biomass burning seasons. Tropospheric HCHO is well simulated in the MACC reanalysis even though no satellite data are assimilated. It shows good agreement with independent SCIAMACHY retrievals over regions dominated by biogenic emissions with some anthropogenic input, such as the eastern US and China, and also over African regions influenced by biogenic sources and biomass burning.

Evaluation of Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) ozone profiles from nine different algorithms

Abstract: An evaluation is made of ozone profiles retrieved from measurements of the nadir-viewing Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) instrument. Currently, four different approaches are used to retrieve ozone profile information from GOME measurements, which differ in the use of external information and a priori constraints. In total nine different algorithms will be evaluated exploiting the optimal estimation (Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, University of Bremen, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory), Phillips-Tikhonov regularization (Space Research Organization Netherlands), neural network (Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research, Tor Vergata University), and data assimilation (German Aerospace Center) approaches. Analysis tools are used to interpret data sets that provide averaging kernels. In the interpretation of these data, the focus is on the vertical resolution, the indicative altitude of the retrieved value, and the fraction of a priori information. The evaluation is completed with a comparison of the results to lidar data from the Network for Detection of Stratospheric Change stations in Andoya (Norway), Observatoire Haute Provence (France), Mauna Loa (Hawaii), Lauder (New Zealand), and Dumont d'Urville (Antarctic) for the years 1997–1999. In total, the comparison involves nearly 1000 ozone profiles and allows the analysis of GOME data measured in different global regions and hence observational circumstances. The main conclusion of this paper is that unambiguous information on the ozone profile can at best be retrieved in the altitude range 15–48 km with a vertical resolution of 10 to 15 km, precision of 5–10%, and a bias up to 5% or 20% depending on the success of recalibration of the input spectra. The sensitivity of retrievals to ozone at lower altitudes varies from scheme to scheme and includes significant influence from a priori assumptions.

Copernicus stratospheric ozone service, 2009–2012: validation, system intercomparison and roles of input data sets

Abstract: . This paper evaluates and discusses the quality of the stratospheric ozone analyses delivered in near real time by the MACC (Monitoring Atmospheric Composition and Climate) project during the 3-year period between September 2009 and September 2012. Ozone analyses produced by four different chemical data assimilation (CDA) systems are examined and compared: the Integrated Forecast System coupled to the Model for OZone And Related chemical Tracers (IFS-MOZART); the Belgian Assimilation System for Chemical ObsErvations (BASCOE); the Synoptic Analysis of Chemical Constituents by Advanced Data Assimilation (SACADA); and the Data Assimilation Model based on Transport Model version 3 (TM3DAM). The assimilated satellite ozone retrievals differed for each system; SACADA and TM3DAM assimilated only total ozone observations, BASCOE assimilated profiles for ozone and some related species, while IFS-MOZART assimilated both types of ozone observations. All analyses deliver total column values that agree well with ground-based observations (biases The northern spring 2011 period is studied in more detail to evaluate the ability of the analyses to represent the exceptional ozone depletion event, which happened above the Arctic in March 2011. Offline sensitivity tests are performed during this month and indicate that the differences between the forward models or the assimilation algorithms are much less important than the characteristics of the assimilated data sets. They also show that IFS-MOZART is able to deliver realistic analyses of ozone both in the troposphere and in the stratosphere, but this requires the assimilation of observations from nadir-looking instruments as well as the assimilation of profiles, which are well resolved vertically and extend into the lowermost stratosphere.

Estimation of Surface NO2 Concentrations over Germany from TROPOMI Satellite Observations Using a Machine Learning Method

Abstract: In this paper, we present the estimation of surface NO2 concentrations over Germany using a machine learning approach. TROPOMI satellite observations of tropospheric NO2 vertical column densities (VCDs) and several meteorological parameters are used to train the neural network model for the prediction of surface NO2 concentrations. The neural network model is validated against ground-based in situ air quality monitoring network measurements and regional chemical transport model (CTM) simulations. Neural network estimation of surface NO2 concentrations show good agreement with in situ monitor data with Pearson correlation coefficient (R) of 0.80. The results also show that the machine learning approach is performing better than regional CTM simulations in predicting surface NO2 concentrations. We also performed a sensitivity analysis for each input parameter of the neural network model. The validated neural network model is then used to estimate surface NO2 concentrations over Germany from 2018 to 2020. Estimated surface NO2 concentrations are used to investigate the spatio-temporal characteristics, such as seasonal and weekly variations of NO2 in Germany. The estimated surface NO2 concentrations provide comprehensive information of NO2 spatial distribution which is very useful for exposure estimation. We estimated the annual average NO2 exposure for 2018, 2019 and 2020 is 15.53, 15.24 and 13.27 µµg/m3, respectively. While the annual average NO2 concentration of 2018, 2019 and 2020 is only 12.79, 12.60 and 11.15 µµg/m3. In addition, we used the surface NO2 data set to investigate the impacts of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on ambient NO2 levels in Germany. In general, 10–30% lower surface NO2 concentrations are observed in 2020 compared to 2018 and 2019, indicating the significant impacts of a series of restriction measures to reduce the spread of the virus.

Analysis of the Algerian severe weather event in November 2001 and its impact on ozone and nitrogen dioxide distributions

Abstract: An analysis of the severe weather event in November 2001 over the western Mediterranean is presented focusing on satellite-based trace gas measurements from the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) on board the European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS-2). This study is supplemented by a synoptic analysis and simulations of the three-dimensional stratospheric chemical transport model ROSE. Arctic air masses moved rapidly from Scandinavia to the Iberian peninsula and were mixed with subtropical air over the still warm Mediterranean Sea. This caused severe thunderstorms and extreme rainfall along the coasts of Morocco and Algeria and later on the Balearic Islands. Associated with the meridional transport an intrusion of stratospheric air below 3 km above sea level was observed. The maximum potential vorticity (PV) derived from UK Meteorological Office analysis data was about 9.3 potential vorticity units (pvu) at 330 K at the equatorward position of 35°N. These very high values went along with remarkably enhanced total ozone levels obtained from GOME backscatter measurements of collocated GOME/ERS-2 overpasses. Further investigation of GOME data showed unusually high levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) above the western Mediterranean. We present a new method to derive the tropospheric content of nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) from a combination of satellite measurements and results of a chemical transport model. We show that about two-third of the total atmospheric content of nitrogen dioxide in the observed plume is found in the troposphere, due to lightning activity, advection and vertical transport in the thunderstorms from the planetary boundary layer (PBL) to atmospheric levels above clouds. DOI: 10.1034/j.1600-0889.2003.00078.x

The Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2)

Abstract: The Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2), is the latest atmospheric reanalysis of the modern satellite era produced by NASA’s Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO). MERRA-2 assimilates observation types not available to its predecessor, MERRA, and includes updates to the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) model and analysis scheme so as to provide a viable ongoing climate analysis beyond MERRA’s terminus. While addressing known limitations of MERRA, MERRA-2 is also intended to be a development milestone for a future integrated Earth system analysis (IESA) currently under development at GMAO. This paper provides an overview of the MERRA-2 system and various performance metrics. Among the advances in MERRA-2 relevant to IESA are the assimilation of aerosol observations, several improvements to the representation of the stratosphere including ozone, and improved representations of cryospheric processes. Other improvements in the quality of M...

Tropospheric ozone and its precursors from the urban to the global scale from air quality to short-lived climate forcer

Abstract: Ozone holds a certain fascination in atmospheric science. It is ubiquitous in the atmosphere, central to tropospheric oxidation chemistry, yet harmful to human and ecosystem health as well as being an important greenhouse gas. It is not emitted into the atmosphere but is a by-product of the very oxidation chemistry it largely initiates. Much effort is focussed on the reduction of surface levels of ozone owing to its health impacts but recent efforts to achieve reductions in exposure at a country scale have proved difficult to achieve due to increases in background ozone at the zonal hemispheric scale. There is also a growing realisation that the role of ozone as a short-lived climate pollutant could be important in integrated air quality climate-change mitigation. This review examines current understanding of the processes regulating tropospheric ozone at global to local scales from both measurements and models. It takes the view that knowledge across the scales is important for dealing with air quality and climate change in a synergistic manner.

The MERRA-2 Aerosol Reanalysis, 1980 Onward. Part I: System Description and Data Assimilation Evaluation

Abstract: The Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2) updates NASA's previous satellite era (1980 - onward) reanalysis system to include additional observations and improvements to the Goddard Earth Observing System, Version 5 (GEOS-5) Earth system model. As a major step towards a full Integrated Earth Systems Analysis (IESA), in addition to meteorological observations, MERRA-2 now includes assimilation of aerosol optical depth (AOD) from various ground- and space-based remote sensing platforms. Here, in the first of a pair of studies, we document the MERRA-2 aerosol assimilation, including a description of the prognostic model (GEOS-5 coupled to the GOCART aerosol module), aerosol emissions, and the quality control of ingested observations. We provide initial validation and evaluation of the analyzed AOD fields using independent observations from ground, aircraft, and shipborne instruments. We demonstrate the positive impact of the AOD assimilation on simulated aerosols by comparing MERRA-2 aerosol fields to an identical control simulation that does not include AOD assimilation. Having shown the AOD evaluation, we take a first look at aerosol-climate interactions by examining the shortwave, clear-sky aerosol direct radiative effect. In our companion paper, we evaluate and validate available MERRA-2 aerosol properties not directly impacted by the AOD assimilation (e.g. aerosol vertical distribution and absorption). Importantly, while highlighting the skill of the MERRA-2 aerosol assimilation products, both studies point out caveats that must be considered when using this new reanalysis product for future studies of aerosols and their interactions with weather and climate.