CO monitoring with IASI: global and local variability
Résumé
Carbon monoxide (CO) is an important trace gas for understanding air quality and atmospheric
composition. It is a good tracer of pollution plumes and atmospheric dynamics. Since the launch of
the MetOp satellite, IASI CO concentrations are retrieved on a daily base and in near real time from
the radiance data, using the Fast Operational/Optimal Retrievals on Layers for IASI (FORLI)
algorithm. These products are now generated and operationally distributed by EUMETCAST under
the O3MSAF auspices.
Global scale CO distributions will be shown, and the seasonal/annual variabilities over 8 years will
be analyzed. A special focus will be put on the record concentrations observed over the islands of
Borneo and Sumatra in the fall 2015, due to the worst forest fires in nearly two decades. This
pollution excess is associated with the predictable impacts of the strong El Niño currently underway.
We will provide estimates of the carbon emissions using a data-assimilation system that derives CO
emissions from IASI data. Finally, we will show how this event is taken into account by the
Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service, and the usefulness of the IASI data in this context.