Vertical profiles of lightning-produced NO2 enhancements in the upper troposphere observed by OSIRIS

Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2007

The purpose of this study is to perform a global search of the upper troposphere (z >= 10 km) for enhancements of nitrogen dioxide and determine their sources. This is the first application of satellite-based limb scattering to study upper tropospheric NO2. We have searched two years ( May 2003 - May 2005) of OSIRIS ( Optical Spectrograph and Infrared Imager System) operational NO2concentrations ( version 2.3/ 2.4) to find large enhancements in the observations by comparing with photochemical box model calculations and by identifying local maxima in NO2 volume mixing ratio. We find that lightning is the main production mechanism responsible for the large enhancements in OSIRIS NO2 observations as expected. Similar patterns in the abundances and spatial distribution of the NO2 enhancements are obtained by perturbing the lightning within the GEOS- Chem 3- dimensional chemical transport model. In most cases, the presence of lightning is confirmed with coincident imagery from LIS ( Lightning Imaging Sensor) and the spatial extent of the NO2 enhancement is mapped using nadir observations of tropospheric NO2 at high spatial resolution from SCIAMACHY ( Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography) and OMI ( Ozone Monitoring Instrument). The combination of the lightning and chemical sensors allows us to investigate globally the role of lightning to the abundance of NO2 in the upper troposphere ( UT). Lightning contributes 60% of the tropical upper tropospheric NO2 in GEOS- Chem simulations. The spatial and temporal distribution of NO2 enhancements from lightning ( Maylyzed.