Conference Agenda

Using satellite observations of trace gases and aerosols, this project studies the air pollution in the most populous regions in China: the North China Plain (NCP) and along the Yangtze River. With a total population of about 700 million, these regions are amongst the most densely populated regions in the world. Human activities, traffic, transportation and heavy industry in these areas result in high anthropogenic emissions with a variety of adverse effects. Monitoring and analysis of air quality is essential to evaluate different factors (emissions and emission reduction policy, meteorological factors, atmospheric chemistry and physics) contributing to the pollutant concentrations. We have focused on the important components of air quality (AQ). The results of the work from last year will be presented.

We have derived the NOx and NH3 emissions over the populous areas in China. The effects of emission reduction to improve AQ and competing meteorological processes will be evaluated.

The evaluation of proxies to detect the occurrence of new particle formation using ground-based remote sensing and in situ data was successfully completed using data from the Beijing-RADI site during the winter of 2022. The study on the evolution of AOD over China and the competition between anthropogenic and meteorological influences will use satellite data in combination with model simulations. FY-4A data are used for the study of cloud detection and aerosol retrieval. We also examine nocturnal ozone surge events in Wuhan between 2016 and 2023 and employs self-organizing maps (SOM) to analyze the prevailing synoptic weather patterns associated with these events.

The Earth Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) has been launched on 28 May 2024 which is a satellite mission implemented by the European Space Agency (ESA), in cooperation with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The EarthCARE satellite includes four scientific instruments: an atmospheric lidar (ATLID), a Doppler cloud radar, a multi-spectral imager and a broadband radiometer. EarthCARE provides simultaneous measurements of the vertical structure and horizontal distribution of cloud and aerosol fields, together with outgoing radiation. The EarthCARE products can be used to evaluate their representation in weather forecasting and climate models.

The ATLID L2a processor chain starts with the A-FM (ATLID Feature mask) processor which detects features to help facilitate the appropriate averaging of the data. The A-PRO (ATLID-profile) processor retrieves the aerosol and cloud optical property profiles and classifies the detected targets. The ATLID level 2a products include feature mask, particle extinction coefficient, backscatter coefficient, lidar ratio, particle linear depolarization ratio profiles and some aerosol/cloud layer properties derived from the profiles.

In the Dragon 6 TACT project we will use the EarthCARE multi-instrument synergy products to study the aerosol, cloud, radiation interaction for some selected cases. In the first year, we focused on the evaluation of the EarthCARE products. We have been evaluating the ATLID products with the ground-based EARLINET-ACTRIS measurements since August 2024 in the commissioning phase. The ATLID aerosol products are also compared with CAMS and ACDL aerosol data. We will report the progress in the first year of our project.