Regional‐Scale, Sector‐Specific Evaluation of Global CO<sub>2</sub> Inversion Models Using Aircraft Data From the ACT‐America Project

Gaudet, Brian; Davis, Kenneth J.; Pal, Sandip; Jacobson, Andrew R.; Schuh, A. E.; Lauvaux, Thomas; Feng, Sha; Browell, E. V.

doi:10.1029/2020jd033623

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…These intensive, weather-oriented measurements, alongside multi-model simulations from the most recent OCO-2 MIP (version 9), provide us with a new opportunity to better diagnose and quantify the impacts of atmospheric transport uncertainties on spatial distributions of [CO 2 ] in global models and on estimated fluxes. Recently, Gaudet et al (2021) compared OCO-2 MIP inversions constrained with in situ measurements (IS inversions, version 7) against vertical [CO 2 ] profiles in the 2016 ACT-America campaign. They suggested that the OCO-2 MIP members underestimate the differences between the warm and cold sectors of cyclones and have a large model spread in sector-mean [CO 2 ] (>5 ppm) which might be due to differences in inversion systems and/or prior fluxes among models.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, Gaudet et al. (2021) compared OCO‐2 MIP inversions constrained with in situ measurements (IS inversions, version 7) against vertical [CO 2 ] profiles in the 2016 ACT‐America campaign. They suggested that the OCO‐2 MIP members underestimate the differences between the warm and cold sectors of cyclones and have a large model spread in sector‐mean [CO 2 ] (>5 ppm) which might be due to differences in inversion systems and/or prior fluxes among models.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Multi‐Season Evaluation of CO₂ Weather in OCO‐2 MIP Models

et al. 2022

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The ability of current global models to simulate the transport of CO 2 by mid-latitude, synopticscale weather systems (i.e., CO 2 weather) is important for inverse estimates of regional and global carbon budgets but remains unclear without comparisons to targeted measurements. Here, we evaluate ten models that participated in the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 model intercomparison project (OCO-2 MIP version 9) with intensive aircraft measurements collected from the Atmospheric Carbon Transport (ACT)-America mission. We quantify model-data differences in the spatial variability of CO 2 mole fractions, mean winds, and boundary layer depths in 27 mid-latitude cyclones spanning four seasons over the central and eastern United States. We find that the OCO-2 MIP models are able to simulate observed CO 2 frontal differences with varying degrees of success in summer and spring, and most underestimate frontal differences in winter and autumn. The models may underestimate the observed boundary layer-to-free troposphere CO 2 differences in spring and autumn due to model errors in boundary layer height. Attribution of the causes of model biases in other seasons remains elusive. Transport errors, prior fluxes, and/or inversion algorithms appear to be the primary cause of these biases since model performance is not highly sensitive to the CO 2 data used in the inversion. The metrics presented here provide new benchmarks regarding the ability of atmospheric inversion systems to reproduce the CO 2 structure of mid-latitude weather systems. Controlled experiments are needed to link these metrics more directly to the accuracy of regional or global flux estimates.Plain Language Summary Global flux estimate systems use CO 2 observations, atmospheric transport models, CO 2 flux models (emissions and absorption), and mathematical optimization methods to estimate biosphere-atmosphere CO 2 exchange. Accurate representation of atmospheric transport is important for a reliable optimization of fluxes in these systems. We use intensive aircraft measurements of wind speed, boundary layer height, and horizontal and vertical differences of CO 2 concentrations within 27 mid-latitude cyclones collected by the Atmospheric Carbon Transport (ACT)-America mission to evaluate the performance of ten global flux estimate systems from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 model intercomparison project (OCO-2 MIP). We find the models can simulate observed horizontal CO 2 differences between the warm and cold parts of cyclones with different degrees of success in summer and spring, but often underestimate the observed cross-frontal and vertical differences in CO 2 in winter and autumn. The models may underestimate the CO 2 differences between the boundary layer and the free troposphere due to model errors in boundary layer height and surface fluxes. These weather-oriented CO 2 metrics provide benchmarks for testing simulations of the CO 2 structure within cyclones. Future efforts are needed to link these metrics more directly to the accuracy of CO 2 flux esti...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi‐Season Evaluation of CO₂ Weather in OCO‐2 MIP Models

et al. 2022

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“…Gaudet et al. ( 2020 ), for example, evaluated the skill of 10 global CO 2 inversion models from the OCO‐2 MIP using 148 airborne vertical profiles of CO 2 for frontal cases from the ACT‐America Summer 2016 campaign. High‐resolution models (Hu et al., 2021 ; Samaddar et al., 2021 ) of the elevated CO 2 band observed along the frontal boundary shown in Pal et al.…”

Section: Applications Of Act‐america Datamentioning

confidence: 99%