Satellite NO₂ Retrieval Complicated by Aerosol Composition over Global Urban Agglomerations: Seasonal Variations and Long-Term Trends (2001–2018)

Abstract

Tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) poses a serious threat to the environmental quality and public health. Satellite NO 2 observations have been continuously used to monitor NO 2 variations and improve model performances. However, the accuracy of satellite NO 2 retrieval depends on the knowledge of aerosol optical properties, in particular for urban agglomerations accompanied by significant changes in aerosol characteristics. In this study, we investigate the impacts of aerosol composition on tropospheric NO 2 retrieval for an 18 year global data set from Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME)-series satellite sensors. With a focus on cloud-free scenes dominated by the presence of aerosols, individual aerosol composition affects the uncertainties of tropospheric NO 2 columns through impacts on the aerosol loading amount, relative vertical distribution of aerosol and NO 2 , aerosol absorption properties, and surface albedo determination. Among aerosol compositions, secondary inorganic aerosol mostly dominates the NO 2 uncertainty by up to 43.5% in urban agglomerations, while organic aerosols contribute significantly to the NO 2 uncertainty by −8.9 to 37.3% during biomass burning seasons. The possible contrary influences from different aerosol species highlight the importance and complexity of aerosol correction on tropospheric NO 2 retrieval and indicate the need for a full picture of aerosol properties. This is of particular importance for interpreting seasonal variations or long-term trends of tropospheric NO 2 columns as well as for mitigating ozone and fine particulate matter pollution.