Multi-year comparisons of ground-based and space-borne Fourier transform spectrometers in the high Arctic between 2006 and 2013

Abstract

Abstract. This paper presents 8 years (2006–2013) of measurements obtained from Fourier transform spectrometers (FTSs) in the high Arctic at the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL; 80.05° N, 86.42° W). These measurements were taken as part of the Canadian Arctic ACE (Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment) validation campaigns that have been carried out since 2004 during the polar sunrise period (from mid-February to mid-April). Each spring, two ground-based FTSs were used to measure total and partial columns of HF, O3, and trace gases that impact O3 depletion, namely, HCl and HNO3. Additionally, some tropospheric greenhouse gases and pollutant species were measured, namely CH4, N2O, CO, and C2H6. During the same time period, the satellite-based ACE-FTS made measurements near Eureka and provided profiles of the same trace gases. Comparisons have been carried out between the measurements from the Portable Atmospheric Research Interferometric Spectrometer for the InfraRed (PARIS-IR) and the co-located high-resolution Bruker 125HR FTS, as well as with the latest version of the ACE-FTS retrievals (v3.5). The total column comparison between the two co-located ground-based FTSs, PARIS-IR and Bruker 125HR, found very good agreement for most of these species (except HF), with differences well below the estimated uncertainties ( ≤ 6  %) and with high correlations (R ≥ 0. 8). Partial columns have been used for the ground-based to space-borne comparison, with coincident measurements selected based on time, distance, and scaled potential vorticity (sPV). The comparisons of the ground-based measurements with ACE-FTS show good agreement in the partial columns for most species within 6  % (except for C2H6 and PARIS-IR HF), which is consistent with the total retrieval uncertainty of the ground-based instruments. The correlation coefficients (R) of the partial column comparisons for all eight species range from approximately 0.75 to 0.95. The comparisons show no notable increases of the mean differences over these 8 years, indicating the consistency of these datasets and suggesting that the space-borne ACE-FTS measurements have been stable over this period. In addition, changes in the amounts of these trace gases during springtime between 2006 and 2013 are presented and discussed. Increased O3 (0. 9  %  yr−1), HCl (1. 7  %  yr−1), HF (3. 8  %  yr−1), CH4 (0.5  % yr−1), and C2H6 (2. 3 % yr−1, 2009–2013) have been found with the PARIS-IR dataset, the longer of the two ground-based records.