PCRTM-RA Enhancements for Improving CO Retrievals Using NAST-I Measurements From the FIREX-AQ Field Campaign

The principal-component-based radiative transfer model retrieval algorithm (PCRTM-RA) for carbon monoxide (CO) retrieval has been improved for better use of National Airborne Sounder Testbed-Interferometer (NAST-I) measurements obtained during the Fire Influence on Regional to Global Environments and Air Quality field campaign. One of the explicit purposes of the campaign was to characterize wildfire-induced atmospheric changes. Coincidental measurements from various airborne instruments, including NAST-I infrared hyperspectral measurements from the NASA ER-2 aircraft, provided us an opportunity to test and improve the PCRTM-RA CO retrieval. By relaxing the vertical correlation of CO profiles in the a priori covariance constraint, a significant improvement in the vertical structure of the CO retrieval has been confirmed. The methodology is validated using a synthetic testing dataset that covers observations associated with various CO vertical profiles, including that of an extremely polluted atmosphere. The methodology is also applied to real NAST-I measurements, and the results have successfully demonstrated the capability of using PCRTM-RA retrieval results for CO plume evolution and transport monitoring.