Long-path averaged mixing ratios of O<sub>3</sub> and NO<sub>2</sub> in the free troposphere from mountain MAX-DOAS
2014
L. Gomez | M. Navarro-Comas | O. Puentedura | Y. Gonzalez | E. Cuevas | M. Gil-Ojeda
A new approximation is proposed to estimate O<sub>3</sub> and NO<sub>2</sub> mixing ratios in the northern subtropical free troposphere (FT). The proposed method uses O<sub>4</sub> slant column densities (SCDs) at horizontal and near-zenith geometries to estimate a station-level differential path. The modified geometrical approach (MGA) is a simple method that takes advantage of a very long horizontal path to retrieve mixing ratios in the range of a few pptv. The methodology is presented, and the possible limitations are discussed. Multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) high-mountain measurements recorded at the Izaña observatory (28° 18' N, 16° 29' W) are used in this study. The results show that under low aerosol loading, O<sub>3</sub> and NO<sub>2</sub> mixing ratios can be retrieved even at very low concentrations. The obtained mixing ratios are compared with those provided by in situ instrumentation at the observatory. The MGA reproduces the O<sub>3</sub> mixing ratio measured by the in situ instrumentation with a difference of 28%. The different air masses scanned by each instrument are identified as a cause of the discrepancy between the O<sub>3</sub> observed by MAX-DOAS and the in situ measurements. The NO<sub>2</sub> is in the range of 20–40 ppt, which is below the detection limit of the in situ instrumentation, but it is in agreement with measurements from previous studies for similar conditions.
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