Accounting for the effect of aerosols in GHGSat methane retrieval

Abstract

GHGSat comprises a constellation of satellites with high spatial and spectral resolution that specialize in monitoring methane emissions at 1.65 µm. This study investigates the ability to accurately retrieve both the methane mixing-ratio enhancement (ΔXCH4) and the aerosol optical depth (AOD) simultaneously from simulated GHGSat observations that incorporate angle-dependent scattering information. Results indicate that the sign of the ΔXCH4 bias when neglecting aerosols changes from negative to positive as surface albedo increases, which is consistent with previous studies. The bias in ΔXCH4 is most pronounced when AOD is not simultaneously retrieved, ranging from −3.0 % to 6.3 % with an AOD of 0.1, a 60° solar zenith angle, and a surface albedo of 0.2 for the nadir-only retrieval. Using multiple satellite viewing angles during the GHGSat observation sequence with a scattering angle ranging from 100 to 140°, the study shows that the mean bias and standard deviation of ΔXCH4 are within 0.3 % and 2.8 % relative to the background. The correlation between simultaneously retrieved ΔXCH4 and AOD shifts from being positive to negative as surface albedo increases and the aerosol asymmetry factor decreases, signifying a transition of the dominant aerosol effect from aerosol-only scattering to aerosol–surface multiple scattering. The variety of scattering angle ranges has little impact on the performance of the multi-angle viewing method. This study improves the understanding of the impact of aerosols on the GHGSat ΔXCH4 retrieval and provides guidance for improving future GHGSat-like point-source imagers.