Assessing the future IRS-MTG NH3 and temperature observations

Ammonia (NH₃) is an atmospheric pollutant mainly emitted by the agricultural sector, which has an effect on public health since it is a precursor of fine particles (PM_2.5). The diurnal variability of NH₃ in the atmosphere and its transformation into particles are poorly constrained and strongly depend on meteorological parameters, in particular temperature. This strongly influences our ability to correctly simulate NH₃ emissions and associated particulate pollution events in atmospheric models

The IRS (InfraRed Sounder) instrument which will be launched on the MTG (Meteosat Third Generation) satellite into geostationary orbit in late 2024, will offer the ability to evaluate NH₃ diurnal variabilities and its dependence on atmospheric temperature with frequent measurements (every 30-45 minutes over Europe and Africa) and fine spatial resolution (4 km x 4 km at the Equator and Greenwich meridian).

This work shows the potential of the European geostationary IRS-MTG mission to capture the spatio-temporal variability of ammonia and temperature focusing on a case study over the Brittany region in France. Synthetic spectra are simulated from the 4A/OP radiative transfer model using atmospheric states derived from the CHIMERE chemistry-transport model. The IRS NH₃ observations are compared to the current IASI observations in terms of vertical sensitivity and error budget. The uncertainty analysis over the Brittany region is calculated using NH₃ Jacobians computed from the 4A/OP radiative code and the noise covariance matrix provided by each satellite.