Comparison of ozone profiles from DIAL, MLS, and chemical transport model simulations over Río Gallegos, Argentina, during the spring Antarctic vortex breakup, 2009

This study evaluates the agreement between ozone profiles derived from the ground-based differential absorption lidar (DIAL), satellite-borne Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS), and 3-D chemical transport model (CTM) simulations such as the Model for Interdisciplinary Research on Climate (MIROC-CTM) over the Atmospheric Observatory of Southern Patagonia (Observatorio Atmosférico de la Patagonia Austral, OAPA; 51.6°S, 69.3°W) in Río Gallegos, Argentina, from September to November 2009. In this austral spring, measurements were performed in the vicinity of the polar vortex and inside it on some occasions; they revealed the variability in the potential vorticity (PV) of measured air masses. Comparisons between DIAL and MLS were performed between 6 and 100hPa with 500km and 24h coincidence criteria. The results show a good agreement between DIAL and MLS with mean differences of ±0.1ppmv (MLS-´DIAL, n,=-) between 6 and 56hPa. MIROC-CTM also agrees with DIAL, with mean differences of ±0.3ppmv (MIROC-CTM-´DIAL, n,=-23) between 10 and 56hPa. Both comparisons provide mean differences of 0.5ppmv (MLS) to 0.8-0.9ppmv (MIROC-CTM) at the 83-100hPa levels. DIAL tends to underestimate ozone values at this lower altitude region. Between 6 and 8hPa, the MIROC-CTM ozone value is 0.4-0.6ppmv (5-8%) smaller than those from DIAL. Applying the scaled PV (sPV) criterion for matching pairs in the DIAL-MLS comparison, the variability in the difference decreases 21-47% between 10 and 56hPa. However, the mean differences are small for all pressure levels, except 6hPa. Because ground measurement sites in the Southern Hemisphere (SH) are very sparse at mid-to high latitudes, i.e., 35-60°S, the OAPA site is important for evaluating the bias and long-Term stability of satellite instruments. The good performance of this DIAL system will be useful for such purposes in the future.Fil: Sugita, Takafumi. National Institute for Environmental Studies; JapónFil: Akiyoshi, Hideharu. National Institute for Environmental Studies; JapónFil: Wolfram, Elian Augusto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo Estratégico para la Defensa. Ministerio de Defensa. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo Estratégico para la Defensa; Argentina. Ministerio de Defensa; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas para la Defensa. Centro de Investigación en Láseres y Aplicaciones; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Salvador, Jacobo Omar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo Estratégico para la Defensa. Ministerio de Defensa. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo Estratégico para la Defensa; Argentina. Ministerio de Defensa; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas para la Defensa. Centro de Investigación en Láseres y Aplicaciones; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral; ArgentinaFil: Ohyama, Hirofumi. National Institute for Environmental Studies; Japón. Nagoya University; JapónFil: Mizuno, Akira. Nagoya University; Japó

Characteristics of Atmospheric Wave-Induced Laminae Observed by Ozonesondes at the Southern Tip of South America

Fluctuations of ozone concentrations with dimensions of a few kilometers (i.e., ozone laminae) are frequently found in ozone-sounding profiles. We used ozonesonde measurements made at the southern tip of South America to examine the relationship between ozone laminae and atmospheric waves near the edge of the polar vortex and on the leeward side of the Andes Mountains. Laminar structures are formed by vertical and horizontal displacements of isopleths due to gravity waves and by isentropic advection of vortex air filaments with low ozone concentration due to Rossby wave breaking. We extracted components of these ozone fluctuations by applying a high-pass filter to the observed ozone profiles and normalizing them to background concentrations, which were extracted with a low-pass filter. Ozone fluctuations due to displacements caused by gravity waves were individually evaluated with experimental data. We assumed that the residuals between the observed and gravity wave-induced fluctuations were Rossby waves-induced fluctuations. We found that the gravity wave-induced variability was larger in the upper troposphere than in the lower stratosphere and was a maximum in winter. Rossby wave-induced variability showed a distinct seasonal pattern in the lower stratosphere and accounted for a large portion of the observed variability. We also examined the relationship between gravity wave-induced and Rossby wave-induced ozone variability and the differences in equivalent latitudes between the sonde positions and the polar vortex edge. We found that variability was larger inside than outside the polar vortex.Fil: Ohyama, Hirofumi. Nagoya University; JapónFil: Mizuno, Akira. Nagoya University; JapónFil: Zamorano, F.. Universidad de Magallanes; ChileFil: Sugita, Takafumi. National Institute For Environmental Studies; JapónFil: Akiyoshi, Hideharu. National Institute For Environmental Studies; JapónFil: Noguchi, Katsuyuki. Nara Women's University; JapónFil: Wolfram, Elian Augusto. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Buenos Aires; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas para la Defensa. Centro de Investigación en Láseres y Aplicaciones; ArgentinaFil: Salvador, Jacobo Omar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas para la Defensa. Centro de Investigación en Láseres y Aplicaciones; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral; ArgentinaFil: Benitez, Griselda Carolina. Ministerio de Defensa. Secretaria de Planeamiento. Servicio Meteorológico Nacional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Educate to prevent: science-based materials on food hygiene and safety

Uma importante estratégia para a redução do impacto das doenças de origem alimentar é a prevenção e a promoção da saúde. A população escolar foi escolhida como público-alvo para aumentar a literacia para a saúde e promover práticas saudáveis e seguras relacionadas com os alimentos, através do projeto “Educar para Prevenir”. Foram produzidos e publicados materiais educativos para o público escolar e professores. Estes materiais, que compreendem três diferentes tipos de ferramentas, foram publicados como um kit. O desenvolvimento destes materiais baseou-se na recolha de dados de surtos de doenças de origem alimentar, de 2009 a 2013, do Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA). O risco de ocorrência e os fatores contributivos, bem como as boas práticas, foram identificados e usados como base para a elaboração dos materiais educativos. Adicionalmente, foram usados materiais da Organização Mundial da Saúde como o programa “Cinco Chaves para uma Alimentação Mais Segura”. Nas próximas etapas deste projeto serão produzidos novos materiais para estudantes contendo informação sobre a composição nutricional dos alimentos e a compreensão da rotulagem alimentar.An important strategy to reduce food borne diseases burden is prevention and health promotion. The student’s population was chosen as the target audience for improving health literacy and promoting healthy and safe practices relating to food trough the Project “Educar para Prevenir” (Education for Prevention). School educational materials on food safety, on teacher level, were developed and published, aiming the different school levels. These materials comprised 3 different kinds of tools were published as a kit. The development of these materials was based on data collected foodborne outbreaks from 2009 to 2013, at the National Institute of Health (INSA). The occurrence risk and contributing factors were identified as well as the good practices and were the basis for the elaboration of the educational materials. In addition, some World Health Organization materials, such as “Five Keys to Safer Food” programme, were used. On the next steps of the project include new materials for students will be produced, including information about nutritional composition of the food and understanding of the food labelling.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Characteristics of interannual variability in space-based XCO2_2 global observations

Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO$_2$) accounts for the largest radiative forcing among anthropogenic greenhouse gases. There is, therefore, a pressing need to understand the rate at which CO$_2$ accumulates in the atmosphere, including the interannual variations (IAVs) in this rate. IAV in the CO$_2$ growth rate is a small signal relative to the long-term trend and the mean annual cycle of atmospheric CO$_2$, and IAV is tied to climatic variations that may provide insights into long-term carbon–climate feedbacks. Observations from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) mission offer a new opportunity to refine our understanding of atmospheric CO$_2$ IAV since the satellite can measure over remote terrestrial regions and the open ocean, where traditional in situ CO$_2$ monitoring is difficult, providing better spatial coverage compared to ground-based monitoring techniques. In this study, we analyze the IAV of column-averaged dry-air CO$_2$ mole fraction (XCO$_2$) from OCO-2 between September 2014 and June 2021. The amplitude of the IAV, which is calculated as the standard deviation of the time series, is up to 1.2 ppm over the continents and around 0.4 ppm over the open ocean. Across all latitudes, the OCO-2-detected XCO$_2$ IAV shows a clear relationship with El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-driven variations that originate in the tropics and are transported poleward. Similar, but smoother, zonal patterns of OCO-2 XCO2 IAV time series compared to ground-based in situ observations and with column observations from the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) and the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) show that OCO-2 observations can be used reliably to estimate IAV. Furthermore, the extensive spatial coverage of the OCO-2 satellite data leads to smoother IAV time series than those from other datasets, suggesting that OCO-2 provides new capabilities for revealing small IAV signals despite sources of noise and error that are inherent to remote-sensing datasets

Update on the GOSAT TANSO–FTS SWIR Level 2 retrieval algorithm

The National Institute for Environmental Studies has provided the column-averaged dry-air mole fraction of carbon dioxide and methane (XCO$_2$ and XCH$_4$) products (L2 products) obtained from the Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite (GOSAT) for more than a decade. Recently, we updated the retrieval algorithm used to produce the new L2 product, V03.00. The main changes from the previous version (V02) of the retrieval algorithm are the treatment of cirrus clouds, the degradation model of the Thermal And Near-infrared Spectrometer for carbon Observation–Fourier Transform Spectrometer (TANSO–FTS), solar irradiance spectra, and gas absorption coefficient tables. The retrieval results from the updated algorithm showed improvements in fitting accuracies in the O$_2$ A, weak CO$_2$, and CH$_4$ bands of TANSO–FTS, although the residuals increase in the strong CO$_2$ band over the ocean. The direct comparison of the new product obtained from the updated (V03) algorithm with the previous version V02.90/91 and the validations using the Total Carbon Column Observing Network revealed that the V03 algorithm increases the amount of data without diminishing the data qualities of XCO$_2$ and XCH$_4$ over land. However, the negative bias of XCO$_2$ is larger than that of the previous version over the ocean, and bias correction is still necessary. Additionally, the V03 algorithm resolves the underestimation of the XCO$_2$ growth rate compared with the in situ measurements over the ocean recently found using V02.90/91 and V02.95/96

Spectral sizing of a coarse-spectral-resolution satellite sensor for XCO2

Verifying anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO$_{2}$) emissions globally is essential to inform about the progress of institutional efforts to mitigate anthropogenic climate forcing. To monitor localized emission sources, spectroscopic satellite sensors have been proposed that operate on the CO$_{2}$ absorption bands in the shortwave-infrared (SWIR) spectral range with ground resolution as fine as a few tens of meters to about a hundred meters. When designing such sensors, fine ground resolution requires a trade-off towards coarse spectral resolution in order to achieve sufficient noise performance. Since fine ground resolution also implies limited ground coverage, such sensors are envisioned to fly in fleets of satellites, requiring low-cost and simple design, e.g., by restricting the spectrometer to a single spectral band. Here, we use measurements of the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) to evaluate the spectral resolution and spectral band selection of a prospective satellite sensor with fine ground resolution. To this end, we degrade GOSAT SWIR spectra of the CO$_{2}$ bands at 1.6 (SWIR-1) and 2.0 μm (SWIR-2) to coarse spectral resolution, without a further addition of noise, and we evaluate single-band retrievals of the column-averaged dry-air mole fractions of CO$_{2}$ (XCO$_{2}$) by comparison to ground truth provided by the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) and by comparison to global “native” GOSAT retrievals with native spectral resolution and spectral band selection. Coarsening spectral resolution from GOSAT’s native resolving power of > 20000 to the range of 700 to a few thousand makes the scatter of differences between the SWIR-1 and SWIR-2 retrievals and TCCON increase moderately. For resolving powers of 1200 (SWIR-1) and 1600 (SWIR-2), the scatter increases from 2.4 (native) to 3.0 ppm for SWIR-1 and 3.3 ppm for SWIR-2. Coarser spectral resolution yields only marginally worse performance than the native GOSAT configuration in terms of station-to-station variability and geophysical parameter correlations for the GOSAT–TCCON differences. Comparing the SWIR-1 and SWIR-2 configurations to native GOSAT retrievals on the global scale, however, reveals that the coarseresolution SWIR-1 and SWIR-2 configurations suffer from some spurious correlations with geophysical parameters that characterize the light-scattering properties of the scene such as particle amount, size, height and surface albedo. Overall, the SWIR-1 and SWIR-2 configurations with resolving powers of 1200 and 1600 show promising performance for future sensor design in terms of random error sources while residual errors induced by light scattering along the light path need to be investigated further. Due to the stronger CO$_{2}$ absorption bands in SWIR-2 than in SWIR-1, the former has the advantage that measurement noise propagates less into the retrieved XCO$_{2}$ and that some retrieval information on particle scattering properties is accessible

Bias Correction of the Ratio of Total Column CH₄ to CO₂ Retrieved from GOSAT Spectra

The proxy method, using the ratio of total column CH₄ to CO₂ to reduce the effects of common biases, has been used to retrieve column-averaged dry-air mole fraction of CH₄ from satellite data. The present study characterizes the remaining scattering effects in the CH₄/CO₄ ratio component of the Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite (GOSAT) retrieval and uses them for bias correction. The variation of bias between the GOSAT and Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) ratio component with GOSAT data-derived variables was investigated. Then, it was revealed that the variability of the bias could be reduced by using four variables for the bias correction—namely, airmass, 2 μm band radiance normalized with its noise level, the ratio between the partial column-averaged dry-air mole fraction of CH₄ for the lower atmosphere and that for the upper atmosphere, and the difference in surface albedo between the CH₄ and CO₄ bands. The ratio of partial column CH₄ reduced the dependence of bias on the cloud fraction and the difference between hemispheres. In addition to the reduction of bias (from 0.43% to 0%), the precision (standard deviation of the difference between GOSAT and TCCON) was reduced from 0.61% to 0.55% by the correction. The bias and its temporal variation were reduced for each site: the mean and standard deviation of the mean bias for individual seasons were within 0.2% for most of the sites

Prognosis of Elderly Japanese Patients Aged ≥80 Years Undergoing Hemodialysis

Although the number of elderly patients requiring dialysis has increased, data regarding the prognosis of elderly patients undergoing hemodialysis are limited. In the present study, prognosis in Japanese hemodialysis patients aged ≥80 years was evaluated. From January 1988 to July 2013, 1144 consecutive patients with end-stage renal disease required renal replacement therapy at our institution; of these, 141 were aged ≥80 years. These patients’ charts were retrospectively reviewed for relevant clinical variables and survival time. The life expectancies table from the National Vital Statistics database was used, and prognostic factors were assessed by multivariate analysis. In total, 107 deaths (76%) were recorded during the study period. The median survival time and estimated life-shortening period in the patients were 2.6 years and −5.3 years, respectively. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status and hemoglobin level were revealed as prognostic factors in the multivariate analysis. Estimates of prognosis and prognostic factors may provide useful information for physicians as well as elderly patients with end-stage kidney disease

XCO2_{2} retrieval for GOSAT and GOSAT-2 based on the FOCAL algorithm

Since 2009, the Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite (GOSAT) has performed radiance measurements in the near-infrared (NIR) and shortwave infrared (SWIR) spectral region. From February 2019 onward, data from GOSAT-2 have also been available. We present the first results from the application of the Fast atmOspheric traCe gAs retrievaL (FOCAL) algorithm to derive column-averaged dry-air mole fractions of carbon dioxide (XCO2) from GOSAT and GOSAT-2 radiances and their validation. FOCAL was initially developed for OCO-2 XCO2 retrievals and allows simultaneous retrievals of several gases over both land and ocean. Because FOCAL is accurate and numerically very fast, it is currently being considered as a candidate algorithm for the forthcoming European anthropogenic CO2 Monitoring (CO2M) mission to be launched in 2025. We present the adaptation of FOCAL to GOSAT and discuss the changes made and GOSAT specific additions. This particularly includes modifications in pre-processing (e.g. cloud detection) and post-processing (bias correction and filtering). A feature of the new application of FOCAL to GOSAT and GOSAT-2 is the independent use of both S- and P-polarisation spectra in the retrieval. This is not possible for OCO-2, which measures only one polarisation direction. Additionally, we make use of GOSAT\u27s wider spectral coverage compared to OCO-2 and derive not only XCO2, water vapour (H2O), and solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) but also methane (XCH4), with the potential for further atmospheric constituents and parameters like semi-heavy water vapour (HDO). In the case of GOSAT-2, the retrieval of nitrous oxide (XN2O) and carbon monoxide (CO) may also be possible. Here, we concentrate on the new FOCAL XCO2 data products. We describe the generation of the products as well as applied filtering and bias correction procedures. GOSAT-FOCAL XCO2 data have been produced for the time interval 2009 to 2019. Comparisons with other independent GOSAT data sets reveal agreement of long-term temporal variations within about 1 ppm over 1 decade; differences in seasonal variations of about 0.5 ppm are observed. Furthermore, we obtain a station-to-station bias of the new GOSAT-FOCAL product to the ground-based Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) of 0.56 ppm with a mean scatter of 1.89 ppm. The GOSAT-2-FOCAL XCO2 product is generated in a similar way as the GOSAT-FOCAL product, but with adapted settings. All GOSAT-2 data until the end of 2019 have been processed. Because of this limited time interval, the GOSAT-2 results are considered to be preliminary only, but first comparisons show that these data compare well with the GOSAT-FOCAL results and also TCCON

Bias Correction of the Ratio of Total Column CH4 to CO2 Retrieved from GOSAT Spectra

The proxy method, using the ratio of total column CH4 to CO2 to reduce the effects of common biases, has been used to retrieve column-averaged dry-air mole fraction of CH4 from satellite data. The present study characterizes the remaining scattering effects in the CH4/CO2 ratio component of the Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite (GOSAT) retrieval and uses them for bias correction. The variation of bias between the GOSAT and Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) ratio component with GOSAT data-derived variables was investigated. Then, it was revealed that the variability of the bias could be reduced by using four variables for the bias correction—namely, airmass, 2 μm band radiance normalized with its noise level, the ratio between the partial column-averaged dry-air mole fraction of CH4 for the lower atmosphere and that for the upper atmosphere, and the difference in surface albedo between the CH4 and CO2 bands. The ratio of partial column CH4 reduced the dependence of bias on the cloud fraction and the difference between hemispheres. In addition to the reduction of bias (from 0.43% to 0%), the precision (standard deviation of the difference between GOSAT and TCCON) was reduced from 0.61% to 0.55% by the correction. The bias and its temporal variation were reduced for each site: the mean and standard deviation of the mean bias for individual seasons were within 0.2% for most of the sites