Using Ground-Based Fourier TransformInfrared Spectroscopy to Evaluate Model Concentrations of Short-Lived Climate Forcers

This work presents an evaluation of modeled atmospheric concentrations of O3, CO and CH4 from eleven models, as presented in the most recent assessment report by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) on short-lived climate forcers. AMAP is a scientific working group that was created to advise the Arctic Council on matters of Arctic pollution, climate change and the associated threats to local ecosystems and health. This framework is then used to inform policy and decision making through science-based assessments. The current report focuses on the impacts of Short-Lived Climate Forcers (SLCFs) on the Arctic climate, atmospheric chemistry, and human health. The report presents model-measurement comparisons to assess the performance of atmospheric modelling of SLCFs in the Arctic for the years 2008, 2009, 2014 and 2015. The 3-hourly mixing ratios of select SLCFs and related gases are modelled by CESM, CMAM, DEHM, EMEP-MSC-W, GEM-MACH, GEOS-Chem, MATCH, MATCH-SALSA, MRI-ESM2, UKESM1 and WRF-Chem. This presentation will compare these outputs to corresponding trace gas measurements from ground-based Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometers. The FTIR instruments used are part of the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC) Infrared Working Group, with emphasis on results from the Canadian High Arctic site at the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory, in Eureka, Nunavut (80.05ºN, 86.42ºW). Analyses are performed by converting model outputs into smoothed partial columns of O3, CO and CH4, at the locations of the FTIR instruments. Comparisons include seasonal cycle analysis, percent differences and regression analysis.