Interactive comment on “Observing atmospheric formaldehyde (HCHO) from space: validation and intercomparison of six retrievals from four satellites (OMI, GOME2A, GOME2B, OMPS) with SEACRS aircraft observations over the Southeast US” by L. Zhu et al

Interactive comment on “Observing atmospheric formaldehyde (HCHO) from space: validation and intercomparison of six retrievals from four satellites (OMI, GOME2A, GOME2B, OMPS) with SEACRS aircraft observations over the Southeast US” by L. Zhu et al

Interactive comment on “Observing atmospheric formaldehyde (HCHO) from space: validation and intercomparison of six retrievals from four satellites (OMI, GOME2A, GOME2B, OMPS) with SEACRS aircraft observations over the Southeast US” by L. Zhu et al

This manuscript presents an intercomparison exercise of tropospheric HCHO retrieved from satellites measurements using several products obtained from independent retrieval approaches. In order to validate the products, the authors use aircraft observations during the short term field deployment of SEAC4RS in the Southeast of the US. This is an important validation effort. In general, the paper ...

Observing atmospheric formaldehyde (HCHO) from space: validation and intercomparison of six retrievals from four satellites (OMI, GOME2A, GOME2B, OMPS) with SEAC4RS aircraft observations over the Southeast US.

Formaldehyde (HCHO) column data from satellites are widely used as a proxy for emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) but validation of the data has been extremely limited. Here we use highly accurate HCHO aircraft observations from the NASA SEAC4RS campaign over the Southeast US in August-September 2013 to validate and intercompare six retrievals of HCHO columns from four different sat...

High-resolution inversion of OMI formaldehyde columns to quantify isoprene emission on ecosystem-relevant scales: application to the Southeast US

Isoprene emissions from vegetation have a large effect on atmospheric chemistry and air quality. ‘Bottom-up’ 25 isoprene emission inventories used in atmospheric models are based on limited vegetation information and uncertain land cover data, leading to potentially large errors. Satellite observations of atmospheric formaldehyde (HCHO), a high-yield product of isoprene oxidation, provide ‘top-...

Glyoxal yield from isoprene oxidation and relation to formaldehyde: chemical mechanism, constraints from SENEX aircraft observations, and interpretation of OMI satellite data

Glyoxal (CHOCHO) is produced in the atmosphere by oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). It is measurable from space by solar backscatter along with formaldehyde (HCHO), another oxidation product of VOCs. Isoprene emitted by vegetation is the dominant source of CHOCHO and HCHO in most of the world. We use aircraft observations of CHOCHO and HCHO from the SENEX campaign over the Southea...