This figure shows the mean CO column during the NASA GTE TRACE-P mission in Spring of 2001 as observed by MOPITT, simulated by the GEOS-CHEM model along the MOPITT flight tracks (with MOPITT averaging kernels applied), and the difference. The simulation and observations are highly-correlated (R2=0.87) with no significant model bias. The model overestimate over SE Asia is consistent with a previous inverse model analysis (see Palmer et al., 2003a) and suggests that current biomass burning inventories may be 60% too large.

We integrate MOPITT and aircraft observations to characterize a substantial transpacific plume of Asian origin which produced O₃ during subsidence in the mid-Pacific. More generally MOPITT was used to track transpacific transport during all of Spring 2001. For details refer to Heald et al., 2003b