A correlation analysis of monthly mean CO2 retrieved from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder with surface station measurements

As one of the major greenhouse gases, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations have been monitored by both top-down satellite observations and air sampling systems on surface stations. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on board NASA's Aqua low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite is a high-resolution infrared sounder that has been in operation for more than 10 years. The World Data Centre for Greenhouse Gases (WDCGG) archives and provides data on CO2 and other greenhouse gases measured mainly from surface stations. In this article, we focus on the correlation between the two different sources of CO2 data and the influencing factors. In general, we find that a linear positive correlation occurs at most stations. However, the variation in the correlation coefficient is large, especially for stations in the Northern Hemisphere. The station's location, including its latitude, longitude, and altitude, is an important influencing factor because it determines how much its CO2 measurements are influenced by human activities. We also use root mean square difference (RMSD) and bias as evaluation indicators and find that they have similar trends like correlation coefficients.