A near‐field tool for simulating the upstream influence of atmospheric observations: The Stochastic Time‐Inverted Lagrangian Transport (STILT) model

We introduce a tool to determine surface fluxes from atmospheric concentration data in the midst of distributed sources or sinks over land, the Stochastic Time‐Inverted Lagrangian Transport (STILT) model, and illustrate the use of the tool with CO 2 data over North America. Anthropogenic and biogenic emissions of trace gases at the surface cause large variations of atmospheric concentrations in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) from the “near field,” where upstream sources and sinks have strong influence on observations. Transport in the near field often takes place on scales not resolved by typical grid sizes in transport models. STILT provides the capability to represent near‐field influences, transforming…

• NS
  National Science Foundation
• UD
  U.S. Department of Energy
• NA
  National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• NO
  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration