Unlocking Earth's ammonia mysteries: China's HIRAS/FY-3D satellite reveals first global map

Atmospheric ammonia (NH3) is a trace gas that causes environmental problems and harms human health. Chinese scientists have established a full-physical retrieval algorithm to derive the concentration of the atmospheric ammonia from the Hyperspectral Infrared Atmospheric Sounder (HIRAS) onboard the Chinese FengYun (FY)-3D satellite, presenting the first atmospheric NH3 column global map observed by the HIRAS instrument.