Space-based measurements of carbon dioxide explained

Space-based measurements of carbon dioxide are used to help answer questions about Earth's carbon cycle. There are a variety of active and planned instruments for measuring carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere from space. The first satellite mission designed to measure was the Interferometric Monitor for Greenhouse Gases (IMG) on board the ADEOS I satellite in 1996. This mission lasted less than a year. Since then, additional space-based measurements have begun, including those from two high-precision (better than 0.3% or 1 ppm) satellites (GOSAT and OCO-2). Different instrument designs may reflect different primary missions.

Purposes and highlights of findings

There are outstanding questions in carbon cycle science that satellite observations can help answer. The Earth system absorbs about half of all anthropogenic emissions.[1] However, it is unclear exactly how this uptake is partitioned to different regions across the globe. It is also uncertain how different regions will behave in terms of flux under a different climate. For example, a forest may increase uptake due to the fertilization or β-effect,[2] or it could release due to increased metabolism by microbes at higher temperatures.[3] These questions are difficult to answer with historically spatially and temporally limited data sets.

Even though satellite observations of are somewhat recent, they have been used for a number of different purposes, some of which are highlighted here:

Challenges

Remote sensing of trace gases has several challenges. Most techniques rely on observing infrared light reflected off Earth's surface. Because these instruments use spectroscopy, at each sounding footprint a spectrum is recorded—this means there is a significantly (about 1000×) more data to transfer than what would be required of just an RGB pixel. Changes in surface albedo and viewing angles may affect measurements, and satellites may employ different viewing modes over different locations; these may be accounted for in the algorithms used to convert raw into final measurements. As with other space-based instruments, space debris must be avoided to prevent damage.

Water vapor can dilute other gases in air and thus change the amount of in a column above the surface of the Earth, so often column-average dry-air mole fractions (X) are reported instead. To calculate this, instruments may also measure O, which is diluted similarly to other gases, or the algorithms may account for water and surface pressure from other measurements.[18] Clouds may interfere with accurate measurements so platforms may include instruments to measure clouds. Because of measurement imperfections and errors in fitting signals to obtain X, space-based observations may also be compared with ground-based observations such as those from the TCCON.[19]

List of instruments

Instrument/satellite Primary institution(s) Service dates Approximate usable
daily soundings 		Approximate
sounding size 		Public data Notes Refs
HIRS-2/TOVS (NOAA-10) NOAA (U.S.) Measuring was not an original mission goal [20]
IMG (ADEOS I) NASDA (Japan) 50 FTS system [21]
SCIAMACHY (Envisat) ESA, IUP University of Bremen (Germany) 5,000 [22]
AIRS (Aqua) JPL (U.S.) 18,000 [23] [24]
IASI (MetOp) CNES/EUMETSAT (ESA) Yes (only a few days)[25] [26]
JAXA (Japan) 10,000 10.5 km diameter First dedicated high precision (<0.3%) mission, also measures CH4 [27] [28]
JPL (U.S.) 100,000 Failed to reach orbit[29]
JPL (U.S.) 100,000 High precision (<0.3%) [30]
GHGSat-D (or Claire) GHGSat (Canada) ~2–5 images,
10,000+ pixels each 		,
[31]
TanSat (or CarbonSat) CAS (China) 100,000 Yes (L1B radiances)[32] [33] [34]
GAS FTS aboard FY-3D CMA (China) [35] 15,000 13 km diameter [36] [37]
GMI (GaoFen-5, (fr)) CAS (China) [38] 10.3 km diameter [39] [40]
GOSAT-2JAXA (Japan) [41] 10,000+ 9.7 km diameter Yes (L1B radiances)[42] Will also measure CH4 and CO [43]
JPL (U.S.) [44] 100,000 [45] [46]
MicroCarb CNES (France) expected 2022 ~30,000 Will likely also measure CH4 [47]
GOSAT-3 JAXA (Japan) expected 2022
University of Oklahoma (U.S.) expected 2023 ~800,000 First -observing geosynchronous satellite, will also measure CH4 and CO [48] [49]

Partial column measurements

In addition to the total column measurements of down to the ground, there have been several limb sounders that have measured through the edge of Earth's upper atmosphere, and thermal instruments that measure the upper atmosphere during the day and night.

Conceptual Missions

There have been other conceptual missions which have undergone initial evaluations but have not been chosen to become a part of space-based observing systems. These include:

Notes and References

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  2. Effect of increasing CO2 on the terrestrial carbon cycle. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Schimel. David . Stephens. Britton B.. Fisher. Joshua B.. 112. 2. 436–441. January 2015. 10.1073/pnas.1407302112. 25548156. 2015PNAS..112..436S. 4299228. free.
  3. Sensitivity of tropical carbon to climate change constrained by carbon dioxide variability. Nature. Cox. Peter M.. Pearson. David. Booth. Ben B.. Friedlingstein. Pierre. Huntingford. Chris. Jones. Chris D.. Luke . Catherine M.. 3. 494. 7437. 341–344. February 2013. 10.1038/nature11882. 23389447. 2013Natur.494..341C. 205232639 .
  4. Space-based observations of megacity carbon dioxide. Geophysical Research Letters. Kort. Eric A.. Frankenberg. Christian. Miller. Charles E.. Oda. Tom. 3 . 39. 17. September 2012. L17806. 10.1029/2012GL052738. 2012GeoRL..3917806K. free.
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