Monitoring Greenhouse Gases from Space

The increase in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations of CO2 and CH4, due to human activities, is the main driver of the observed increase in surface temperature by more than 1 °C since the pre-industrial era. At the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Paris, most nations agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to limit the increase in global surface temperature to 1.5 °C. Satellite remote sensing of CO2 and CH4 is now well established thanks to missions such as NASA’s OCO-2 and the Japanese GOSAT missions, which have allowed us to build a long-term record of atmospheric GHG concentrations from space. They also give us a first glimpse into CO2 and CH4 enhancements related to anthropogenic emission, which helps to pave the way towards the future missions aimed at a Monitoring & Verification Support (MVS) capacity for the global stock take of the Paris agreement. China plays an important role for the global carbon budget as the largest source of anthropogenic carbon emissions but also as a region of increased carbon sequestration as a result of several reforestation projects. Over the last 10 years, a series of projects on mitigation of carbon emission has been started in China, including the development of the first Chinese greenhouse gas monitoring satellite mission, TanSat, which was successfully launched on 22 December 2016. Here, we summarise the results of a collaborative project between European and Chinese teams under the framework of the Dragon-4 programme of ESA and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) to characterize and evaluate the datasets from the TanSat mission by retrieval intercomparisons and ground-based validation and to apply model comparisons and surface flux inversion methods to TanSat and other CO2 missions, with a focus on China.

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Long-term evolution of the global carbon cycle: historic minimum of global surface temperature at presen

Tellus B ◽

10.3402/tellusb.v54i4.16669 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 54 (4) ◽

pp. 325-343 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Siegfried Franck ◽

Konrad J. Kossacki ◽

Werner Von Bloth ◽

Christine Bounama

Keyword(s):

Carbon Cycle ◽

Surface Temperature ◽

Global Carbon Cycle ◽

Long Term Evolution ◽

Global Surface Temperature ◽

Term Evolution ◽

Global Surface ◽

Global Carbon

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Long-term evolution of the global carbon cycle: historic minimum of global surface temperature at present

Tellus B ◽

10.1034/j.1600-0889.2002.201377.x ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 54 (4) ◽

pp. 325-343 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

SIEGFRIED FRANCK ◽

KONRAD J. KOSSACKI ◽

WERNER VON BLOH ◽

CHRISTINE BOUNAMA

Keyword(s):

Carbon Cycle ◽

Surface Temperature ◽

Global Carbon Cycle ◽

Long Term Evolution ◽

Global Surface Temperature ◽

Term Evolution ◽

Global Surface ◽

Global Carbon

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Causes and timing of future biosphere extinctions

Biogeosciences ◽

10.5194/bg-3-85-2006 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 85-92 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

S. Franck ◽

C. Bounama ◽

W. von Bloh

Keyword(s):

Global Carbon Cycle ◽

Temperature Tolerance ◽

Cambrian Explosion ◽

Strong Decrease ◽

The Earth ◽

Reverse Sequence ◽

Different Types ◽

Global Surface ◽

Global Carbon

Abstract. We present a minimal model for the global carbon cycle of the Earth containing the reservoirs mantle, ocean floor, continental crust, biosphere, and the kerogen, as well as the combined ocean and atmosphere reservoir. The model is specified by introducing three different types of biosphere: procaryotes, eucaryotes, and complex multicellular life. During the entire existence of the biosphere procaryotes are always present. 2 Gyr ago eucaryotic life first appears. The emergence of complex multicellular life is connected with an explosive increase in biomass and a strong decrease in Cambrian global surface temperature at about 0.54 Gyr ago. In the long-term future the three types of biosphere will die out in reverse sequence of their appearance. We show that there is no evidence for an implosion-like extinction in contrast to the Cambrian explosion. In dependence of their temperature tolerance complex multicellular life and eucaryotes become extinct in about 0.8–1.2 Gyr and 1.3–1.5 Gyr, respectively. The ultimate life span of the biosphere is defined by the extinction of procaryotes in about 1.6 Gyr.

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Causes and timing of future biosphere extinction

Biogeosciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/bgd-2-1665-2005 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 2 (6) ◽

pp. 1665-1679 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

S. Franck ◽

C. Bounama ◽

W. von Bloh

Keyword(s):

Minimal Model ◽

Global Carbon Cycle ◽

Cambrian Explosion ◽

Strong Decrease ◽

The Earth ◽

Reverse Sequence ◽

Different Types ◽

Global Surface ◽

Global Carbon

Abstract. We present a minimal model for the global carbon cycle of the Earth containing the reservoirs mantle, ocean floor, continental crust, biosphere, and the kerogen, as well as the aggregated reservoir ocean and atmosphere. The model is specified by introducing three different types of biosphere: procaryotes, eucaryotes, and complex multicellular life. We find that from the Archaean to the future a procaryotic biosphere always exists. 2 Gyr ago eucaryotic life first appears. The emergence of complex multicellular life is connected with an explosive increase in biomass and a strong decrease in Cambrian global surface temperature at about 0.54 Gyr ago. In the long-term future the three types of biosphere will die out in reverse sequence of their appearance. We show that there is no evidence for an implosion-like extinction in contrast to the Cambrian explosion. The ultimate life span of the biosphere is defined by the extinction of procaryotes in about 1.6 Gyr.

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Estimates of Southern Ocean carbon uptake from atmospheric inverse analyses

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-12411 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Zhaohui Chen ◽

Parvadha Suntharalingam ◽

Corinne Le Quere ◽

Andrew Watson ◽

Jamie Shutler

Keyword(s):

Southern Ocean ◽

Monitoring Network ◽

Global Carbon Budget ◽

Biogeochemical Models ◽

Ocean Carbon ◽

Analysis System ◽

Integration Project ◽

The Impact ◽

Global Carbon

We present estimates of Southern Ocean air-sea CO2 fluxes for the period 2000-2018 derived with the GEOSChem-LETKF (GCL) inverse analysis system in conjunction with the NOAA surface CO2 monitoring network (ObsPack, Cooperative Global Atmospheric Data Integration Project, 2018). &#160;We assess the impact of alternative representations of the ocean prior flux distribution and its associated uncertainties on derived flux estimates.&#160; Ocean flux distributions assessed include the surface pCO2-based representation of Landschutzer et al. 2016 and the more recent pCO2-based estimates of Watson et al. 2020.&#160; We present GCL estimates of the long-term trend and interannual variability of air-sea CO2 fluxes in the Southern Ocean (south of 45&#730;S). These results are assessed against independent estimates from atmospheric inverse analyses and ocean biogeochemical models taken from the Global Carbon Budget 2020 synthesis (Friedlingstein et al. 2020).

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Profiling tropospheric CO2 using Aura TES and TCCON instruments

Atmospheric Measurement Techniques ◽

10.5194/amt-6-63-2013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 63-79 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

L. Kuai ◽

J. Worden ◽

S. Kulawik ◽

K. Bowman ◽

M. Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Near Infrared ◽

Regional Scale ◽

Lower Troposphere ◽

Total Carbon ◽

Sources And Sinks ◽

Global Carbon Budget ◽

Random Uncertainties ◽

Global Carbon ◽

Total Column

Abstract. Monitoring the global distribution and long-term variations of CO2 sources and sinks is required for characterizing the global carbon budget. Total column measurements are useful for estimating regional-scale fluxes; however, model transport remains a significant error source, particularly for quantifying local sources and sinks. To improve the capability of estimating regional fluxes, we estimate lower tropospheric CO2 concentrations from ground-based near-infrared (NIR) measurements with space-based thermal infrared (TIR) measurements. The NIR measurements are obtained from the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) of solar measurements, which provide an estimate of the total CO2 column amount. Estimates of tropospheric CO2 that are co-located with TCCON are obtained by assimilating Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) free tropospheric CO2 estimates into the GEOS-Chem model. We find that quantifying lower tropospheric CO2 by subtracting free tropospheric CO2 estimates from total column estimates is a linear problem, because the calculated random uncertainties in total column and lower tropospheric estimates are consistent with actual uncertainties as compared to aircraft data. For the total column estimates, the random uncertainty is about 0.55 ppm with a bias of −5.66 ppm, consistent with previously published results. After accounting for the total column bias, the bias in the lower tropospheric CO2 estimates is 0.26 ppm with a precision (one standard deviation) of 1.02 ppm. This precision is sufficient for capturing the winter to summer variability of approximately 12 ppm in the lower troposphere; double the variability of the total column. This work shows that a combination of NIR and TIR measurements can profile CO2 with the precision and accuracy needed to quantify lower tropospheric CO2 variability.

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Impacts of soil hydrologial modeling on long-term terrestrial carbon cycle inferred from CCDAS (Carbon Cycle Data Assimilation System)

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-6374 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Mousong Wu ◽

Marko Scholze ◽

Fei Jiang ◽

Hengmao Wang ◽

Wenxin Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Moisture ◽

Carbon Cycle ◽

Carbon Budget ◽

Terrestrial Carbon ◽

Global Carbon Budget ◽

Terrestrial Carbon Cycle ◽

Global Carbon ◽

Data Assimilation System ◽

Assimilation System

The terrestrial carbon cycle is an important part of the global carbon budget due to its large gross exchange fluxes with the atmosphere and their sensitivity to climate change. Terrestrial biosphere models show large uncertainties in estimating carbon fluxes, which impacts global carbon budget assessments. The land surface carbon cycle is tightly controlled by soil moisture through plant physiological processes. In this context, accurate soil moisture data will improve the modeling of carbon fluxes in a model-data fusion framework. We employ the Carbon Cycle Data Assimilation System (CCDAS) to assimilate 36 years (1980-2015) of surface soil moisture data as provided by the ESA CCI in combination with atmospheric CO2 concentration observations at global scale. We will present the methods used for assimilating long-term remotely sensed soil moisture into the terrestrial biosphere model, and demonstrate the importance of soil moisture in modeling ecosystem carbon cycle processes. We will also investigate the impacts of soil moisture on the terrestrial carbon cycle during climate extremes at various scales.

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Influence of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation on the Northern Hemisphere Surface Temperature Response to Radiative Forcing

Journal of Climate ◽

10.1175/jcli-d-17-0900.1 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 31 (22) ◽

pp. 9207-9224 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Elizabeth A. Maroon ◽

Jennifer E. Kay ◽

Kristopher B. Karnauskas

Keyword(s):

Surface Temperature ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Internal Variability ◽

Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽

Forced Response ◽

Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽

Surface Warming ◽

Ensemble Mean ◽

Meridional Overturning ◽

Global Surface

ABSTRACT Many modeling studies have shown that the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) will weaken under increased greenhouse gas forcing, but the influence of AMOC internal variability on climate change in the context of a large initial condition ensemble has received less attention. Here, the Community Earth System Model Large Ensemble (CESM LE) is used to separate the AMOC-forced response from AMOC internal variability, and then assess their joint influence on surface warming. Similar to other models, the CESM LE projects a weakening AMOC in response to increased greenhouse gas forcing caused by freshening and decreased buoyancy fluxes in the North Atlantic. Yet if this forced response is removed using the ensemble mean, there is a positive relationship between global surface warming and AMOC strength. In other words, when the AMOC strengthens relative to the ensemble mean (i.e., weakens less), global surface warming increases relative to the ensemble mean response. This unforced surface warming occurs in northern Eurasia and in the Nordic and Barents Seas near the sea ice edge. Comparison of CESM simulations with and without a dynamic ocean shows that the unforced surface warming in the Nordic and Barents Seas results from both ocean and atmospheric circulation variability. In contrast, this comparison suggests that AMOC-associated Eurasian warming results from atmospheric circulation variability alone. In sum, the AMOC-forced response and AMOC internal variability have distinct relationships with surface temperature. Forced AMOC weakening decreases with surface warming, while unforced AMOC strengthening leads to surface warming.

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Low-Carbon Russia: Prospects after the Crisis

Voprosy Ekonomiki ◽

10.32609/0042-8736-2009-10-107-120 ◽

2009 ◽

pp. 107-120 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

I. Bashmakov

Keyword(s):

Economic Growth ◽

Potential Energy ◽

Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Low Carbon ◽

Modeling Tools ◽

Gas Emissions ◽

Scenario Approach

On the eve of the worldwide negotiations of a new climate agreement in December 2009 in Copenhagen it is important to clearly understand what Russia can do to mitigate energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in the medium (until 2020) and in the long term (until 2050). The paper investigates this issue using modeling tools and scenario approach. It concludes that transition to the "Low-Carbon Russia" scenarios must be accomplished in 2020—2030 or sooner, not only to mitigate emissions, but to block potential energy shortages and its costliness which can hinder economic growth.

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