Berlin 2012 – scientific programme
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UP: Fachverband Umweltphysik
UP 9: Poster session
UP 9.27: Poster
Wednesday, March 28, 2012, 18:30–19:15, Poster F
A mobile FTIR system for ground-based total-column measurements of greenhouse gases — •Sabrina Niebling1, Marc Geibel1,2, and Dietrich Feist1 — 1Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany — 2now at: Department of Applied Environmental Research, Stockholm University, Sweden
Greenhouse gases like CO2 and CH4 can be measured very accurately by in-situ methods. Satellite instruments (e.g. SCIAMACHY) are less accurate but provide potentially global coverage. However, linking the near-surface in-situ measurements with the total-column satellite measurements is not straightforward. Ground-based Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) instruments, which measure greenhouse gas total columns very precisely, can provide this link and serve as a validation reference. The Atmospheric Remote Sensing Group of the MPI for Biogeochemistry has constructed a fully automated and mobile FTIR measurement system for CO2, CH4, N2O and other trace gases. The reliability of the instrument was checked during a six-month campaign to Wollongong, Australia, in 2010, where it measured side-by-side with another FTIR instrument. The system will be installed on Ascension Island (7.94∘S, 14.37∘W) in February 2012. Up to now such ground-based FTIR measurements are very sparse in the Southern Hemisphere, especially in the very active tropical regions. When installed at its final destination, our instrument will be the first equatorial station within the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON). Due to its unique location we expect new insights into the carbon cycle especially of the African continent.