Heidelberg 2015 – scientific programme

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UP: Fachverband Umweltphysik

UP 2: Atmosphäre

UP 2.4: Talk

Wednesday, March 25, 2015, 10:00–10:15, G/gHS

Remote sensing of greenhouse gases from space and ground — •Andre Butz, Arne Babenhauserheide, Ramiro Checa-Garcia, Constanze Fischerkeller, Philipp Hahne, Frank Hase, Friedrich Klappenbach, Julian Kostinek, and Rasmus Raecke — IMK-ASF, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany

Man-made emissions of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) are major drivers of climate change. Once the gases are released to the atmosphere, CO₂ and CH₄ concentrations are controlled by the biogeochemical processes of the carbon and methane cycles. Over the recent years, advances in instrument design and data reduction techniques have facilitated remote sensing of the atmospheric CO₂ and CH₄ abundances with the accuracy required to deduce information on the emission and uptake processes at the Earth’s surface. The overall methodological approach relies on solar absorption spectroscopy in the shortwave-infrared spectral range. Our group develops and operates a radiative transfer algorithm that enables analysis of space-based solar backscatter soundings from satellites such as the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) and the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-2). To validate our satellite retrievals, we deploy spectrometers on ground-based platforms such as the research vessel Polarstern. Here, we report on recent developments of the employed methodologies and validation exercises and demonstrate the usefulness of remote sensing greenhouse gas records for infering source/sink information.