Monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of natural sources and sinks and anthropogenic emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) are crucial to predict climate change and develop transparent accounting policies to contain climate forcing. Remote sensing technologies are beginning to monitor CO2 and CH4 from ground and space using high-resolution solar spectroscopy enabling direct MRV. However, the current ground based coverage is very sparse due the need for large and expensive high-resolution spectrometers that limits our MRV abilities, both regionally and globally. There are striking monitoring gaps in Asia (China and India), South America and Africa where the CO2 emissions are growing and there is a large uncertainty in fluxes from land use change and biomass burning. Our project will evaluate the precision, accuracy and stability of new off-the-shelf commercial, compact, affordable and easy to use low-resolution spectrometers by comparing with the much larger high-resolution spectrometers used to monitor CO2 and CH4. While initial results are promising our study will encompass real world conditions and challenges. If we are successful the new off-the-shelf spectrometers will dramatically expand the coverage of regional column CO2 and CH4 observations, particularly in gap regions in the developing world. This will enable transparent and reliable MRV that would put carbon cycle science and carbon trading and put climate treaty verification on a firm foundation.
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Project URL(s):
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Data Products:
Product Title: Performance evaluation of a new off-the-shelf, low-resolution MRV technology, which includes measurements of regional total column XCO2 and XCH4 observations.
Time Period: 2014-2015
Description: - Evaluate the precision, accuracy, and stability of a new off-the-shelf, compact, affordable, easy-to-Use, and low-resolution spectrometer in Comparison to those currently used to monitor CO2 and CH4.
- Developed rigorous protocols and field analysis to demonstrate that off the shelf portable mini-solar spectrometers can be used for carbon flux gradient (downwind - upwind) monitoring for atmospheric validation. Also, evaluated the mini-solar spectrometer performance against the TCCON standard and noted its stability and performance for long term studies and potential for satellite validation.
Status: Planned
CMS Science Theme(s): Land-Atmosphere Flux
Keywords: Evaluation & User Interfaces
Spatial Extent: Global, with focus on developing countries in Asia (China & India), South America, and Africa
Spatial Resolution: 10 km
Temporal Frequency: Every 5 minutes during daytime sampling
Input Data Products: Solar spectra (near IR) and visible
Algorithm/Models Used: NASA/JPL GGG14 (OCO-2 validation) and KIT (PROFFIT) used for COCCON network
Evaluation:
Intercomparison Efforts/Gaps: Intercomparisons with 4 TCCON locations
Uncertainty Estimates:
Uncertainty Categories:
Application Areas: - MRV, REDD+; - GHG emissions inventory; - Global carbon budget calculations; - Land management
Relevant Policies/Programs: IPCC, Doha/Kyoto, NGHGI, CAA, US-India Green Partnership, Safe Drinking Water Act's Underground Injection Control program
Potential Users: DOE, EPA, certain CMS projects, Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON), Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) science team, U.S. Global Change Research Program
Stakeholders:
Current Application Readiness Level: 7
Start Application Readiness Level: 3
Target Application Readiness Level: 7
Future Developments: - Collaborate with other evaluators of the same technology.; - Publish findings in 2014 and 2015.; - Continue training undergraduate and graduate students in the use of the technology.
Limitations: - As a proof-of-concept study, the number of sensors and available field data for validation limit data coverage.
Date When Product Available:
Assigned Data Center: Goddard
Metadata URL(s):
Data Server URL(s):
Archived Data Citation:
Publications:
Chen, J., Viatte, C., Hedelius, J. K., Jones, T., Franklin, J. E., Parker, H., Gottlieb, E. W., Wennberg, P. O., Dubey, M. K., Wofsy, S. C. 2016. Differential column measurements using compact solar-tracking spectrometers. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. 16(13), 8479-8498. DOI: 10.5194/acp-16-8479-2016
Hedelius, J. K., Parker, H., Wunch, D., Roehl, C. M., Viatte, C., Newman, S., Toon, G. C., Podolske, J. R., Hillyard, P. W., Iraci, L. T., Dubey, M. K., Wennberg, P. O. 2017. Intercomparability of X<sub>CO<sub>2</sub></sub> and X<sub>CH<sub>4</sub></sub> from the United States TCCON sites. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques. 10(4), 1481-1493. DOI: 10.5194/amt-10-1481-2017
Hedelius, J. K., Viatte, C., Wunch, D., Roehl, C. M., Toon, G. C., Chen, J., Jones, T., Wofsy, S. C., Franklin, J. E., Parker, H., Dubey, M. K., Wennberg, P. O. 2016. Assessment of errors and biases in retrievals of X<sub>CO<sub>2</sub></sub>, X<sub>CH<sub>4</sub></sub>,
X<sub>CO</sub>, and X<sub>N<sub>2</sub>O</sub> from a 0.5 cm<sup>-1</sup> resolution solar-viewing
spectrometer. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques. 9(8), 3527-3546. DOI: 10.5194/amt-9-3527-2016
Viatte, C., Lauvaux, T., Hedelius, J. K., Parker, H., Chen, J., Jones, T., Franklin, J. E., Deng, A. J., Gaudet, B., Verhulst, K., Duren, R., Wunch, D., Roehl, C., Dubey, M. K., Wofsy, S., Wennberg, P. O. 2017. Methane emissions from dairies in the Los Angeles Basin. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. 17(12), 7509-7528. DOI: 10.5194/acp-17-7509-2017