Over the last two centuries, there have been great changes in the
atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases including CO2, CH4, CO and N2O. The natural cycles of all these gases have been strongly affected by human actions including fossil fuel burning, land use change, agricultural practices and fire management, leading to consequences for the earth system
including climate change through the enhanced greenhouse effect. These consequences are already significant and are certain to accelerate in future decades as the magnitudes and feedback effects of the causative human actions increase.
The measurement of atmospheric gas concentrations from space has the potential to make a major contribution to monitoring and knowledge of the global distribution of the atmospheric sources and sinks of greenhouse gases. This is important to provide understanding of the cycling of greenhouse gases and their responses to human-induced global change, and to monitor the contributions of regions, countries and economic sectors to net greenhouse gas emissions by human activities, thereby contributing to emissions reduction and compliance with negotiated commitments.
The observation and research communities are preparing to meet this challenge through structures such as the Group on Earth Observations and the Integrated Global Observing Strategy
Partnership. The Integrated Global Carbon Observation (IGCO) and Integrated Global Atmospheric Chemistry Observation (IGACO) Theme Reports of IGOS-P have identified a number of possible actions by space and operational observing agencies to bring the space-borne measurement of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, and their subsequent use in assessment of sources, sinks and feedback effects, from vision to operational reality. In response to this need and the identified actions, the European Space Agency is convening a Symposium to help clarify the identified actions, to identify the necessary steps to implement such actions, and (with other partner space and operational observing agencies) to devise a joint approach to meet these requirements in research and operational terms.
The symposium will have the following specific objectives:
1. to provide an overview of current space-based systems for measuring greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, even where those systems were not specifically designed for this purpose;
2. to foster and coordinate the development of new sensors and programmes to provide continuity and enhancement of existing measurements;
3. to foster and coordinate globally integrated programs for validating space-based concentration measurements with in situ observations (such as continuous monitoring of atmospheric composition, flask networks and profiling with ground-based FTIR);
4. to further the development of techniques for assimilating space-based measurements into models for estimating sources and sinks of greenhouse gases, such as atmospheric
transport models and multiple-constraint approaches using a combination of top-down and bottom-up methods.
Those people interested in attending the meeting should register via the Symposium web site. Please note ESA is unable to provide support for either accommodation or travel and the Symposium will be limited to 150 participants, administered on a
first-registered-first-served basis.
Carbon From Space Organising Committee:
Stephen Plummer ESA-ESRIN (stephen.plummer@esa.int) Stephen Briggs ESA-ESRIN
Philippe Ciais IGCO Olivier Arino ESA-ESRIN Alberto Tobias ESA-ESTEC Peter
Rayner LSCE Pep Canadell GCP Roger Dargaville IGCO (rd@climpact.com)
