The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) is the first NASA satellite dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide. In this seminar, Dr David Crisp will provide a brief overview of the preliminary results from this mission.
Abstract
Fossil fuel combustion, deforestation, and other human activities are now adding almost 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere each year. Interestingly, as these emissions have increased over time, natural “sinks” in land biosphere and oceans have absorbed roughly half of this CO2, reducing the rate of atmospheric buildup by a half. Measurements of the increasing acidity (pH) of seawater indicate that the ocean absorbs one quarter of this CO2. Another quarter is apparently being absorbed by the land biosphere, but the identity and location of these natural sinks are still unknown. The existing ground-based greenhouse gas monitoring network provides an accurate record of the atmospheric buildup, but still does not have the spatial resolution or coverage needed to identify or quantify CO2 sources and sinks. One way to improve our understanding of CO2 sources and sinks is to retrieve precise, spatially-resolved, estimates of the column-averaged CO2 dry air mole fraction (XCO2) from space based measurements. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) is the first NASA satellite designed for this purpose. OCO-2 was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on 2 July 2014, and joined the 705 km Afternoon Constellation a month later. Its primary instrument, a 3-channel imaging grating spectrometer, was then cooled to its operating temperatures and began collecting about one million soundings over the sunlit hemisphere each day. The OCO-2 team started delivering calibrated spectra to the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES-DISC) on 30 December, 2014. Deliveries of Level 2 products, including estimates of XCO2, surface pressure, and SIF are scheduled to begin before March 30, 2015. This presentation will provide a brief overview of the preliminary results from this mission.
Biography
Dr. David Crisp is a Senior Research Scientist and the leader of the NASA Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) Science Team. Dr. Crisp is an atmospheric physicist.
Since receiving his Ph.D. from the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Program at Princeton University in 1984, his research has focused primarily on the development of radiative transfer algorithms for remote sensing and climate models of Venus, Earth, and Mars. During his 30+ year career at JPL, Dr. Crisp has served as an instrument provider and science team member for several flight projects including the Soviet/French/U.S. Venus VEGA Balloon Mission, the NASA Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field/Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2), Mars Pathfinder Lander Atmospheric Structure Instrument, and the ESA Venus Express Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS) and Venus Monitoring Camera (VMC).
He pioneered the use of ground-based near infrared observations of the Venus night side for studies of the sub-cloud atmosphere. He contributed to NASA technology programs by developing in situ atmospheric structure and meteorological instruments for Mars and by serving as the Chief Scientist of the NASA New Millennium Program from 1998 to 2001. He also contributes to the NASA Astrobiology Program as a member of the Virtual Planetary Laboratory (VPL) Team.
Dr. Crisp was the Principal Investigator of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) mission, NASA’s first dedicated carbon dioxide measurement mission. He has also served as NASA’s primary interface to the Japanese Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite (GOSAT) mission as the Science Lead of the NASA Atmospheric CO2 Observations from Space (ACOS) team.