the o rbiting c arbon o bservatory ( oco ) mission
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The O rbiting C arbon O bservatory ( OCO ) Mission Watching The Earth Breathe…Mapping CO 2 From Space. Atmospheric CO 2 and the OCO-2 Satellite Mission Dr. Annmarie Eldering, Deputy Project Scientist Dr. Michael R. Gunson , Project Scientist 16 October 2010. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
The Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) MissionWatching The Earth Breathe…Mapping CO2 From Space.
Atmospheric CO2 and theOCO-2 Satellite Mission
Dr. Annmarie Eldering, Deputy Project ScientistDr. Michael R. Gunson, Project Scientist
16 October 2010
Slide 2
CO2 concentrations are going up
Measurements show that CO2 concentrations have been increasing. The increases are large in the last 50+ yrs.
Slide 3
Surface temperature is increasing
Surface temperature differences from the long term average show that temperatures have been warmer than average over the last 20 years.
CRUTEM3 is a model, all others are measurements.
Slide 4
Predictions of future temperature
• Predictions of temperature in the future depend on the CO2 concentrations. That depends on the type of energy that we use and growth in the future.
• But all predictions show temperature increases many times what we have experienced so far.
Slide 5
OCO-2 will make the first space-based measurements of CO2 with the accuracy needed to quantify sources and sinks of this important greenhouse gas.
OCO-2 Will Help Solve the Carbon Mysteries
Slide 6
OCO-2 uses sunlight to measure CO2
• Our ‘remote sensing’ technique relies on measuring sunlight that passes through the atmosphere, reflects on Earth’s surface, and passes back through the atmosphere to the instrument.
• We are building an instrument that will be ready to launch in February 2013.
Slide 7
OCO-2 will be the lead of a ‘train’ of satellites