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First SCIAMACHY greenhouse gas (CO2, CH4) and carbon monoxide (CO) movies
Please click on the figures you see below to start a movie (animated gifs,
each approx. 8 MegaBytes) in your browser.
The movies are based on monthly mean data covering the time periode 2003-2005.
Interpolation and extrapolation is used us fill some data gaps.
The movies are based (only) on measured SCIAMACHY satellite data which have
been smoothed to reduce image size.
Carbon monoxide: An important air pollutant
Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odorless, colorless and toxic gas.
It cannot be seen by the human eye but by the SCIAMACHY instrument
on the European environmental satellite ENVISAT. This is due to
SCIAMACHY's near-infrared detectors which are sensitive to "colors" outside
of the visible range our eyes can see.
SCIAMACHY on ENVISAT is the first satellite instrument which can measure
the global distribution of carbon monoxide with nearly equal sensitivity
for all altitudes down to the Earth surface where the CO sources are located.
Large amounts of atmospheric carbon monoxide result from, for example,
burning of woods, savannahs and fossile fuels (oil, coal, gas).
Clearly visible in the
movie are major CO source regions located for example in Africa and South America
(CO resulting primarily from fires during the dry season)
or China (CO from, for example, industrial activities and road transport (cars)).
More details are given in
Buchwitz et al., Atmos. Chem. Phys., 2007 .
Please click on the figure to start the movie:
Download:
CO movie as AVI (14.5 MB)
Methane: An important greenhouse gas
Methane (CH4) is the second most important anthropogenic
so called greenhouse gas which contributes to global warming.
Despite the importance of this gas our current understanding
of its sources has still large gaps.
SCIAMACHY on ENVISAT is the first satellite instrument which can measure
the global distribution of methane with high sensitivity
down to the Earth surface where the methane sources are located.
This is due to SCIAMACHY's near-infrared detectors which can see
those colors which methane molecules absorb.
Important sources of methane are rice paddies, ruminants
(e.g., cows and sheeps) and wetlands.
Please click on the figure to start the movie:
Download:
Methane movie as AVI (14.5 MB)
Carbon dioxide: The most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most important anthropogenic
greenhouse gas and contributes to global warming. Despite the importance of this gas
our current understanding of its (primarily natural) sources and sinks has significant gaps.
Important questions to be answered are: How much of the anthropogenically
emitted CO2 from the burning of fossile fuels is stored in the oceans
and how much in land (vegetation)? Where exactly are the (natural) sinks ?
How will the natural sinks respond to a changing climate ?
SCIAMACHY on ENVISAT is the first satellite instrument which can measure
the global distribution of carbon dioxide with high sensitivity
down to the Earth surface where the CO2 sources and sinks are located.
This is due to SCIAMACHY's near-infrared detectors which can see
those colors which CO2 molecules absorb.
More details are given in
Buchwitz et al., ACPD, 2007.
Please note that we cannot detect every car and every chimney
and that not every locally enhanced CO2 hot spot
should be interpreted in terms of the Kyoto Protocol!
The main goal of our CO2 measurements is to obtain more knowledge
about natural processes, primarily concerning the terrestrial biosphere
component of the global carbon cycle.
The movie shows how our planet is "breathing". Each year
huge amounts of CO2 are taken up by the growing vegetation in spring and
summer (resulting in lower (decreasing) atmospheric CO2 levels)
and are to a large extent released again during the following autumn
and winter (resulting in higher (increasing) atmospheric CO2)
when part of the vegetation dies and decays.
This is seen in the movie by the up and down of the measured CO2 once per year.
If one looks
carefully at the movie one will see that the CO2 levels are rising
by about 0.5-1 percent from year to year primarily
due to burning of fossile fuels (oil, coal, gas).
Concerning the movie this results in somewhat higher CO2
levels end of 2005 compared to the beginning of 2003 when the movie starts.
Please click on the figure to start the movie:
Download:
CO2 movie as AVI (14.5 MB)
Latest publications:
Carbon monoxide (CO): version 0.6
Buchwitz, M., I. Khlystova, H. Bovensmann, J. P. Burrows,
Three years of global carbon monoxide from SCIAMACHY:
Comparison with MOPITT and first results related to
the detection of enhanced CO over cities,
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 7, 2399-2411, 2007.
(PDF
file )
Methane (CH4): version 1.0
Schneising, O., Buchwitz, M., Burrows, J. P.,
Bovensmann, H., Bergamaschi, P., and Peters, W.,
Three years of greenhouse gas column-averaged dry air
mole fractions retrieved from satellite - Part 2:
Methane, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 9, 443-465, 2009.
Link:
http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/9/443/2009/acp-9-443-2009.html
Carbon dioxide (CO2): version 1.0
Schneising, O., Buchwitz, M., Burrows, J. P.,
Bovensmann, H., Reuter, M., Notholt, J.,
Macatangay, R., and Warneke, T.,
Three years of greenhouse gas column-averaged dry air
mole fractions retrieved from satellite - Part 1:
Carbon dioxide, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 3827-3853, 2008.
Link: http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/8/3827/2008/acp-8-3827-2008.html
Buchwitz, M., O. Schneising, J. P. Burrows, H. Bovensmann, M. Reuter, J. Notholt,
First direct observation of the atmospheric CO2 year-to-year
increase from space, Atmos. Chem. Phys.,
7, 4249-4256, 2007.
(PDF
file )
Status of this page
Last modification: 8-Feb-2010.
Author:
Michael.Buchwitz@iup.physik.uni-bremen.de.
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