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IUP Carbon & Greenhouse Gas Group

This is the website of the "IUP Carbon and Greenhouse Gas Group" of the Institute of Environmental Physics (IUP) / Institute of Remote Sensing (IFE) of the University of Bremen, Germany.

We are primarily interested in the atmospheric distribution and the (surface) sources and sinks of the atmospheric gases carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and carbon monoxide (CO).

Our focus is on satellite data and their interpretation. In particular, we are working on retrieval algorithms to produce scientific and operational data products from satellites (SCIAMACHY, GOSAT, GOSAT-2, OCO-2, S5P, PRISMA, EnMAP, ...) for various applications.

Another focus are aircraft data (MAMAP) and drones.

We are also working on future satellite missions such as the planned European anthropogenic CO2 monitoring (CO2M) mission, a constellation of satellites (planned launch: 2026/2027) based on our CarbonSat concept. See also CarbonSat Concept from University of Bremen Realized by OHB (or in German: CarbonSat-Konzept der Universität Bremen wird von OHB realisiert) and ESA Realizes University of Bremen CarbonSat Concept (or in German: ESA realisiert CarbonSat-Konzept der Universität Bremen).

The purpose of this web site is to collect and make available all information related to these activities.

We also contribute to or even maintain several other websites:

  1. GHG-CCI project website: Provides information and access to satellite-derived atmospheric CO2 and CH4 data products as generated in the framwork of ESA's Climate Change Initiative (CCI).
  2. Copernicus Climate Data Store (CDS): We are generating satellite-derived CO2 and CH4 atmospheric data products for the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). Please visit the C3S CDS website for access to these data products and related information. Here the direct links to the satellite-derived CO2 products and to the satellite-derived CH4 products.
  3. EMMA XCO2 website (of M. Reuter): Ensemble Median Algoritm (EMMA) XCO2 website.
  4. EMMA XCH4 website (of M. Reuter): Ensemble Median Algoritm (EMMA) XCH4 website.
  5. FOCAL-OCO2 website (of M. Reuter): OCO-2 XCO2 retrievals using the FOCAL algorithm.
  6. GOSAT FOCAL XCO2 NRT system website (of S. Noel): Contains primarily information related to our GOSAT FOCAL XCO2 retrievals including access to the corresponding data products, which we generate, for example, in the framework of the European CAMS project since mid 2022.
  7. GOSAT-2 FOCAL XCO2 NRT system website (of S. Noel): Contains primarily information related to our GOSAT-2 FOCAL XCO2 retrievals including access to the corresponding data products, which we generate, for example, in the framework of the European CAMS project since mid 2023.
  8. Sentinel-5-Precursor (S5P) WFM-DOAS (WFMD) website (of O. Schneising): Contains information on our S5P WFMD XCH4 and XCO data products.
  9. Clim4Edu Projekt: Handbuch mit Hintergrundinformationen, Kurzvideos zu verschiedenen Aspekten des Klimawandels und browserbasierte interaktive Materialien für Schulen zum Thema Klimawandel mit Fokus auf Satellitenbeobachtungen.

Here some links to past or internal websites:

  1. SCIAMACHY WFM-DOAS (WFMD) website (of O. Schneising): Contains information on our SCIAMACHY WFM-DOAS XCO2 and XCH4 data products and related informations.
  2. SCIAMACHY BESD website (of M. Reuter): Contains information related to our BESD algorithm SCIAMACHY XCO2 retrievals.
  3. GOSAT BESD XCO2 NRT system website (of S. Noel and M. Reuter): Contains primarily information related to our GOSAT BESD XCO2 retrievals including access to the corresponding data products which we generated in the framework of the European CAMS project until mid 2022.
  4. CarbonSat website (of M. Buchwitz): Contains information on our CarbonSat mission as prosed to ESA for Earth Explorer 8.
  5. C3S website (of M. Buchwitz): Only project internal.

Here some satellite-derived CO2 and methane time series and growth rates (the underlying data have also been used for the Climate Indicators section of the Copernicus / WMO European State of the Climate (ESOTC) 2024 report):

Satellite-derived monthly column-averaged CO2 (XCO2) (top) and corresponding annual growth rates (bottom):

Satellite-derived XCO2 corresponding growth rates.

Satellite-derived monthly column-averaged methane (XCH4) (top) and corresponding annual growth rates (bottom):

Satellite-derived XCH4 corresponding growth rates.

Timeseries and maps of satellite-derived XCO2 retrieved from SCIAMACHY (until 2012), GOSAT (since 2009), OCO-2 (since 2014) and GOSAT-2 (since 2019) radiance spectra. As can be seen, atmospheric CO2 concentrations are increasing despite world-wide efforts to reduce fossil fuel related CO2 emissions.

Satellite-derived XCO2

Timeseries and maps of satellite-derived XCH4 retrieved from SCIAMACHY (until 2012), GOSAT (since 2009) and GOSAT-2 (since 2019) radiance spectra. As can be seen, atmospheric CH4 concentrations are increasing since 2007.

Satellite-derived XCH4

A global map of satellite-derived XCH4 retrieved from TROPOMI onboard the Sentinel-5-Presursor (S5P) satellite. The underlying data can be otained from the University of Bremen TROPOMI/S5P WFMD website as Level 2 (non-gridded) product. The data have been generated using a retrieval algorithm developed in the framework of the ESA GHG-CCI project:

Satellite-derived XCH4

The figure is also available as GeoTIFF file.

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Last modification: 17-April-2025

Author: Michael.Buchwitz@iup.physik.uni-bremen.de