Remote Sensing of Black Carbon in the Arctic
Abstract – Black carbon (‘soot’), originating from incomplete burning of organic material or fossil fuel, is widespread in the cryosphere – including the Arctic. Black carbon is stated to be the second most important contribution to global warming. In 2008, a first phase of a project was carried out...
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Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
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Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.417.5708 http://publications.nr.no/5201/Solberg_-_Remote_Sensing_of_Black_Carbon_in_the_Arctic.pdf |
Summary: | Abstract – Black carbon (‘soot’), originating from incomplete burning of organic material or fossil fuel, is widespread in the cryosphere – including the Arctic. Black carbon is stated to be the second most important contribution to global warming. In 2008, a first phase of a project was carried out in Svalbard for development of an approach using earth observation for black carbon monitoring. The overall objective is to determine whether the black carbon content of snow and glacier surfaces can be retrieved from satellite data. The project includes efforts to determine the main spectral properties of black carbon in snow and ice in the Arctic/Svalbard and to determine whether there is significant information (signal) in relevant satellite data in order to be successful in parameter retrieval of black carbon. Fieldwork included measurements of spectral properties of snow as well as ice and sampling for chemical analysis. Terra MODIS images have been analysed. A conceptual model describing the way impurities distribute on glacier surfaces is currently under development. |
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