Potential improvements in global carbon flux estimates from a network of laser heterodyne radiometer measurements of column carbon dioxide ...

• Main Authors: Palmer, Paul I., Wilson, Emiily L., Villanueva, Geronimo L., Liuzzi, Giuliano, Feng, Liang, DiGregorio, Anthony J., Mao, Jianping, Ott, Lesley, Duncan, Bryan
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: American University 2023
• Subjects: Aerosol Robotic Network
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.57912/23891733; https://aura.american.edu/articles/journal_contribution/Potential_improvements_in_global_carbon_flux_estimates_from_a_network_of_laser_heterodyne_radiometer_measurements_of_column_carbon_dioxide/23891733

We present observing system simulation experiments (OSSEs) to evaluate the impact of a proposed network of ground-based miniaturized laser heterodyne radiometer (mini-LHR) instruments that measure atmospheric column-averaged carbon dioxide (XCO2) with a 1 ppm precision. A particular strength of this passive measurement approach is its insensitivity to clouds and aerosols due to its direct sun pointing and narrow field of view (0.2∘). Developed at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), these portable, low-cost mini-LHR instruments were designed to operate in tandem with the sun photometers used by the AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET). This partnership allows us to leverage the existing framework of AERONET's global ground network of more than 500 sites as well as providing simultaneous measurements of aerosols that are known to be a major source of error in retrievals of XCO2 from passive nadir-viewing satellite observations. We show, using the global 3-D GEOS-Chem chemistry transport model, that a ...