GOSAT-OCO-2 synergetic CO2 observations over calibration & validation sites and large emission sources

Abstract:

GOSAT and OCO-2 have different observation strategies. TANSO-FTS onboard GOSAT has wide spectral coverage from SWIR to TIR and an agile pointing system at the expense of spatial context, while OCO-2 targets CO₂with higher spatial resolution using imaging grating spectrometers. Since the early phase of the two projects, both teams have worked in calibration and validation to demonstrate the effectiveness of satellite greenhouse gases observation. In 2008, the pre-launch cross-calibration agreement between GOSAT and OCO radiometers was better than 2% when measuring the traceable GOSAT calibration sphere (Sakuma et. al, 2010). Since GOSAT’s launch in 2009, annual joint vicarious calibration campaigns at the Railroad Valley (RRV) playa have estimated radiometric degradation factors with time at an uncertainty of 7%. (Kuze et al., 2014).

After OCO-2 launch, two independent measurements can now be compared to distinguish common forward calculation errors such as molecule absorption line parameters, solar lines and light-path modification by aerosol scattering from instrument-specific errors. On 25 Mach 2015, both GOSAT and OCO-2 targeted RRV simultaneously. The measured radiance spectra at the top of the atmosphere agree within 5% for all common bands. On June 29 and July 1 during the 7^th RRV campaign, coincidence observation of GOSAT, OCO-2, AJAX airplane, radiosonde, and FTS and radiometers on the ground, provided surface albedo, BRDF, temperature, humidity CO₂ and CH₄ density to demonstrate consistency between forward radiative transfer calculation and satellite measured data. Both GOSAT and OCO-2 have been regularly targeting the TCCON site at Lamont and large emission sources such as mega cities and oil fields and glint over the ocean. Retrieved parameters such as surface albedo, pressure, column averaged mole fraction and aerosol related parameters can be compared firstly where aerosol optical thickness is low and topography is flat, and then over aerosol-thick regions. Globally consistent observation from space is still challenging especially at high latitude and over very bright desert surfaces with thick aerosol. More robust retrieval algorithm and optimized observation patterns have been investigated toward detecting emissions using satellite data and for understanding missing sinks.