CoMet (Carbon Dioxide and Methane) Mission

• Applicant: Dr. Andreas Fix
• Subject Area: Atmospheric Science
• Term: from 2016 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 316591172

Confronting Climate Change is one of the paramount societal challenges of our time. The main cause for global warming is the increase of anthropogenic greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere. Together, carbon dioxide and methane, being the two most important greenhouse gases, globally contribute to about 81% of the anthropogenic radiative forcing. However, there are still significant deficits in the knowledge about the budgets of these two major greenhouse gases such that the ability to accurately predict our future climate remains substantially compromised. Different feedback mechanisms which are insufficiently understood have significant impact on the quality of climate projections. In order to accurately predict future climate of our planet and support observing emission targets in the framework of international agreements, the investigation of sources and sinks of the greenhouse gases and their feedback mechanisms is indispensable. In the past years, inverse modelling has emerged as a key method for obtaining quantitative information on the sources and sinks of the greenhouse gases. However, this technique requires the availability of sufficient amounts of precise and independent data on various spatial scales. Therefore, observing the atmospheric concentrations of the greenhouse gases is of significant importance for this purpose. In contrast to point measurements, airborne instruments are able to provide regional-scale data of greenhouse gases which are urgently required, though currently lacking. Providing such data from remote sensing instruments supported by the best currently available in-situ sensors, and additionally comparing the results of the greenhouse gas columns retrieved from aircraft to the network of ground-based stations is the mission goal of the HALO CoMet campaign. The overarching objective of HALO CoMet is to improve our understanding and to better quantify the carbon dioxide and methane cycles. Through analysing the CoMet data, scientists will accumulate new knowledge on the global distribution and temporal variation of the greenhouse gases. These findings will help to better understand the global carbon cycle and its influence on climate. These new findings will be utilized for predicting future climate change and assessing its impact. Within the frame of CoMet and due to the operational possibilities we will concentrate on small to sub-continental scales. This does not only allow to identify local emission sources of greenhouse gases, but also opens up the opportunity to use important remote sensing and in-situ data information for the inverse modelling approach for regional budgeting. The project also aims at developing new methodologies for greenhouse gas measurements, and promotes technological developments necessary for future Earth-observing satellites.

• DFG Programme: Infrastructure Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1294: Atmospheric and Earth System Research with the "High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft" (HALO)
• Co-Investigators: Dr. Heinrich Bovensmann; Professor Dr. Klaus Pfeilsticker