Potential of a geostationary GeoCARB mission to estimate surface emissions of CO2, CH4 and CO in a polluted urban environment

Abstract

In December 2016 NASA competitively selected the Geostationary Carbon Cycle Observatory (GeoCARB) as an Earth Venture mission. GeoCARB will measure plant health and stress, and will probe, in unprecedented detail, sources, sinks and exchange processes that control CO2, CH4 and CO in the atmosphere. GeoCARB will be placed in geostationary orbit over the Americas to measure spectra of reflected sunlight in absorption bands of CO2, CH4, CO and O2. Plant stress will be inferred from solar-induced fluorescence, using observation in Fraunhofer lines within the O2 band. Column-averaged concentrations of CO2, CH4 and CO will be derived from all bands simultaneously. GeoCARB will scan the hemisphere ..