Carbon Cycle Science: An Emerging Product

First-ever monthly maps of greenhouse gases from satellites Working with the NOAA Climate's Global Carbon Cycle Program, NESDIS investigators have developed a suite of greenhouse gas products from NASA's AIRS instrument. The team is producing daily experimental global greenhouse gas maps. Such maps will enable researchers to more clearly define the Earth's carbon cycle, a necessary prerequisite for understanding global climate change. In addition to contributing to atmospheric greenhouse effect, CO is important because it is a component of air pollution and is a measure of biomass burning.

Figure (right): First ever monthly maps of greenhouse gases from satellites. Clockwise from upper left: CO₂, CO, CH₄, O₃. Data are derived from NASA's AIRS instrument. Future operational hyperspectral atmospheric sounders, such as EUMETSAT's IASI, the NPOESS CrIS, and GOES-R will have similar capabilities.