High Temporal Carbon Monitoring with Satellite Constellations
- Paper number
IAC-08.B4.4.B11
- Author
Mr. Chris Stanley, University of Surrey / DMC International Imaging Ltd, United Kingdom
- Year
2008
- Abstract
The science of global climate change has risen to significant prominence in recent years. In 2008 both OCO and GOSAT will become the first missions dedicated to measuring levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from space. These missions will significantly advance our understanding but are forced to make unfortunate tradeoffs in coverage vs. temporal resolution, which leads us to propose an alternative approach using multiple small satellites in constellation. This approach builds on the experience of operating the successful Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) of satellites and SSTL’s experience in novel designs for an efficient spectrometer suitable for measuring column CO2 concentration. Such a spectrometer design would operate in the strong and weak CO2 bands and the oxygen A –band, and would have significantly reduced mass and size compared to traditional instruments, an important prerequisite for its implementation on small satellites. We envisage a network of low-cost satellites providing high frequency and accuracy atmospheric composition data, adding greatly to the global atmospheric data set. This paper will describe the background to the various climate change missions, the different mission scenarios and the extension of the DMC satellites concept to environmental measurements.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-08.B4.4.B11.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.