Earth Observing System. Volume 1, Part 2: Science and Mission Requirements. Working Group Report Appendix

Areas of global hydrologic cycles, global biogeochemical cycles geophysical processes are addressed including biological oceanography, inland aquatic resources, land biology, tropospheric chemistry, oceanic transport, polar glaciology, sea ice and atmospheric chemistry

Space observation for climate change studies

Climate change is associated with earth radiation budget that depends upon in-comming solar radiation, surface albedo and radiative forcing by green house gases. Human activities are contributing to climate change by causing changes in Earth's atmosphere (greenhouse gases, aerosols) and biosphere (deforestation, urbanization, irrigation). Long term and precise measurements from calibrated global observation constellation is a vital component in climate system modelling. Space based records of biosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere over more than three decades are providing important information on climate change. Space observations are an important source of climate variables due to multi scale simultaneous observation (local, regional, global) capability with temporal revisit in tune with requirements of land, ocean and atmospheric processes. Essential climatic variables that can be measured from space include atmosphere (upper air temperature, water vapour, precipitation, clouds, aerosols & GHGs etc.), ocean (sea ice, sea level, SST, salinity, ocean colour etc.) and land (snow, glacier, albedo, biomass, LAI/fAPAR, soil moisture etc.). India's Earth Observation Programme addresses various aspects of land, ocean and atmospheric applications. The present and planned missions such as Resourcesat-1, Oceansat-2, RISAT, Megha-Tropiques, INSAT-3D, SARAL, Resourcesat-2, Geo-HR Imager and I-STAG would help in understanding the issues related to climate changes. The paper reviews observational needs, space observation systems and studies that have been carried out at ISRO towards mapping/ detecting the indicators of climate change, monitoring the agents of climate change and understanding the impact of climate change, in national perspectives. Studies to assess glacier retreat, changes in polar ice cover, timberline change and coral bleaching are being carried out towards monitoring of climate change indicators. Spatial methane inventories from paddy rice, livestock and wetlands have been prepared and seasonal pattern of CO2, and CO have been analysed. Future challenges in space observations include design and placement of adequate and accurate multi-platform observational system to monitor all parameters related to various interaction processes and generation of long term calibrated climate data records pertaining to land ocean and atmosphere

Climate change studies using space based observation

Climate change is associated with earth radiation budget that depends upon incoming solar radiation, surface albedo and radiative forcing by greenhouse gases. Human activities are contributing to climate change by causing changes in Earth's atmosphere (greenhouse gases, aerosols) and biosphere (deforestation, urbanization, irrigation). Long term and precise measurements from calibrated global observation constellation is a vital component in climate system modelling. Space based records of biosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere over more than three decades are providing important information on climate change. Space observations are an important source of climate variables due to multi scale simultaneous observation (local, regional, and global scales) capability with temporal revisit in tune with requirements of land, ocean and atmospheric processes. Essential climatic variables that can be measured from space include atmosphere (upper air temperature, water vapour, precipitation, clouds, aerosols, GHGs etc.), ocean (sea ice, sea level, SST, salinity, ocean colour etc.) and land (snow, glacier, albedo, biomass, LAI/fAPAR, soil moisture etc.). India's Earth Observation Programme addresses various aspects of land, ocean and atmospheric applications. The present and planned missions such as Resourcesat-1, Oceansat-2, RISAT, Megha-Tropiques, INSAT-3D, SARAL, Resourcesat-2, Geo-HR Imager and series of Environmental satellites (I-STAG) would help in understanding the issues related to climate changes. The paper reviews observational needs, space observation systems and studies that have been carried out at ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) towards mapping/detecting the indicators of climate change, monitoring the agents of climate change and understanding the impact of climate change, in national perspectives. Studies to assess glacier retreat, changes in polar ice cover, timberline change and coral bleaching are being carried out towards monitoring of climate change indicators. Spatial methane inventories from paddy rice, livestock and wetlands have been prepared and seasonal pattern of CO2, and CO have been analysed. Future challenges in space observations include design and placement of adequate and accurate multi-platform observational systems to monitor all parameters related to various interaction processes and generation of long term calibrated climate data records pertaining to land ocean and atmosphere

Planning, implementation and scientific goals of the Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) field mission

The Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) field mission based at Ellington Field, Texas, during August and September 2013 employed the most comprehensive airborne payload to date to investigate atmospheric composition over North America. The NASA ER-2, DC-8, and SPEC Inc. Learjet flew 57 science flights from the surface to 20 km. The ER-2 employed seven remote sensing instruments as a satellite surrogate and eight in situ instruments. The DC-8 employed 23 in situ and five remote sensing instruments for radiation, chemistry, and microphysics. The Learjet used 11 instruments to explore cloud microphysics. SEAC4RS launched numerous balloons, augmented AErosol RObotic NETwork, and collaborated with many existing ground measurement sites. Flights investigating convection included close coordination of all three aircraft. Coordinated DC-8 and ER-2 flights investigated the optical properties of aerosols, the influence of aerosols on clouds, and the performance of new instruments for satellite measurements of clouds and aerosols. ER-2 sorties sampled stratospheric injections of water vapor and other chemicals by local and distant convection. DC-8 flights studied seasonally evolving chemistry in the Southeastern U.S., atmospheric chemistry with lower emissions of NOx and SO2 than in previous decades, isoprene chemistry under high and low NOx conditions at different locations, organic aerosols, air pollution near Houston and in petroleum fields, smoke from wildfires in western forests and from agricultural fires in the Mississippi Valley, and the ways in which the chemistry in the boundary layer and the upper troposphere were influenced by vertical transport in convective clouds

Planning, implementation, and scientific goals of the studies of emissions and atmospheric composition, clouds and climate coupling by regional surveys (SEAC\u3csup\u3e4\u3c/sup\u3eRS) field mission

The Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) fieldmission based at Ellington Field, Texas, during August and September 2013 employed the most comprehensive airborne payload to date to investigate atmospheric composition over North America. The NASA ER-2, DC-8, and SPEC Inc. Learjet flew 57 science flights fromthe surface to 20 km. The ER-2 employed seven remote sensing instruments as a satellite surrogate and eight in situ instruments. The DC-8 employed 23 in situ and five remote sensing instruments for radiation, chemistry, and microphysics. The Learjet used 11 instruments to explore cloud microphysics. SEAC4RS launched numerous balloons, augmented AErosol RObotic NETwork, and collaborated with many existing ground measurement sites. Flights investigating convection included close coordination of all three aircraft. Coordinated DC-8 and ER-2 flights investigated the optical properties of aerosols, the influence of aerosols on clouds, and the performance of new instruments for satellite measurements of clouds and aerosols. ER-2 sorties sampled stratospheric injections of water vapor and other chemicals by local and distant convection. DC-8 flights studied seasonally evolving chemistry in the Southeastern U.S., atmospheric chemistry with lower emissions of NOx and SO2 than in previous decades, isoprene chemistry under high and low NOx conditions at different locations, organic aerosols, air pollution near Houston and in petroleum fields, smoke from wildfires in western forests and from agricultural fires in the Mississippi Valley, and the ways in which the chemistry in the boundary layer and the upper troposphere were influenced by vertical transport in convective clouds

Physiological and Morphological Responses to Ozone Exposure of Coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides (L.) Codd)

The tropospheric ozone has been projected to increase and it could harm humans, animals, and vegetation. The objectives of this study were to investigate morphological changes in coleus leaves, to assess the change of pigment composition (chlorophyll, carotenoid, and anthocyanin), and to understand color dynamics due to ozone fumigation. Coleus Kong Green (fully green/FG), Coleus Kong Scarlet (green and purple/GP), Coleus Wizard Pastel (yellow and purple/YP), and Coleus Wizard Scarlet (reddish/RD) had been selected and tested into three different ozone concentrations which were CF (≤ 10 ppb ozone), CF+40 ppb ozone, and CF+150 ppb ozone for 8 hours/day for 30 days. Chlorosis in FG and curling leaf in RD were observed as the symptoms while other cultivars showed different appearances such as expanded purple area (GP and YP) and curl margin (RD). Chlorophyll and carotenoid content significantly decreased in all cultivars while anthocyanin was found increasing except in RD. The color change tended to redder and brighter in all cultivars except RD which was stable and purple area in GP which was darker. Therefore, different coleus cultivars show different responses and it can be used as ozone-plant model to investigate pigment composition under ozone exposure

NASA earth science and applications division: The program and plans for FY 1988-1989-1990

Described here are the Division's research goals, priorities and emphases for the next several years and an outline of longer term plans. Included are highlights of recent accomplishments, current activities in FY 1988, research emphases in FY 1989, and longer term future plans. Data and information systems, the Geodynamics Program, the Land Processes Program, the Oceanic Processes Program, the Atmospheric Dynamics and Radiation Program, the Atmospheric Chemistry Program, and space flight programs are among the topic covered

Pollution trace gas distributions and their transport in the Asian monsoon upper troposphere and lowermost stratosphere during the StratoClim campaign 2017

We present the first high-resolution measurements of pollutant trace gases in the Asian summer monsoon upper troposphere and lowermost stratosphere (UTLS) from the Gimballed Limb Observer for Radiance Imaging of the Atmosphere (GLORIA) during the StratoClim (Stratospheric and upper tropospheric processes for better climate predictions) campaign based in Kathmandu, Nepal, 2017. Measurements of peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN), acetylene (C$_2$H$_2$), and formic acid (HCOOH) show strong local enhancements up to altitudes of 16\,km. More than 500\,pptv of PAN, more than 200\,pptv of C$_2$H$_2$, and more than 200\,pptv of HCOOH are observed. Air masses with increased volume mixing ratios of PAN and C$_2$H$_2$ at altitudes up to 18\,km, reaching to the lowermost stratosphere, were present at these altitudes for more than 10\,d, as indicated by trajectory analysis. A local minimum of HCOOH is correlated with a previously reported maximum of ammonia (NH$_3$), which suggests different washout efficiencies of these species in the same air masses. A backward trajectory analysis based on the models Alfred Wegener InsTitute LAgrangian Chemistry/Transport System (ATLAS) and TRACZILLA, using advanced techniques for detection of convective events, and starting at geolocations of GLORIA measurements with enhanced pollution trace gas concentrations, has been performed. The analysis shows that convective events along trajectories leading to GLORIA measurements with enhanced pollutants are located close to regions where satellite measurements by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) indicate enhanced tropospheric columns of nitrogen dioxide (NO$_2$) in the days prior to the observation. A comparison to the global atmospheric models Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) and ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) has been performed. It is shown that these models are able to reproduce large-scale structures of the pollution trace gas distributions for one part of the flight, while the other part of the flight reveals large discrepancies between models and measurement. These discrepancies possibly result from convective events that are not resolved or parameterized in the models, uncertainties in the emissions of source gases, and uncertainties in the rate constants of chemical reactions

Tropospheric O3 modeling study: Contributions of anthropogenic and biogenic sources to O3-CO and O3-CH2O correlations

Tropospheric O3 and CO are major pollutants in the troposphere. Strong correlation between O3 and CO was observed during the DISCOVER-AQ aircraft experiment in July 2011 over the Washington-Baltimore area. The observed correlation does not vary significantly with time or altitude in the boundary layer. The observations are simulated well by a regional chemical transport model. We analyze the model results to understand the factors contributing to the observed O3-CO regression slope, which has been used in past studies to estimate the anthropogenic O3 production amount. We trace separately four different CO sources: primary anthropogenic emissions, oxidation of anthropogenic VOCs, oxidation of biogenic isoprene, and transport from the lateral and upper model boundaries. Modeling analysis suggests that the contribution from biogenic isoprene oxidation to the observed O3-CO regression slope is as large as that from primary anthropogenic CO emissions. As a result of decrease of anthropogenic primary CO emissions during the past decades, biogenic CO from oxidation of isoprene is increasingly important. Consequently, observed and simulated O3-CO regression slopes can no longer be used directly with an anthropogenic CO emission inventory to quantify anthropogenic O3 production over the United States. The consistent enhancement of O3 relative to CO observed in the boundary layer, as indicated by the O3-CO regression slope, provides a useful constraint on model photochemistry and emissions. As an extension, we analyze the scenario of O3-CO regression slopes in the entire United States and China regions. The O3-CO regression slope ~ 0.3 is simulated over the eastern outflow regions over the ocean. Over the eastern inland regions of both countries, the O3-CO regression slope is lower than that over the outflow region, reflecting in part continuous O3 production in the outflow region. The simulation result shows that the proportion of contribution from biogenic isoprene to the regressed O3-CO slopes various depending on the corresponding local emission scenario. While biogenic isoprene oxidation makes a comparable contribution as anthropogenic emissions in the eastern US, the latter dominates over eastern China. Over the western inland regions of both countries, the O3-CO regression slope can be higher than the eastern inland regions due to transport from lateral and upper boundaries. The observations of O3-CO regression slope provide the means to understand the relative importance of anthropogenic and biogenic emissions on O3 as well as transport. In addition to O3-CO, strong correlations and consistent linear regression slopes of O3-CH2O and CO-CH2O were also observed during the DISCOVER-AQ aircraft experiment in July 2011 over the Washington-Baltimore area. Same as CO, we also analyze the model results to understand the factors contributing to the observed O3-CH2O regression slope by tracing separately three different CH2O sources: primary secondary anthropogenic sources, biogenic isoprene oxidation, and transport from model boundaries. Results show biogenic isoprene oxidation makes the largest contribution to the regression slope of O3-CH2O across much of the eastern United States, providing a good indicator for O3 enhanced by biogenic VOCs. In contrast, the regression slope of O3-CO is controlled by both anthropogenic and biogenic emissions. Therefore, the CO-CH2O linear relationship can be applied to track the contributions to surface O3 by anthropogenic and biogenic factors. Making use of these linear dependences, we build a fast-response ozone estimator using near surface CH2O and CO concentrations as inputs. We examine the quality of this O3 estimator by increasing or decreasing anthropogenic emissions by up to 50%. The estimated O3 distribution is in reasonably good agreement with the full-model simulations (R2 >0.77 in the range of -30% to +50% of anthropogenic emissions). The analysis provides the basis for using high-quality geostationary satellites with UV, thermal infrared, or near infrared instruments for observing CH2O and CO to improve surface O3 distribution monitoring. The estimation model also provides 6 observation-derived regional metrics to evaluate and improve full-fledged 3-D air quality models. The NASA DISCOVER-AQ airborne campaigns were also carried out around the Houston and Denver metropolitan areas in the summers of 2013 and 2014, respectively. Using the 2011 national emissions inventory (NEI), a regional chemical transport model (REAM) is applied to analyze the aircraft observations. We find that major model discrepancies are driven by large underestimates of alkane emissions in both regions. Modeling analysis suggests increases of alkane emissions by a factor of 15 in the Houston Ship Channel, where ship-transport, ship-unloading, storage, domestic transportation of oil take place, and by a factor of 5 in the regions of oil and gas exploration of Denver. The large increase of alkane emissions has drastically different effects on O3 concentrations depending on the strength of biogenic emissions. A useful metric to diagnose the effects of alkane emissions on photochemistry is the least-squares regression slope of O3 to CH2O, which increases by 30% and 80% in Houston and Denver, respectively, due to the increases of alkane emissions, leading to good agreement between model simulations and aircraft observations. Our finding implies that alkane emissions from oil and gas related sources may be substantially underestimated by the NEI, leading to corresponding underestimates of anthropogenic contributions to O3 particularly over the western United States where biogenic VOC emissions are low. In regions like Denver, reducing alkane emissions is urgently required to control summertime O3 concentrations.Ph.D