The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 early science investigations of regional carbon dioxide fluxes.

NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) mission was motivated by the need to diagnose how the increasing concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) is altering the productivity of the biosphere and the uptake of CO2 by the oceans. Launched on 2 July 2014, OCO-2 provides retrievals of the column-averaged CO2 dry-air mole fraction ([Formula: see text]) as well as the fluorescence from chlorophyll in terrestrial plants. The seasonal pattern of uptake by the terrestrial biosphere is recorded in fluorescence and the drawdown of [Formula: see text] during summer. Launched just before one of the most intense El Niños of the past century, OCO-2 measurements of [Formula: see text] and fluorescence record the impact of the large change in ocean temperature and rainfall on uptake and release of CO2 by the oceans and biosphere.

Influence of El Niño on atmospheric CO2 over the tropical Pacific Ocean: Findings from NASA's OCO-2 mission.

Spaceborne observations of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 are used to characterize the response of tropical atmospheric CO2 concentrations to the strong El Niño event of 2015-2016. Although correlations between the growth rate of atmospheric CO2 concentrations and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation are well known, the magnitude of the correlation and the timing of the responses of oceanic and terrestrial carbon cycle remain poorly constrained in space and time. We used space-based CO2 observations to confirm that the tropical Pacific Ocean does play an early and important role in modulating the changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations during El Niño events-a phenomenon inferred but not previously observed because of insufficient high-density, broad-scale CO2 observations over the tropics.

Vertical profiles of aerosol volume from high-spectral-resolution infrared transmission measurements. I. Methodology.

The wavelength-dependent aerosol extinction in the 800-1250-cm(-1) region has been derived from ATMOS (atmospheric trace molecule spectroscopy) high-spectral-resolution IR transmission measurements. Using models of aerosol and cloud extinction, we have performed weighted nonlinear least-squares fitting to determine the aerosol-volume columns and vertical profiles of stratospheric sulfate aerosol and cirrus cloud volume. Modeled extinction by use of cold-temperature aerosol optical constants for a 70-80% sulfuric-acid-water solution shows good agreement with the measurements, and the derived aerosol volumes for a 1992 occultation are consistent with data from other experiments after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. The retrieved sulfuric acid aerosol-volume profiles are insensitive to the aerosol-size distribution and somewhat sensitive to the set of optical constants used. Data from the nonspherical cirrus extinction model agree well with a 1994 mid-latitude measurement indicating the presence of cirrus clouds at the tropopause.

Effect of emissions control programs on visibility in southern California.

A new method for the analysis and display of the effect of emissions controls on visibility is applied to conditions in southern California. An advanced mechanistic air quality model that represents airborne particles as a source-oriented external mixture first is used to track emissions source contributions to the size distribution and chemical composition of airborne particles at Claremont, CA, under heavy smog conditions. The resulting description of the aerosol is used in a Mie scattering calculation to determine the magnitude and particle size dependence of light scattering and absorption in the atmosphere. The resulting light scattering and absorption coefficient values are supplied to an image processing-based visibility model that creates full color representations of the appearance of the local terrain in the presence of the specified level of air pollution based on satellite-generated landscape images. By linking these models, a direct connection is established between source emissions and resulting visual air quality. The composite modeling system then is used to studythe effectthat different emissions control strategies would have on visibility in southern California. An aggressive program of 92 specific emissions control measures that include primary particle controls plus controls on reactive gases that act as secondary aerosol precursors would more than double visual range at Claremont under the 1987 historical conditions studied. Synthetic landscape images show that the mountains to the north of Claremont that are not visible at a range of 10 km under base-case conditions would be visible if the emissions controls described above were applied.