NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#32 WINTER 2016

ISSUE # 32
Winter 2016
Organization and Plans

CONTENTSREPORTS

8

Organization and Plans

GOSAT has been operating properly since thespacecraft was placed in orbit on January 23, 2009. The
initial calibration and validation of the instruments onIBUKI
board started
monthslater, andthe routine obserNIESthree
GOSAT
PROJECT
NEWSLETTER
National
InstituteforEnvironmental
Studies(NIES)distribution
vation has been continued since July 28. The
A newsletter on the Greenhouse gases Observing SATelliteof theLevel
1 dataprojectto thefrom
generalpublicwas initiated“IBUKI”(GOSAT)
Satellite
Observation
Center on
http://www.gosat.nies.go.jp/
October
29 of the same year. This was followed by therelease of the Level 2 and Level 3 data products in 2010,
REPORTand Level 4 products in 2012.
Satellite
Research
A project Observation
unit in NIES carries
out the Projects
GOSAT
and
Satellite
Observation
CenterProject. This unit implements the primary tasks of theDr. T. Matsunaga,
Directorof Satellite
Observation
Center, NIES
GOSAT
Project, which
includedeveloping
algorithms
for calculatingcolumnInstituteabundancesof CO2 and CH
from
The National
for Environmental
Studies(NIES)
4

いぶきenteredthe Fourth five-year(April 2016
March 2021)
the hasGOSAT
observationaldata, planvalidating
and– evaluatand six Research Projects are introduced. They are closely
ing related
the results,
and developing
and atimproving
with various
research fields
NIES whichnumerirequires tobe continuallydevelopedthe
as sources
an organization
as wellas NIEScal models
for estimating
and sinksof CO
2taking the domestic/global leadership to be productive.
and CH4. The unit also operates GOSAT DHF and provides The
information
data userssatellite(Chapter4). Inimplemented
FY2016,two Earthto
observation
projects
in the Third five-year plan, Greenhouse gas Observation
Satellite Observation Center was newly established to
SATellite GOSAT and its successor GOSAT-2, are consolidated
strengthen
theand operational
structure
as one oftheadministrative
Satellite Observation
Research Projects
in theFourthplan,
andSatellite
Observation
Center(SOC)
hasfor GOSAT and GOSAT-2 (Figure 28).
been established under the Research Project Collaboration
The COand CH
Level 4 data
have been
Division
to2 drivethe4 business.
Thereproducts
are 54 members(as of
Oct.
2016)
at
SOC
includingtheconcurrent
staffsandcontract/
released since December 2012 and July 2014, respectivedispatched employees working in the Main Research Building
II and III, Climate Change Research Hall, GOSAT-2 Research
Computation Facility, and GOSAT-2 Office.

The SOC organization is shown on the right. The members
consist of those who are specially nominated from theresearch centers (Center for Global Environmental Researchand Center for Environmental Measurement and Analysis)
working concurrently for the sake of Satellite Observation
Research Projects. The SOC’s main activities are two projects,
GOSAT and GOSAT-2, and four teams are organized for theirsmooth operation and implementation to cover common
works across the projects: Validation; Ground Data System
Management; Ground Data System Operation; and theAdministration and Public Relations. The GOSAT-3 Preparation
Team and Committee for Future Satellite Missions are alsoestablished.

GOSAT Project

For more information, please contact:
Satellite Observation Center

Satellite Observation Research Projects and			Satellite Observation Center01

peer-reviewed published papers

06

RA PI Meetings in 2015 - 2016
Major project outcomes in 2015 - 2016	
Statistics of selected RA proposals and

02
03

ly.
For inupdating
the nominal
releaseddata products, the Project
GOSAT
the year after
lifetime		
08
GOSAT
PEOPLE		
from Dr.
T. Matsunaga
04will continue
the tasksGreetingsof renewing
thedata processing

ANNOUNCEMENT		GUIG
closed05
algorithm, processing
and services
re-processing
the observa
PUBLISHED PAPERS
06

tional data with the improved algorithms, and validating
DATA PRODUCT UPDATE
Data Processing Status Update09
the acquired data products.

<Organizationof Satellite
Observation
Center>Figure28. Satellite Chart
Observation
Centerorganization(as of July. 2016).

The Satellite Observation Research Projects in the Fourth
five-year plan consists of six activities:
1) to continue operational processing of GOSAT data;
Ministry of the Environment2) to implement the finalizing reprocessing of all GOSAT data;3) to continue
validation, archiving, provision, and PR activities
環境省
for GOSAT products and their recognition;4) to establish the data processing systems for GOSAT-2;
National
InstituteEnvironmental
Studies5) to implement
operational
dataforprocessing
for GOSAT-2,
and validate/archive/provide its products, promoting PR
国立研究開発法人 国立環境研究所
activities;6) to coordinate requirements for GOSAT-3 and make anoverall plan.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
The SOC isdetermined to
do our best to take over the
宇宙航空研究開発機構
国立研究開発法人
heritage accomplished by NIES’ satellite-related projects anddevelop it further. We highly appreciate your continuous
advice and support for the years to come.
1­­● For inquiries on the distribution of the GOSAT data products,

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#32 WINTER 2016

RA PI Meetings in 2015 - 2016
The 7th GOSAT RA PI Meeting was held at CALTECH (California
Institute of Technology) in Pasadena, CA, USA on June 15 (Mon), 2015
with 58 participants consisting of 36 PIs and Co-Is, and those frominvolved parties of NIES, JAXA, NASA, and others. Since the meeting wascompressed to a day from a few days due to schedule constraints, only
some closed-door presentations were given leaving others to the 11th
IWGGMS (International Workshop on Greenhouse Gas Measurementsfrom Space) held from June 16 (Tue) to June 18 (Thu), 2015.

The 8th GOSAT RA PI Meeting was held at Kyoto University in Japan
from June 6 (Mon) to June 7 (Tue), 2016 with 71 participants consistingof 38 PIs and Co-Is, and those from involved parties of NIES, JAXA, NASA,and others. Only closed-door presentations were given as was at the 7th
Meeting, leaving others to the 12th IWGGMS from June 7 (Tue) to June 9(Thu), 2016.
At the RA PI Meeting, two-minute summary presentations were
given after the Plenary Session by the speakers who were to present
at the IWGGMS. There were Sessions of Validation/Algorithms, Inverse
Modeling/Application, and Discussions by each 4 working groups on
the first day. The second day had Sessions of GOSAT-2 and the Closing
Session.
After Logistics by Dr. Yokota, the Plenary Session started with welcome
speeches by Dr. Matsunaga (NIES) and Dr. T. Nakajima (JAXA), andopening remarks by Dr. Shimoda (Tokai Univ., Chair of RA Committee)
followed by 3 reports: Dr. Shiomi (JAXA) reported on the present status of
GOSAT project; Mr. Ajiro (NIES) on GOSAT product; and Dr. Uchino (NIES)
on the validation of FTS SWIR products.
18 Two-minute summary presentations were given consisting of
8 Validation, 3 Algorithms, 2 Inverse Modeling, and 5 Application
summaries.

At California Institute of Technology
At the RA PI Meeting, two–minute summary presentations were given
after the Plenary Session by the speakers who were to present laterat the IWGGMS. There were Sessions of Validation and Application/
Algorithms/Inverse Modeling followed by the General Discussion andClosing Session. At the Plenary Session, Dr. Shiomi (JAXA) reported on
the present status of GOSAT Project, Dr. Yokota (NIES) on the redefined
Data Products and the revised Data Policy approved by the 3 parties(JAXA/NIES/MOE) in March, and Mr. Ajiro (NIES) on the present statusof GOSAT Products and the results of the past action items. 19 Two–minute summary presentations were given consisting of 4 Algorithm, 6
Validation, 3 Model, and 6 Application summaries.

Validation/Algorithms Session had reports from Dr. Crisp (JPL) on
cross calibration/validation of GOSAT and OCO-2, Prof. Notholt (Univ.
of Bremen) on improvement of GOSAT CO2 retrieval, Dr. Camy-Peyret(Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace) on possible detection of Arctic sea
warming, Associate Prof. Dr. Shibata (Tokyo Metropolitan Univ.) on
ground-based CO2 DIAL (DIfferential Absorption Lidar), Assistant Prof.
Dr. Eguchi (Kyushu Univ.) on cirrus detection with TIR, Associate Prof. Dr.
Imasu (Univ. of Tokyo) on relationships between the surface reflectanceand emissivity for synergetic usage of SWIR & TIR, etc.
Inverse Modeling/Application Session saw reports from Mr. Maki (Japan
Meteorological Agency) on 4-dimensional GOSAT data assimilation using
LETKF (Local Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter), Dr. Nassar (Environment
and Climate Change Canada) on GOSAT XCO2/XCH4 comparisons with
Canadian carbon assimilation system, Dr. Schwandner (JPL) on volcanic
CO 2 emission, Dr. Sugita (NIES) on comparison of methane profiles
between GOSAT-TIR and aircraft measurement in West Siberia, AssociateProf. Dr. Sakuno (Hiroshima Univ.) on aerosol angstrom exponent
estimation for coastal zone using GOSAT-CAI data, Dr. Ricaud (CNRS) on
summertime mid-to-upper tropospheric N 2O transportation over theMediterranean, etc. In the Group Discussions, 4 working groups weremade to discuss CAI Aerosols, FTS SWIR, FTS TIR, and CO2/CH4 Fluxes.

In the afternoon, Validation
Session had 6 presentations
on measures to improveaccuracy of observed data,
refinement of a cloud-aerosol
model, distribution scheduleof OCO-2 next version
products, reprocessing planof GOSAT data, and validation
with TCCON data and groundbased lidar. The Application/ Oral Presentation at 7th RA PI Meeting
Algorithms/Inverse Modeling Session had presentations on the large
difference still remaining between the model-calculated value basedon ground-based flux and the observed data by GOSAT and others,
especially in the South Hemisphere and particularly in Australia, while thedifference being much smaller when focused on large cities.

On the second day, Dr. M. Nakajima (JAXA) reported on the current
status of GOSAT-2 and the 4 working groups reported their discussion toclose the Meeting.

Dr. Suto (JAXA) introduced GOSAT-2 and Dr. Uchino (NIES) reported thelatest validation results on CO2 bias (reduced by 0.5ppm) at the General
Discussion, and a topic on reflectance ratio (of snow especially) attracted
high attention as a possible cause of seasonal/regional fluctuation of
GOSAT FTS L2 products at the closing general discussion.
The 11th IWGGMS saw 150-over attendees including the presentersfrom RA PI Meeting, 54 oral, and 90 poster presentations. The Workshop
consisted of 5 Sessions including 9 oral and 10 poster presentations by
GOSAT RA PIs: Observation/Calibration; Retrieval Algorithm; Validation;
Flux Inversion; and Future Mission.
==============================

In front of Clock Tower Centennial Hall, Kyoto University

2­­

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#32 WINTER 2016

Major project outcomes in 2015 - 2016
Following the news “Historically Unprecedented
Observation of Anthropogenic CO2 Emissions from Space” by
IBUKI (Newsletter #31), CH4 was also analyzed for the same
period based on the observational data acquired by IBUKI. The
result showed that CH4 in densely populated, intense farming,or oil/natural gas producing/refining areas (anthropogenicarea) had the tendency for higher concentrations comparedto their surrounding environments. Furthermore, strong

positive correlations were found between the observed CH4
concentrations and the concentrations estimated from theinventory data. This indicates that IBUKI has the potential
to enable us to detect enhanced CH4 concentrations due toanthropogenic emissions. This demonstrates the potential
utility of IBUKI as a tool for monitoring and validating
anthropogenic CH4 emissions in addition to CO2. For details,
please visit:
http://www.nies.go.jp/whatsnew/2015/20151127/20151127.
html)- Date of press release: November 27, 2015 (in Japanese)

CH4 concentration increase observed by "IBUKI" (ppb)

CH4 concentration increase predicted by inventory (ppb)

Major Press Release (1)ー Anthropogenic CH4 to be captured ー(

Major Press Release (2)ー Anthropogenic CO2 to be
captured by country ー
The CO2 observational data
by IBUKI was analyzed again
for 5.5 years (2 years added)
from June 2009 to December
2014. Estimation was made forTokyo’s urban areas for the firsttime in addition to the megacities and their surroundings
regarding the anthropogenic
CO 2 concentrations. Furthermore, the comparison between
the estimate from IBUKI data
Regions found to be with high anthropogenic CO2 concentrations observed by "IBUKI"
and the inventory calculated
statistics showed basic agreement of both values. This ismeet the requirements of Paris Agreement. For details, please
visit:
the first-ever opportunity to accomplish that granularity atcountry level, which demonstrates the potential feasibility
http://www.gosat.nies.go.jp/newpdf/GOSAT_press20160901.
pdf)
of monitoring and validating CO 2 emissions by satellite’sobservation for each country to create and publish data to- Date of press release: September 1, 2016(

Major Press release (3) ー Provisional CO2 concentrations
open to the public ー
MOE, NIES, and JAXA have published preliminary figures of (a)monthly mean CO2, and (b) CO2 trend based on (a), which are
analyzed and estimated using about 7 years’ data from May
2009, at “Whole-atmosphere monthly mean CO2 concentration
based on GOSAT observations” page of GOSAT Project site,
NIES (http://www.gosat.nies.go.jp/en/recent-global-co2.html).
The latest figures (August 2016) are (a) 400.7 ppm, and (b)401.7 ppm. For details, please visit:
http://www.nies.go.jp/whatsnew/2016/20161027/20161027.
html)- Date of press release: October 27, 2016 (in Japanese)(

Whole-atmospheric concentrations monitored by GOSAT:
monthly mean ● and trend ●3­­

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#32 WINTER 2016

GOSAT PEOPLE

Greetings

Dr. T. Matsunaga, Director,
Satellite Observation Center, NIESThe Satellite Observation Center(SOC) was newly established in NIES in April
2016 and I, Tsuneo Matsunaga, have taken
office as the Director. I work concurrently
for the center, GOSAT project, and GOSAT-2
project, for which I will describe somepolicies and plans for their operation alongwith an introduction of myself.
◆ Self-Introduction ◆During my undergraduate years, I majoredin technological studies of remote sensing
by satellites/aircrafts mainly for resource
exploration. I was particularly engaged indeveloping an algorithm to estimate thetemperatures of ground/water surfaces
using high-resolution multispectral thermal
infrared imaging function which was theworld’s first-ever on board a spacecraft. The
function was intended for a high-resolution
multispectral camera ASTER which wasunder development by the Ministry ofInternational Trade and Industry (MITI), now
renamed as the Ministry of Economy, Tradeand Industry(METI) to mount on a large
NASA satellite EOS-AM1 (later renamed as“Terra”) to observe the Earth. Coincidentally,
Dr. Yokota wrote his doctoral dissertationon the same theme which made me feel
connected with him in a way. The study
intends to accurately measure the thermalradiation and temperature from the groundand water surfaces, correcting the effectof the atmosphere. This is just the reverseof GOSAT/GOSAT-2 works which handles
the atmosphere itself. However, I also took
vertical distribution data of temperatureand H 2 O by radiosonde, and calculated
atmospheric heat absorption and emission
using radiative transfer models at the sametime.

After completing my master’s degree,
I entered MITI and started my life as a
researcher at Geological Survey of Japanin the Agency of Industrial Science andTechnology (now a part of AIST: National
Institute of Advanced Industrial Scienceand Technology). At first, I continued thetechnological study of remote sensing
for resource exploration and geologicalsurvey. In 1999, I had a chance to witness
the launch of Terra with ASTER on board
and shared the delight of its success with
the US researchers. I also developed a new
method to estimate spectral emissivity
on the land surface using ASTER’s thermal
infrared data as a part of my doctoral
dissertation. An algorithm developed basedon this method in collaboration with US
researchers was adopted in the grounddata processing systems both in Japan andUS for ASTER, and is used in generating
standard products even now. One of thetest sites for ASTER was Railroad Valley, theplaya in Nevada, US, which is also used forvicarious calibration of GOSAT. 1996 was
the first year for me to have an experiment
there and it was also the year when theplace became the common calibration site
for NASA’s Earth Observing System, wheregroups from various satellites/sensors
gathered to collaborate in experiments.
Besides resource exploring, I also worked
on environmental monitoring of lakes
and coral reefs by satellites and aircrafts incollaboration with those researchers within
Geological Survey of Japan, who specializedin coasts and lakes. Ishigaki Island, coral
reefs in Australia, and eutrophied lakes inJapan such as Suwako or Shinjiko were
especially my fields to have repeated insitu measurements and synchronizedsatellite observation experiments with thecollaborative researchers. I also started astudy of geological investigation of theMoon in collaboration with Institute ofSpace and Astronautical Science (ISAS)
as a new application of remote sensing
technology for geological survey. I was
involved in Lunar-A (an unlaunched
ISAS lunar explorer) and SELENE named“KAGUYA” (launched in 2007), a joint
lunar exploring mission of ISAS and JAXA.
Particularly in the latter mission, I was
entirely engaged from proposal, design,development, test, operation, and dataprocessing of a visible near-infrared
spectrometer, Spectral Profiler. This wasreally a valuable experience and the most4­­

unforgettable memory was the world's
first discovery of a large scale exposureof plagioclase, which is supposed toconstitute the Moon’s primordial crust at
the far side of the Moon. It still remains a
profound experience today.
Then I transferred to Tokyo Institute ofTechnology where I became a memberof the Laboratory of Architecture/Urban
Environment and got engaged in acompletely different field from the previous
resource exploration/geological research.
I challenged in analyzing the heat islandeffect and its various causes by using
the methods of remote sensing, fieldmeasurements, and numerical analysis
with my students. The targeted regions atthat time were residential areas near theuniversity, suburban hilly districts/woods,
and even Metro Manila of Philippines (howdiverse!), and my co-researchers were
not from natural science field but fromarchitecture and urban/civil engineering –completely different from the deserts, thewildernesses, the Moon – all of which gave
me a huge range of stimuli. There werealso other stimuli from the students who
advanced to the doctoral program. They
were studying radiation transfer of lightin the vegetation canopy or amount ofphotosynthesis in plant community, snow
and ice, etc. which I was not so familiar
with, and invited me to various fields tostudy from the very beginning. This waspart of my everyday life then.
I left the university and joined NIES in
2001, where I got affiliated at Social andEnvironmental Systems Division for the
first 5 years where I applied remote sensing
technology to various environmental
issues. In particular, monitoring the inland
grassland in China by a satellite camera forwide-area observation and estimating daily
minimum temperature by thermal infraredobservation with high temporal resolution
several times a day were the importantstudies focused then. Monitoring coral reefs
by an airplane-mounted hyperspectral
camera and surveying wildlife using
airplane/drone were also undertaken withmy colleagues. In 2006, I moved to theCenter for Global Environmental Research(CGER) to manage and operate its database
there. This kind of job was something I havenever experienced before - to organize anddistribute data which were not observed/
acquired by myself – and yet I learned

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#32 WINTER 2016

much from the job. Constructing a system
to handle biodiversity/ecology data wasanother really impressive experience forme because I learned a lot by working withresearchers in completely diﬀerent researchﬁelds, background, and history from remotesensing and geology. Furthermore, I was
also involved in studies of speciﬁcations
for the ASTERʼs successor then, which
is now nearing reality as Hyperspectral
Imager Suite (HISUI) to be operated on
International Space Station (ISS) in 2019
after some bumps and detours.
On the other hand, I started preparing
GOSAT-2 Project requested by Dr. Inoue
who had just launched GOSAT project.
I remember I was then entirely focusedon reading literatures, attending related
conferences to listen to other researchersʼ
presentations and discussions due tolack of experiences in greenhouse gas
o b s e r v a t i o n . I a l s o j o i n e d i n G O S AT
project in parallel to work on developing
the ground system and introducing thecomputer facilities for that system. The
GOSAT Research Computing Facility (RCF),
the GOSAT-dedicated supercomputer,
was introduced in 2009. Thanks to many
peopleʼs cooperation, it had the honor to
be ranked as the 10th best in the Green
500 in 2010, which is a ranking of the mostenergy-eﬃcient supercomputers in theworld. This got me involved in constructing
rooms and buildings for the facilities, where
my knowledge and experience aboutarchitecture from the former position inTokyo Institute of Technology became
useful.
In 2010, after GOSATʼs successful launch,
the then Director of CGER Dr. Yasuhiro
Sasano started hosting workshops to study

Satellite Observation Center Members
requirements for GOSAT-2. That resulted
in the agreement on GOSAT-2 Project by
the three parties (MOE, JAXA, and NIES)
in the summer of 2011, just when GOSAT
Level 4 product began to appear on the
product list. The GOSAT-2 Preparation
Team (Matsunaga as Deputy Leader) and
GOSAT-2 Project Team (Matsunaga as
Leader) were established in February 2012/
April 2013 respectively at NIES based on
the agreement. From then on, we havebeen advancing various preparation
works toward the launch of GOSAT-2 incollaboration with GOSAT project.
◆ From now on ◆Expecting the launch of GOSAT-2 asplanned in FY 2018, SOC is currently
developing its ground system “G2DPS”(Gosat-2 Data Processing System) andothers. The GOSAT-2 will observe not
only CO 2 and CH 4 but also CO, urban air
pollution, etc. which may increase the loadon the ground system. Itʼs a challenge
for us to make a better system basedon experiences gained through GOSAT

project, and we will do our best to gain
more outcomes by cooperating in close
relationship with MOE, JAXA, GOSAT-2
science team members in Japan, andoverseas researchers including NASA.
Fortunately, GOSAT is continuing its
observation for nearly 3 years over its
nominal lifetime, thus, we are organizing
S O C t o h a n d l e G O S AT a n d G O S AT 2's simultaneous operation and dataprocessing. In particular, common works
for the two satellites such as computer
facilities maintenance, validation, public
relations, etc. will be tackled eﬃciently andcomprehensively by the dedicated teams. A
preparatory work with younger researchers
for GOSAT-3 has just started with highexpectation for their best performance inthe mid-2020s.
We look forward to seeing your full
involvement into this great journey toﬁnd out the truth of global warming withGOSAT, GOSAT-2, and GOSAT-3 for theyears to come.

GUIG services closed
GUIG site was closed and stopped all its services on December 28,
2016, 8:00 (UT). Thank you for using GUIG services for a long time. Please
access to GDAS (GOSAT Data Archive Service) now providing compressed
and archived GOSAT data products.
https://data2.gosat.nies.go.jp/
As all GUIG accounts have been transferred to GDAS, no additional
registration is required if you have had a GUIG account, whose ID andpassword enables you to login to GDAS. If you are new, please register on
the site above. If you have any questions, donʼt hesitate to contact us at:
gosat-support@nies.go.jp
5

GDAS Top

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#32 WINTER 2016

Statistics of selected RA proposals and peer-reviewd published papers

Shown below are statistics of selected RA proposals (left: perfield of research, center: per country of the research organization).
The number of applications peaked around 2008 - 2010, still
keeping steady responses throughout the 1st to the latest RA to
Field of Research

Selected
RA Themes
4

Calibration
Algorithm

22

Validation

30

Carbon Balance
Estimation/AtmosphericTransport Models

17

Data Application50

Data App./Validation

2

Carbon Balance

Estimation/AtmosphericTransport Models &Data App.

Total

1
126

Country *realize the accumulation of 126. On the other hand, publishedpapers (right) have increased rapidly in the last several years andkeep going. Please visit the site below to see all the papers.
http://www.gosat.nies.go.jp/news/reference2015.html

Selected
RA Themes

Japan

36

USA

22

Germany

10

China

6

Canada5

France5Netherlands

5

UK

5

Russia4

Finland4

Others

24
Total

Year

Published Papers
With
GOSAT data

Without
GOSAT data

Total

3

41

2014

42

1

43

2013

50

4

54

2012

25

7

32

2011

15

5

20

2010

3

14

17

2009

1

2015

12

13

2008

5

5

2007

1

1

52

226

Total

126

38

174

* Per organization RA PI belongs

PUBLISHED PAPERS (from Jan. to Dec., 2015)
Field of Research: atmospheric transport models, carbon balance
estimation
Name of Journal: Atmos. Chem. Phys. (volume 15, pages 113-133, 2015)

Field of Research: data application, carbon balance estimation
Name of Journal: Geophys. Res. Lett. (volume 42, pages 8177-8184, 2015)
Title: Anomalous carbon uptake in Australia as seen by GOSAT

satellite retrieval products from GOSAT and SCIAMACHY
Authors: Alexe, M., Bergamaschi, P., Segers, A., Detmers, R., Butz,
A., Hasekamp, O., Guerlet, S., Parker, R., Boesch, H., Frankenberg, C.,
Scheepmaker, R.-A., Dlugokencky, E., Sweeney, C., Wofsy, S.-C., and Kort, E. A.

T.T., Butz, A., Landgraf, J., Köhler, P., Guanter, L., and Poulter, B.

Title: Inverse modelling of CH4 emissions for 2010-2011 using different

Authors: Detmers, R.G., Hasekamp, O., Aben, I., Houweling, S., van Leeuwen,

Field of Research: algorithm
Name of Journal: Atmos. Meas. Tech. (volume 8, pages 859-874, 2015)
Title: Tropospheric aerosol profile information from high-resolution oxygen

Field of Research: atmospheric transport models, carbon balance
estimation
Name of Journal: Biogeosciences (volume 12, pages 5393-5414, 2015)
Title: Natural and anthropogenic methane fluxes in Eurasia: a mesoscalequantification by generalized atmospheric inversion

A-band measurements from space
Authors: Geddes, A., and Bösch, H.

Field of Research: algorithm, data application
Name of Journal: IEEE J. Sel. Top. Appl. (volume 8, pages 376-385, 2015)

Authors: Berchet, A., Pison, I., Chevallier, F., Paris, J.-D., Bousquet, P., Bonne,
J.-L., Arshinov, M.Y., Belan, B.D., Cressot, C., Davydov, D.K., Dlugokencky, E.J.,
Fofonov, A.V., Galanin, A., Lavrič, J., Machida, T., Parker, R., Sasakawa, M.,
Spahni, R., Stocker, B.D., and Winderlich, J.

Title: Evaluation of spatio-temporal variogram models for mapping XCO2
using satellite observations: A case study in China
Authors: Guo, L., Lei, L., Zeng, Z.-C., Zou, P., Liu, D., and Zhang, B.
Field of Research: data application

Field of Research: validation, atmospheric transport models, carbon balance
estimation
Name of Journal: Atmos. Chem. Phys. (volume 15, pages 11133-11145,

Name of Journal: Int. J. Remote Sens. (volume 36, pages 4363-4383, 2015)
Title: Estimating CO2 concentration during the growing season from MODIS
and GOSAT in East Asia
Authors: Guo, M., Xu, J., Wang, X., He, H., Li, J., and Wu, L.

2015)
Title: On the statistical optimality of CO2 atmospheric inversions assimilating
CO2 column retrievals
Author: Chevallier, F.

Field of Research: data application, atmospheric transport models
Name of Journal: J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos. (volume 120, pages 3852-3871,
2015)

Field of Research: validation

Title: Impact of atmospheric convection on south Tibet summer

Name of Journal: Korean Journal of Remote Sensing (volume 31, 409-419,
2015)
Title: Application of seasonal AERI reference spectrum for the improvementof cloud data filtering method (in Korean language)

precipitation isotopologue composition using a combination of in situ
measurements, satellite data, and atmospheric general circulation modeling
Authors: He, Y., Risi, C., Gao, J., Masson-Delmotte, V., Yao, T., Lai, C.-T., Ding, Y.,
Worden, J., Frankenberg, C., Chepfer, H., and Cesana, G.

Authors: Cho, J., Goo, T., and Shin, J.

Field of Research: algorithm, validation
Name of Journal: Atmos. Meas. Tech. (volume 8, pages 2961-2980, 2015)
Title: Consistent satellite XCO2 retrievals from SCIAMACHY and GOSAT using
the BESD algorithm

Field of Research: atmospheric transport models, carbon balance
estimation, data application
Name of Journal: Atmos. Chem. Phys. (volume 15, pages 11773-11788,

Authors: Heymann, J., Reuter, M., Hilker, M., Buchwitz, M., Schneising, O.,
Bovensmann, H., Burrows, J.P., Kuze, A., Suto, H., Deutscher, N.M., Dubey,
M.K., Griffith, D.W.T., Hase, F., Kawakami, S., Kivi, R., Morino, I., Petri, C., Roehl,
C., Schneider, M., Sherlock, V., Sussmann, R., Velazco, V.A., Warneke, T., and2015)
Title: Sensitivity analysis of the potential impact of discrepancies instratosphere-troposphere exchange on inferred sources and sinks of CO2
Authors: Deng, F., Jones, D.B.A., Walker, T.W., Keller, M., Bowman, K.W.,

Henze, D.K., Nassar, R., Kort, E.A., Wofsy, S.C., Walker, K.A., Bourassa, A.E., andDegenstein, D.A.

Wunch, D.

6­­

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#32 WINTER 2016

Field of Research: carbon balance estimation

physical parameterizations

Name of Journal: J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos. (volume 120, pages 5253-5266,

Authors: Locatelli, R., Bousquet, P., Saunois, M., Chevallier, F., and Cressot, C.

2015)

Title: An intercomparison of inverse models for estimating sources and sinks
of CO2 using GOSAT measurements

Field of Research: other
Name of Journal: J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Transfer (volume 154, pages

Maksyutov, S., Marshall, J., Oda, T., O’Dell, C.W., Oshchepkov, S., Palmer, P.I.,
Peylin, P., Poussi, Z., Reum, F., Takagi, H., Yoshida, Y., and Zhuravlev, R.

Authors: Nikitin, A.-V., Lyulin, O.-M., Mikhailenko, S.-N., Perevalov, V.-I.,
Filippov, N.-N., Grigoriev, I.-M., Morino, I., Yoshida, Y., and Matsunaga, T.

Authors: Houweling, S., Baker, D., Basu, S., Boesch, H., Butz, A., Chevallier,F., Deng, F., Dlugokencky, E.J., Feng, L., Ganshin, A., Hasekamp, O., Jones, D.,

63-71, 2015)
Title: GOSAT-2014 methane spectral line list

Field of Research: atmospheric transport models, data application
Name of Journal: Adv. Meteorol. (volume 2015, ID 680264, 2015)

Field of Research: validation, data application
Name of Journal: SOLA (volume 11, pages 160-164, 2015)

concentration events over East Asian region using GOSAT data and GEOS-West Siberia

Title: Analysis of long-range transport of carbon dioxide and its highTitle: Comparison of GOSAT SWIR and aircraft measurements of XCH4 over
Authors: Ono, A., Hayashida, S., Sugita, T., Machida, T., Sasakawa, M., andChem modeling

Authors: Kim, S.-Y., Lee, S.-D., Lee, J.-B., Kim, D.-R., Han, J.-S., Choi K.-H., andSong, C.-K.

Arshinov, M.

Field of Research: carbon balance estimation, atmospheric transportmodelsName of Journal: Geophys. Res.-Atmos. (volume 120, pages 734-765, 2015)
Title: Assessing the magnitude of CO2 flux uncertainty in atmospheric CO2

Field of Research: algorithm
Name of Journal: IEEE Geosci. Remote Sensing Lett. (volume 12, pages
1446-1450, 2015)

Title: Simplified physically based retrieval of sun-induced chlorophyll
fluorescence from GOSAT data
Authors: Köhler, P., Guanter, L., and Frankenberg, C.

records using products from NASA’s Carbon Monitoring Flux Pilot Project
Authors: Ott, L.-E., Pawson, S., Collatz, G.-J., Gregg, W.-W., Menemenlis, D.,
Brix, H., Rousseaux, C.-S., Bowman, K.-W., Liu, J., Eldering, A., Gunson, M. R.,
and Kawa, S.-R.

Field of Research: algorithm

Name of Journal: Atmos. Meas. Tech. (volume 8, pages 2589-2608, 2015)
Title: A linear method for the retrieval of sun-induced chlorophyll
fluorescence from GOME-2 and SCIAMACHY data
Authors: Köhler, P., Guanter, L., and Joiner, J.

Field of Research: data application
Name of Journal: Environ. Res. Lett. (volume 10, 065005, 2015)
Title: Impact of equatorial and continental airflow on primary greenhousegases in the northern South China Sea
Authors: Ou-Yang, C.-F., Yen, M.-C., Lin, T.-H., Wang, J.-L. Schnell, R.C., Lang,

Field of Research: carbon balance estimation, data application
Name of Journal: J. Geophys. Res.-Biogeo. (volume 120, pages 1226-1245,
2015)
Title: Comparison of the data-driven top-down and bottom-up global
terrestrial CO2 exchanges: GOSAT CO2 inversion and empirical eddy flux

P.M., Chantara, S., and Lin, N.-H.

Field of Research: carbon balance estimation
Name of Journal: Atmos. Chem. Phys. (volume 15, pages 8615-8629, 2015)
Title: On the use of satellite-derived CH4 : CO2 columns in a joint inversion of

upscaling
Authors: Kondo, M., Ichii, K., Takagi, H., and Sasakawa, M.

CH4 and CO2 fluxes
Authors: Pandey, S., Houweling, S., Krol, M., Aben, I., and Röckmann, T.

Field of Research: data application

Field of Research: algorithm, validation

Title: Simulations of chlorophyll fluorescence incorporated into theCommunity Land Model version 4
Authors: Lee, J.-F., Berry, J.A., van der Tol, C., Yang, X., Guanter, L., Damm, A.,
Baker, I., and Frankenberg, C.

Title: Assessing 5 years of GOSAT Proxy XCH 4 data and associateduncertainties
Authors: Parker, R.-J., Boesch, H., Byckling, K., Webb, A.-J., Palmer, P.-I., Feng,
L., Bergamaschi, P., Chevallier, F., Notholt, J., Deutscher, N., Warneke, T., Hase,

Name of Journal: Glob. Change Biology (volume 21, pages 3469-3477, 2015)

Name of Journal: Atmos. Meas. Tech. (volume 8, pages 4785-4801, 2015)

F., Sussmann, R., Kawakami, S., Kivi, R., Griffith, D.-W. T., and Velazco, V.

Field of Research: validation, data application, algorithm
Name of Journal: Atmos. Chem. Phys. (volume 15, pages 13023-13040,
2015)
Title: Does GOSAT capture the true seasonal cycle of carbon dioxide?

Field of Research: carbon balance estimation, atmospheric transportmodelsName of Journal: Atmos. Chem. Phys. (volume 15, pages 1087-1104, 2015)

Authors: Lindqvist, H., O’Dell, C.W., Basu, S., Boesch, H., Chevallier, F.,
Deutscher, N., Feng, L., Fisher, B., Hase, F., Inoue, M., Kivi, R., Morino, I., Palmer,
P.I., Parker, R., Schneider, M., Sussmann, R., and Yoshida, Y.

Title: A regional carbon data assimilation system and its preliminary
evaluation in East Asia
Authors: Peng, Z., Zhang, M., Kou, X., Tian, X., and Ma, X.

Field of Research: data application

Field of Research: data application

Name of Journal: Atmosphere (volume 6, pages 1695-1713, 2015)
Title: A cluster of CO2 change characteristics with GOSAT observations forviewing the spatial pattern of CO2 emission and absorption
Authors: Liu, D., Lei, L., Guo, L., and Zeng, Z.-C.

Name of Journal: Adv. Meteorol. (volume 2015, ID 125059, 2015)
Title: Preliminary assessment of methane concentration variation observedby GOSAT in China
Authors: Qin, X., Lei, L., He, Z., Zeng, Z.-C., Kawasaki, M., Ohashi, M., andMatsumi, Y.

Field of Research: carbon balance estimation
Name of Journal: J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos (volume 120, pages 5214-5236,
2015)
Title: Source-receptor relationships of column-average CO2 and implications

Field of Research: algorithm, data application
Name of Journal: Atmos. Meas. Tech. (volume 8, pages 3601-3616, 2015)
Title: Sensitivity analysis of polarimetric O2 A-band spectra for potential

for the impact of observations on flux inversions
Authors: Liu, J., Bowman, K.W., and Henze, D.K.

cloud retrievals using OCO-2/GOSAT measurements
Authors: Sanghavi, S., Lebsock, M., and Stephens, G.

Field of Research: carbon balance estimation, atmospheric transportmodelsField of Research: data application
Name of Journal: Geosci. Model Dev. (volume 8, pages 3311-3319, 2015)

Name of Journal: Atmos. Chem. Phys. (volume 15, pages 9765-9780, 2015)
Title: Sensitivity of the recent methane budget to LMDz sub-grid-scale

Title: Mapping of satellite Earth observations using moving window block
kriging

7­­

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#32 WINTER 2016

Authors: Tadić, J.-M., Qiu, X., Yadav, V., and Michalak, A.-M.

Title: Comparing simulated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration withField of Research: validation, data application
Name of Journal: Acta Physica Sinica (volume 64, pages 70704-070704,

Authors: Zhang, H., Chen, B., Xu, G., Yan, J., Che, M., Chen, J., Fang, S., Lin, X.,
and Sun, S.

GOSAT retrievals

2015)

Title: Observation of ambient CH4 variations using ground-based highField of Research: validation

and Zeng, Y.

column derived from SCIAMACHY, AIRS, and GOSAT with surface station
measurements

Name of Journal: Int. J. Remote. Sens. (volume 36, pages 1406-1423, 2015)
Title: Comparison analysis of the global carbon dioxide concentration

resolution Fourier transform solar spectrometry (in Chinese language)
Authors: Tian, Y., Sun, Y., Xie, P., Liu, C., Liu, W., Liu, J., Li, A., Hu, R., Wang, W.,

Field of Research: carbon balance estimation

Authors: Zhang, L., Jiang, H., and Zhang, X.

Name of Journal: Atmos. Chem. Phys. (volume 15, pages 7049-7069, 2015)

Title: Estimating global and North American methane emissions with highField of Research: validation, algorithm

E., Andrews, A.E., Biraud, S.C., Boesch, H., Bowman, K.W., Deutscher, N.M.,

and ground-based validation

Name of Journal: Sci. China Earth Sci. (volume 58, pages 1191-1197, 2015)
Title: XCO2 satellite retrieval experiments in short-wave infrared spectrum

spatial resolution using GOSAT satellite data
Authors: Turner, A.J., Jacob, D.J., Wecht, K.J., Maasakkers, J.D., Lundgren,

Authors: Zhou, M.-Q., Zhang, X.-Y., Wang, P.-C., Wang, S.-P., Guo, L.-L., andHu, L.-Q.

Dubey, M.K., Griffith, D.W.T., Hase, F., Kuze, A., Notholt, J., Ohyama, H.,
Parker, R., Payne, V.H., Sussmann, R., Sweeney, C., Velazco, V.A., Warneke, T.,
Wennberg, P.O., and Wunch, D.

Field of Research: validation

Field of Research: data application

Name of Journal: Atmos. Meas. Tech. (volume 8, pages 5263–5276, 2015)

Name of Journal: Int. J. Remote Sens. (volume 36, pages 1509-1528, 2015)
Title: Global mapping of greenhouse gases retrieved from GOSAT Level 2

Title: Observations of XCO2 and XCH4 with ground-based high-resolution
FTS at Saga, Japan, and comparisons with GOSAT products

Authors: Ohyama, H., Kawakami, S., Tanaka, T., Morino, I., Uchino, O., Inoue,
M., Sakai, T., Nagai, T., Yamazaki, A., Uchiyama, A., Fukamachi, T., Sakashita, M.,products by using a kriging method
Authors: Watanabe, H., Hayashi, K., Saeki, T., Maksyutov, S., Nasuno, I.,
Shimono, Y., Hirose, Y., Takaichi, K., Kanekon, S., Ajiro, M., Matsumoto, Y., andYokota, T.

Kawasaki, T., Akaho, T., Arai, K., and Okumura, H.

Field of Research: algorithm, data application

Field of Research: algorithm, data application
Name of Journal: Remote Sens. of Environ. (volume 162, pages 344-362,

Title: Quantifying lower tropospheric methane concentrations using GOSAT
near-IR and TES thermal IR measurements

Title: The Greenhouse Gas Climate Change Initiative (GHG-CCI): Comparisonand quality assessment of near-surface-sensitive satellite-derived CO2 andName of Journal: Atmos. Meas. Tech. (volume 8, pages 3433-3445, 2015)2015)

Authors: Worden, J.R., Turner, A.J., Bloom, A., Kulawik, S.S., Liu, J., Lee, M.,
Weidner, R., Bowman, K., Frankenberg, C., Parker, R., and Payne, V.H.

CH4 global data sets
Authors: Buchwitz, M., Reuter, M., Schneising, O., Boesch, H., Guerlet, S., Dils,

Field of Research: data application
Name of Journal: J. Clean. Prod. (volume 103, pages 819-827, 2015)
Title: A high-accuracy method for filling voids on remotely sensed XCO 2
surfaces and its verification

B., Aben, I., Armante, R., Bergamaschi, P., Blumenstock, T., Bovensmann, H.,
Brunner, D., Buchmann, B., Burrows, J.P., Butz, A., Chédin, A., Chevallier, F.,
Crevoisier, C.D., Deutscher, N.M., Frankenberg, C., Hase, F., Hasekamp, O.P.,
Heymann, J., Kaminski, T., Laeng, A., Lichtenberg, G., De Mazière, M., Noël,S., Notholt, J., Orphal, J., Popp, C., Parker, R., Scholze, M., Sussmann, R., Stiller,

Field of Research: validation, data application

C., Oshchepkov, S., Sherlock, V., Suto, H., Wennberg, P., Wunch, D., Yokota, T.,
and Yoshida, Y.

Authors: Yue T.-X., Zhao, M.-W., and Zhang, X.-Y.

G.P., Warneke, T., Zehner, C., Bril, A., Crisp, D., Griffith, D.W.T., Kuze, A., O'Dell,

Name of Journal: Science Bulletin (volume 60, pages 380-386, 2015)

GOSAT in the years after nominal lifetime
Around noon of August 2, 2015 (JST),at TANSO-FTS, the thermal infrared (TIR)
detector-temperature increased to theenvironment temperature due to the failureof the cryocooler to keep the detector at-200°C, which made TIR operations (observations by band 4) stopped, while the shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands 1, 2 and 3 wereoperating normally and providing O2, CO2
and CH4 spectra.
The failure analysis suggested the
malfunction had been caused by a onetime factor of space radiation or the like,so the cryocooler was restarted to cool thedetector on September 14, 2015, whichbrought the normal temperature back for
the TIR band detector to operate, enabling
GOSAT to resume grid point observation on
all bands including SWIR bands (band 1, 2, 3)
on September 15, getting back to nominal
operation including specific and sunglint
point observations on September 16.

SWIR L2 data products during the period
are provided under different version
numbers before and after the cryocooler
stoppage, whose outline can be seen on
the last page of this newsletter. (For thedetails of L1 data of the period, please refer
to https://data2.gosat.nies.go.jp/doc/
documents/20150817_en.pdf)
Please note the event had no effect on
any operation by TANSO-CAI.
()* Cryocooler for TIR band 4 detector(in red circle, right) stopped and raised
the tempe rature to stop obs ervation
temporarily.
** TANSO-FTS is mounted at the front botom
part of GOSAT (in white circle, above)

8­­↑

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#32 WINTER 2016

Data Processing Status Update

DATA PRODUCTS
UPDATE

Fumie Kawazoe, Specialist
NIES GOSAT Project
As of January 10, 2017
■ Version

Observation Period and Versions of Publicly Released Data●●●

FTS L1B data

161.160
161.161201.202ca. 1,747,500 scenes
ca. 518,900 scenes
ca. 2,269,200 scenes

02.21
02.31
02.40
02.50
02.60

ca. 494,700 scans
ca. 51,300 scans
ca. 50,200 scans
ca. 13,500 scans
ca. 101,900 scans

02.21
02.31
02.40
02.50
02.60

ca. 495,100 scans
ca. 51,400 scans
ca. 50,200 scans
ca. 13,500 scans
ca. 102,000 scans

02.21
02.31
02.40
02.50
02.60

ca. 495,200 scans
ca. 51,500 scans
ca. 50,200 scans
ca. 13,500 scans
ca. 102,000 scans

01.20
01.20

ca. 5,661,900 scans
ca. 7,530,500 scans

■

●
●
●
●
●

↑

FTS L2 CO2 column amount  (SWIR)

Right solar paddle
stopped↓FTS L2 CH4 column amount (SWIR)■↑FTS pointing mech.
switched↓

FTS L2 H2O column amount (SWIR)↑

TIR cryocooler
restarted↓↑

FTS L2 CO2 profile (TIR)FTS L2 CH4 profile (TIR)CAI L1B data

■

●
●
●
●
●
■

TIR cryocooler
stopped↓FTS L3 global CO2/CH4 distribution (SWIR)

●
●
●
●
●

●
●
■

●
●
●
●
●

02.21
02.31
02.40
02.50
02.60

60 months
5 months
6 months
1 month
11 months

02.00
01.00
02.00

ca. 731,800 framesca. 1,270,800 frames
ca. 5,000 frames

02.00

ca. 579,800 frames

01.00
02.00

2,798 recurr.
31 months■

CAI L1B+ data

CAI L1B+ data

CAI L2 cloud flag

●
●
●
■

●
■

CAI L3 global radiance distribution
CAI L3 global reflectance distribution●●■

CAI L3 NDVI

●

02.00

11,010 rectngls

L4A global CO2 flux

●
●

02.03
02.04

3yr. 5mo.
4yr. 5mo.

L4B global CO2 distribution

●
●

02.03
02.04

3yr. 5mo.
4yr. 5mo.

01.03
01.03

4yr. 4mo.
4yr. 4mo.

■■

L4A global CH4 flux●●

L4B global CH4 distribution

2009/              2010/                   2011/                  2012/                   2013/                   2014/                  2015/                   2016/
    4   6  8 10 12  2  4   6   8 10 12  2  4   6  8 10 12  2  4  6   8 10 12  2  4   6  8 10 12  2  4   6  8  10 12 2  4   6   8 10 12  2  4   6   8 10 12   

Described below are data processed and released from April 2015 tomid-January 2017. As GUIG is closed (see P.5), this page is to be based on
GDAS from now on.
As for FTS L1B product, the same FTS instrumental function was applied
for all observation periods to release V201.202 with improved quality, andV161.160 and V161.161 are also provided as was.
FTS SWIR L2 CO2/CH4 column amount and FTS SWIR L3 CO2/CH4 global
distribution products are provided until August 2016, each of which as
V02.21/V02.31 before/after the solar paddle disorder, V02.40 after the
pointing mechanism switching, V02.50 during the TIR cryocooler disorder,
and V02.60 after its recovery. Also FTS SWIR L2 H2O column amount productwas released to the public on September 1, 2016, changed from a research
product.
FTS TIR L2 CO2/CH4 profile products V01.20 were released to the public on

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER■■← Observ. Period

October 5, 2016. Please refer to the release note on GDAS for their detail.
Version-upgraded to V02.00 were products of CAI L1B, L2 cloud flag,and L3 NDVI on December 1, and CAI L1B+ and L3 global reflectance on
December 27, 2016. CAI L1B, L2 cloud flag, L3 NDVI, and global reflectance
are reprocessing past data. Details of these upgrades are found on GDAS
release note. CAI L3 global radiance is also to be upgraded shortly, which
will be announced on GDAS when released to the public.
Other latest processed and released are: version-upgraded V02.04 for L4A
global CO2 flux and L4B global CO2 distribution from June 2009 to October
2013; version-upgraded V01.03 for L4A global CH4 flux and L4B global CH4
distribution from June 2009 to September 2013.

The number of GDAS registered users is 572 as of January 10, 2017.
(Old GUIG user accounts were transferred to GDAS when they wereactive within last 2 years.)

ISSUE #32 WINTER 2016edited and published by : Satellite Observation Center, NIES

Issued on : 2017/1/13

You can download this newsletter here:
URL : http://www.gosat.nies.go.jp/eng/newsletter/top.htm

email : gosat_newsletter@nies.go.jp
website : http://www.gosat.nies.go.jp/eng/newsletter/top.htm
address：16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba-City, Ibaraki,

IBUKI

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER

please send us an email with your name, email address,
and preferred language (English or Japanese) to:

305-8506 Japanいぶき

If you would like to receive an email notiﬁcation when each issue is published,gosat_newsletter@nies.go.jp

Satellite Observation Center
Center for Global Environmental Research
National Institute for Environmental Studies

9­­

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