NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#17 MAY. 2011

ISSUE # 17
MAY 2011

CONTENTS
NEWSAnother Volcano Erupts in Iceland                                                             01A Fine Picture of Fossil Fuel CO2 Emission                                                     02DATA PRODUCT UPDATE
Data Processing Status Update from GOSAT Project Office                          03いぶきIBUKINIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER
Independent Administrative Institution
National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES)
A newsletter on the Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite(GOSAT, “IBUKI” ) project from the NIES GOSAT Project Oﬃce.

03

ANSWERS TO IBUKI QUIZ
AHA! OF THE MONTHGOSAT Data Images in GUIG Gallery                                                                   04ANNOUNCEMENTS                                                                                            04CALENDAR

04

PUBLISHED PAPERS04

http://www.gosat.nies.go.jp/

NEWSAnother Volcano Erupts in Iceland
The plume of erupting Grimsvotn volcano in Iceland
was observed by the Cloud and Aerosol Imager of theGreenhouse gases Observing SATellite (GOSAT) "IBUKI."The Grimsvotn volcano started its eruption on May 21, 2011,
and the image was captured on May 22, 2011, at 15:09 (UTC) (onMay 23, 2011 at 0:09 (JST)) when "IBUKI" flew over Iceland. The- Nobuyuki Kikuchi, Specialist, NIES GOSAT Project Officeplume (in yellow and black) can be seen drifting northwards
and southwards when the image was captured. The red circleindicates the location of the volcano.
In Iceland, Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted last year on April
14 as reported in NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER, April 2010
(Issue#4).

The image shows Iceland observed by the Cloud and Aerosol Imager (CAI) of "IBUKI" at 15:09 on May 22, 2011 (UTC) (00:09 on May 23, 2011 (JST)). (Blue= Band 1, Green = Band 3, Red = Band 2) The plume is shown as yellow and black, and the red circle indicates the location of the Grimsvotn volcano.

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NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#17 MAY. 2011

NEWSA Fine Picture of Fossil Fuel CO2 Emissions- Tomohiro Oda, Research Associate, Biogeochemical Cycle Modeling and Analysis Section, CGER, NIES

Figure 1 Emission map over Europe, Northern Africa
and a part of Middle East.

Figure 2 Emission map over East Asia

Carbon dioxide (CO2) circulates through different
processes around the world including man-made CO2emissions, photosynthesis and respiration by plants andatmosphere-oceanic CO2 exchange. We at the GOSAT project
have developed computer models that simulate key aspectsof global CO2 cycle, which will be used to draw a global
picture of regional sources and sinks. Here we introduce oneof those models; the "ODIAC" (Open-source Data Inventory for
Anthropogenic CO2 )*1 model which gives a very fine picture of
CO2 emissions due to fossil fuel burning.
CO2 emissions due to human activity are a major source inthe global carbon cycle. Human activity emits 29 billion tonsof CO2 per year (as of 2008)*2 by burning fossil fuels such ascoal, oil and natural gas. The amount of CO2 used per country isusually calculated by known fossil fuel consumption over a yearlong period. Global and national total CO2 emissions can bederived by applying conversion factors to the total amount ofconsumed fuels.
Though it sounds simple to develop a dataset of fossil fuelCO2 usage, one large remaining concern is that the CO2 emission
location is unknown, though we can derive good nationalnumbers. Conventionally the distribution was estimated using
distribution of population, thus emissions were distributed toproportional to population density on an emission map. This isa good approximation. For example, CO2 emissions would bemuch higher say, at Tokyo (where human activity is intense),
compared to the middle of Sahara desert (less populated).

However, if we want to draw a fine resolution picture, such anassumption is not appropriate. If we use population data, wecannot tell where people live within a town, nor locations ofimportant CO2 sources such as power plants and heavy trafficthat are not always related to human residence.
In the ODIAC model, national total emissions for a country
were considered as the sum of power plant emissions and otheremissions. Then, power plant emissions were mapped using
geographical coordinate (latitude and longitude) available inpower plant records and remaining emissions were distributed
using satellite-observed nightlight distribution. Nightlightdata is available at 1 km (30 arc second) resolution globallyand as such, is very useful to pinpoint exact location of humansettlements.
This distribution methodology is simple, but powerful.
Figure 1 shows the emission distribution over Europe, Northern
Africa, and a part of Middle East. Bright regions indicate whereintense sources are located. European countries are indicatedas sources as well as some coastal regions in Africa, and humansettlements along the Nair are also clearly depicted. In addition,
we can see lights that could tell us emissions from major trafficroads (see around Moscow, for instance). How about East Asia?
(see Figure 2) As expected, populated cities such as Beijing,Shanghai, Hong-Kong, Tokyo are very bright. Over China we
can see clear contrast of developed coastal regions and lessdeveloped inner regions. Such knowledge is included andtaken into account in the analysis of regional sources and sinks
by using ODIAC inventory.
The ODIAC model produces very fine, vibrant pictures. But,
*1 Oda, T. and Maksyutov, S.: A very high-resolution (1 km × 1 km) global
fossil fuel CO2 emission inventory derived using a point source database and please do remember, this tells you how we emit CO2 on thissatellite observations of nighttime lights, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 543-556, Earth.
doi:10.5194/acp-11-543-2011, 2011.
http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/11/543/2011/acp-11-543-2011.html*2 International Energy Agency (IEA) CO2 Emissions from Combustion 2010
EDITION

2­­NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#17 MAY. 2011

DATA PRODUCT UPDATE

Data Processing Status Update from GOSAT Project Office- Fumie Kawazoe, Specialist, NIES GOSAT Project Office

As of May 30, 2011

Observation Period and Versions of Publicly Released Data

Versions and Approx. Numbersof Released Data

FTS L1B●050050●080080●100100●110110143700 scenes
80200 scenes
210500 scenes
125700 scenes● 00.50● 00.80● 00.9032500 scans
16700 scans
38600 scans● 01.10● 01.20● 01.30● 01.40

26000 scans
14800 scans
46900 scans
20800 scans●00.50●00.80●00.9035200 scans
23700 scans
43300 scans●01.10●01.20●01.30"#&%●01.4024300 scans
13400 scans
44200 scans
20400 scans●01.10●01.20●01.30●01.31"#'%●01.408 months
3 months
7 months
1 month
3 months●01.10●01.20●01.30●01.31"#(% ●01.40

8 months
3 months
7 months
1 month
3 months(#(%

FTS L2 CO2 column amount (SWIR)"#)%FTS L2 CH4 column amount (SWIR)"#$%FTS L3 CO2 distribution (SWIR)FTS L3 CH4 distribution (SWIR)CAI L1B!"#(%CAI L1B+

CAI L2 cloud ﬂag●00.50●00.80●00.90●00.91117200 frames
16300 frames
114000 frames
66500 frames●00.50●00.80●00.90●00.9144800 frames
16300 frames
114000 frames
66000 frames●00.10●00.80●00.90●00.91117200 frames
16300 frames
114000 frames
66000 frames●00.50●00.80●00.90●00.9199 recurrences
36 recurrences
253 recurrences
130 recurrences!"#'%

CAI L3 global radiance
!"#&%

!"#$%

April-09

June-09

August-09

October-09

December-09

February-10

April-10June-10August-10

October-10

December-10

February-11

April-11

June-11Month and Year of Observation

Here we report an update on data processing
status for late April and early May 2011.
Continued from last month, we processed and released
the V110110 of the FTS L1B data products, the V00.91 ofL1B+, L2 cloud flag, and L3 global radiance data products,
and V01.50 for FTS L2 CO2 and CH4 column amount (SWIR)
and FTS L3 global CO2 and CH4 distribution (SWIR) dataproducts. The changes of the new versions will be listed inthe CAI L1B, L1B+, L2 cloud flag and L3 global radiance the "Difference of the Standard Product by Version" on thedata products, and the V01.40 of the FTS L2 CO2 and CH4 GOSAT User Interface Gateway. Please be reminded duecolumn amount (SWIR) data products, and FTS L3 global to the processing delay, not all the upgraded products are
CO2 and CH4 distribution (SWIR) data products. At 18:15 on released and available yet.
April 19, 2011 (UTC), we have started processing upgraded
The number of registered users is 1049 as of May 20, 2011.
versions, V128128 for the FTS L1B, V00.92 for the CAI L1B,Answers to IBUKI QUIZ on ISSUE#15
Q1
Which of the following items is notobserved by "IBUKI"?
3) temperatures of world's major cities

Q2
A b o u t h o w m u c h is t h e CO2

Q3
What item weighs about the same as "IBUKI"?

concentration "IBUKI" has been3) 390ppm
observing now?

1) large passenger car. (approx.1.75t)

Q4
Who is the model of this  image on an ad board
at the NIES Summer Openhouse?
1) NIES GOSAT Project Leader Tatsuya Yokota(see P1 of Issue #8)

3­­Q5
Which of the following techniques does "IBUKI"
employ to measure the CO2 and CH4 in the earth's
atmosphere?
2) nadir-looking method

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#17 MAY. 2011

AHA! OF THE MONTHGOSAT Data Images in GUIG Gallery- Nobuyuki Kikuchi, Specialist, NIES GOSAT Project Office
The GOSAT User Interface Gateway (GUIG) is a
website for distributing the Greenhouse gases Observing
SATellite (GOSAT ), "IBUKI"'s data produc ts such as
observational data and analysis data. On GUIG, we have theGallery section to exhibit maps and images created fromthe GOSAT data products. You are able to find global mapsof CO2 and CH4 concentrations as well as to search anddownload satellite images of the Earth's surface acquiredby the Cloud and Aerosol Imager (CAI) on "IBUKI."
Gallery provides the monthly global maps of FTS SWIR
Level 2 and Level 3 data products of CO2 and CH4, as well as
the FTS SWIR L3 (XCO2) animation videos. These items show
how the distributions of CO2 and CH4 concentration change

Service" - "User Authentication"- "Guest user login" in GUIG.

month by month.

The CAI images are distributed per frame. It is possible to As a guest user, you have access to do almost everything
search for CAI images of specific time and location. For more what a registered general users can do, including to searchdetails on how to use "CAI L1B+ Browse," please refer to the for data products and to read technical documents; however,article, "CAI L1B+ Browse Images Now Released – How to you cannot download data products. If you wish to download
Search and Display Images" on the NIES GOSAT PROJECT and use data products, please register as a general user. Youcan start the registration process by going to "Product &NEWSLETTER June 2011 (ISSUE#6).

If you are interested in the GOSAT data products, you are able Service" - "User Authentication" - "For Registration: here" into login to GUIG as a "guest user." Please click on "Product & GUIG.

ANNOUNCEMENTCALENDARNIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER welcomes letters from our readers.

2011/06/11"I want to read articles on ...," "... was really interesting." etc.

the National Museum of Emerging Science andWe appreciate your opinions,

We also appreciate opinions or contributions from people involvedin the GOSAT Project.

Please feel free to contact : gosat_newsletter@nies.go.jp.
Thank you for supporting the newsletter.

- Yuki Tanaka, editor

Opening of the "TSUNAGARI" project at Miraikan,
Innovation in Tokyo, Japan. The GOSAT data products
will be exhibited on their Geo-Cosmos and GeoScope.

Miraikan URL (http://www.miraikan.jst.go.jp/en/)

PUBLISHED PAPERS
Field of Research : Carbon balance estimation, atmospheric transport models
Name of Journal : Geoscientific Model Development (Volume 4, Number 2, pages 317-324)

Title : Simulation of variability in atmospheric carbon dioxide using a global coupled Eulerian – Lagrangian transport modelAuthors : Y. Koyama, S. Maksyutov, H. Mukai, K. Thoning, and P. Tans
NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTERISSUE #17 MAY. 2011

Issued On : 2011.06.03

edited and published by : NIES GOSAT Project Oﬃce
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URL : http://www.gosat.nies.go.jp/eng/newsletter/top.htm

email : gosat̲newsletter@nies.go.jp

いぶきIBUKINIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER

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