NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#28 JUL. 2013

ISSUE # 28
JULY 2013

CONTENTS
NEWS     Report: The 5th GOSAT RA PI Meeting01     Report: IWGGMS-9

03

GOSAT PEOPLE
     A Series: Supporting GOSAT Project (4)

いぶき
IBUKI

NIES 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.

04         - Big Stagehands in Higher Level Data Processing
PUBLISHED PAPERS

05

INTERVIEW     A Series: IBUKI 's PI Interview - Dr. Claude Camy-Peyret

06

DATA PRODUCT UPDATE

09

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

Group photo of the 5th GOSAT RA PI Meeting held at Yokohama Symposia

NEWS

Report : The 5th GOSAT RA PI Meeting

Chairperson, GOSAT RA Selection and Evaluation Committee (RA Committee)
Professor Haruhisa Shimoda of Research Institute of Science and Technology at Tokai University
The meeting was held at the Industry & Trade Center near Yamashita

data application session, discussions were also held in working groups for

9th International Workshop on Greenhouse Gas Measurements from Space

The plenary started with the greeting remarks from Deputy Director

Park in Yokohama, Japan, on May 27, 28 and 29 morning, followed by the

1.5 hours.

(see another report) held on 29 afternoon, 30 and 31, which unusually

Takuya Nomoto of Research and Information Office, Global Environment

Yokohama Symposia, a conference hall with a view, on the 9th floor of thethe meeting. They were followed by reports on current status of GOSAT

came after the RA PI meeting, also at the same place. The venue wasbuilding. The participants were 56 including Principal Investigators (PIs)and Co-Investigators (Co-Is), and 96 in total, including the staff from the

National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), the Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency (JAXA), and the guests from the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA) and others.

The meeting started with the plenary session for 1 hour from 9:30 a.m.

on the first day, followed by sessions on calibration, validation, algorithms,

modeling, data application, and closing session in that order; after the

Bureau at Ministry of the Environment, Japan, and myself, the host of
project: “Brief report on the GOSAT science team activity” (Prof. Gen Inoue,
GOSAT science team chief scientist), “Report on GOSAT recent operation”(Kei Shiomi, JAXA), and “Data processing status and review of RA users’
privileges” (Masataka Ajiro, NIES). The session closed with “Summary ofaction items from the 4th RA PI Meeting” (Masataka Ajiro, NIES).

Two researchers gave presentations in the calibration session:“Characterization of micro vibration effect to spaceborne-FTS on orbit”(Hiroshi Suto, JAXA) and “GOSAT TIR band inter-calibration with satellite

1­­NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#28 JUL. 2013

Oral Presentation

Some views from the venue
infrared sensors” (Dr. Jonathan Gero, the University of Wisconsin-Madison).
The validation session saw 15 presentations: 5 used ground-based high-resolution FTSs (mainly TCCON data); 4 were related to observation withresults of pre-/post-screening to clarify the difference between retrieval
algorithms, and the possibility study of multi-angle observation.

TIR working group discussed mainly the calibration accuracy of the L1B

validation instruments (including lidar); 3 made comparison with otherproduct; the latest V160.160 seems to have larger error than V150.151 atvapor isotope; and the last 1 was on retrieval algorithm development thatdone only at around 40 degree or very high latitude, however, additional

satellites’ data; 1 made comparison with in-situ data; 1 reported on water
seemed to belong rather to algorithm session.

The algorithm session had 11 presentations reporting retrievals of 3

latest results of CO2, 1 water vapor isotope, 3 trace gases (CO2, CH4, ozone,etc.) from TIR, 1 aerosol from CAI, 2 aerosol from O2 A band, and the last 1
was on the algorithm development status for Chinese satellite TanSat* .
1

In the following model session, there were 13 presentations consistingsome wavelength regions; inter-calibrations with other satellites are now
ones are required at other latitudes, especially at tropical area; SHIS

(airborne-FTS) should be considered. Other topics are synergy use of SWIR

with TIR spectra, simultaneous retrieval of HDO and CH4, etc. Also, there
is a comment for GOSAT-2: keeping the TIR band is welcome, but highcalibration accuracy is required.

Flux estimation group discussed how to validate L4 product, whichof: flux inversions of 5 on CO 2 , 2 on CH 4 , and 2 on both, 1 CO 2 flux

included comparing L4B data with independent profile data (CONTRAIL*4,

data assimilation), 1 on correlation with atmospheric pollutants, 1 on

the L4A data with other independent flux estimates. Also it wascomparison between inverse models (almost all of inverse models adopt
comparison with vegetation model, and 1 on comparison with flux

HIPPO*5, NOAA*6 aircraft, etc.), providing flux averaging kernel, comparing
announced that CH4 L4 data would be released to RA users from NIES inmeasurement using tower. About one year has passed since L4 productnear future.

differences in the estimated CO2 fluxes between models. Lack of goodsame as the last one.

was provided to RA researchers, however, there seems to be large
validation measure is one reason for the status quo.

The last was the application session with 9 presentations, 3 of whichtargeted on regional trend of greenhouse gases (CO 2 and CH4): other 3were on large point sources of CO2 such as biomass burning*2, volcanoes,

mega cities, and power plants: the rest were 1 on a source of aerosol, 1 onradiative forcing, and 1 estimating phenology*3 from CAI.

Thereafter discussions were held in 3 working groups of SWIR, TIR, andflux estimation, summaries of which were briefly reported at the closing

session: topics at SWIR working group were on the possibility of a little

bias change in SWIR retrieval result depending on the scanning direction
when the latest FTS L1B V160.160 were used, the necessity of comparing*1

TanSat is a Chinese satellite for CO 2 observation, whose launch is

Below is my summing up of the 5th PI meeting as a whole, almost the(1) The improved quality of L2 product by NIES, ACOS, etc. now enabled
the full-scale scientific application including inverse modeling,(2) However, its data accuracy is yet left to be validated in the regionsof high reflectance and high latitude due to the uneven distribution of
TCCON sites,(3) Retrieval and validation need to be expedited for TIR using latest L1
data because of insufficient retrieval on the product,(4) Inverse models have still large differences between themselves, whichshould be responded with estimation of any factor(s) constituting thedifference and proved what is going on now.

CO2 concentration in the atmosphere continuously are installed in the cargoplanned in 2015.

room of JAL (Japan Airlines) aircrafts.

wastes which is discernible from fossil fuel burning in observation by its

gases and collect their samples including CO2 at different heights in the*2 Biomass burning means vegetation burning as of forests or agricultural
GHG component fraction such as CO concentration.
*3

Phenology is the study to research the temporal changes of plants andanimals' seasonal phenomena and their relation with climate.

*4 Comprehensive Observation Network for TRace gases by AIrLiner is a

project to measure CO2 from passenger aircrafts while they are operating in

the air. An instrument to collect air samples and an instrument to measure*5 the HIaper Pole-to-Pole Observations is a project to observe greenhouseatmosphere approximately pole-to-pole using Hiaper, an aircraft developed
by US NCAR (National Center of Atmospheric Research) specifically forenvironmental research.

*6 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is an organization of
the US Department of Commerce focusing on research and study of ocean
and atmosphere.

ANNOUNCEMENT

Accepting Applications of GOSAT RA#6
2­­

NEWS

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#28 JUL. 2013

Report : IWGGMS-9

Rajesh Janardanan, Research Associate,
Center for Global Environmental Research, NIESThe ninth International Workshop on Greenhouse Gas

Measurements from Space (IWGGMS-9) was held at Yokohama, Japan
from May 29 to 31, 2013, hosted by the Japan Aerospace Exploration
Agency (JAXA), the National Institute for Environmental Studies(NIES) and the Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan.
The agenda of the series of IWGGMS has been to discuss and present
the status and advancement in the techniques and methodologies
for observation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere using spaceborne and allied instruments. The venue this time was Yokohama
Symposia amidst the busy avenues of Yokohama, provided with avery pleasing ambience for serious discussions for two and half days.
The first day started with welcome speeches by the NIES President,
Dr. Akimasa Sumi and Director Hiroshi Tsujihara of Research andInformation Office, Global Environment Bureau at Ministry of theEnvironment, Japan, followed by a short recap of the history of
IWGGMS by Dr. Tatsuya Yokota. The first day had presentations
about the dedicated satellites missions like GOSAT, SCIAMACHY*1,

Participants at IWGGMS-9
them. There were ample representation of the various algorithms for
retrieval of GHGs, the different instruments onboard various satellites
and their inter-comparison to give the attendees an overview of theircapabilities.
Presentations on inverse modeling started as the last session of thesecond day and extended to the whole of third day with special focus
on CO2, CH4, large point source, and regional emissions. This was the
single largest session under a main title, which dealt with various
aspects of inverse modeling related to GHGs. Inversion results of CO2
fluxes using GOSAT XCO2 observation and the inter-comparison of

estimates using various GOSAT products were presented. Some of
the reports presented evaluation of inverted fluxes over different
homogenous regions like grassland, geographic regions like tropics,
Eurasia and south Asia. There were some interesting discussions onemission estimates from large point sources including mega cities,
which attracted an overwhelming enthusiasm among researchers
working on carbon emission related issues.
After the very eloquent sessions and discussions during these twoand half days, the meeting came to an end on 31 May. The closing
address was delivered by Prof. Inoue, GOSAT science team chief
scientist. He evaluated there were remarkable progress in modelingand reports on modeling increased than previous years. He opinedthat in coming few years the community would have more satellites
and it would improve our understanding about regional carbon
cycles also. The programme ended with the concluding remarks by
Dr. Tatsuya Yokota.
The IWGGMS-9 provided a very good venue for young researchers
to get better insight into various aspects which need to be unveiled
next, by interacting with scientists who have been working in thisfield for quite a long time and participating all through the nine
meetings. The announcement of the venue and date of the next
meeting is pending decision.

CarbonSat* 2 , OCO-2* 3 , TanSat* 4 etc. There were reports on thecomparison of different satellites, their subsequent developments
and novel techniques.

Poster Session
The second day had a session on future space-borne missionsof GreenHouse Gas (GHG) measurements, their potential and thepossibilities to improve the quality of GHG estimates. After thepresentation of more than thirty posters, sessions on “calibration/
in-situ measurements/applications”, “algorithm” and “GHG results
and comparison” were held. Some of the presentations gave
technological approaches and the rest on scientific findings based on*1 SCanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric
CartograpHY is the sensor mounted on the ESA satellite Envisat, which was
in operation from March 2002 to April 2012.
*2 Carbon Monitoring Satellite is planned and led mainly by Bremen
University in the ESA's Earth exploration project, targeting at global

observation of CO2 and CH4 concentrations, to be launched in 2018.
*3 Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 is a CO2 observing satellite of the US to
be launched in 2014.
*4 Please refer to *1 of page 2.

Group photo of the IWGGMS-9

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NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#28 JUL. 2013

GOSAT PEOPLE

Series: Supporting GOSAT Project (4)Big Stagehands in Higher Level Data Processing
Masataka Ajiro, GOSAT Project Office Manager,
Center for Global Environmental Research, NIESThe National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES)

beforehand to keep nominal operation considering various cases

improvement of retrieval algorithm for greenhouse gases’

processing programs (algorithms) were shared between NIES,

where those auxiliary data were unavailable. Development of dataassumes many roles in GOSAT project; development andconcentration using IBUKI and auxiliary data: higher level

JAXA, GOSAT science team and us, system development engineers.

But the thing was a bit more complex; there were more than 100

data processing: validation of data products: data provision toprograms to run on the system, which were to be connected andworldwide users: flux estimation by atmospheric models, etc. Let

work as a whole, and also they were run on different machines of

us introduce the people and their activities who are responsible fordevelopment and maintenance of the system for higher level IBUKI

supercomputers in NIES and the University of Tokyo besides thecomputer in GOSAT Data Handling Facility (DHF). They had to work

data processing and its related systems.

in corporation with each other.

Higher level data processing of IBUKI data

Plenty of time was also required to adjust and decide the interface

Higher level data processing, level 2 processing specifically, canspecification with those data providing facilities, research institutes,

as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) concentrations from

improvement in level 2 processing algorithm brought significant

computer resource providing facilities. It happened once that thebe simply described as “to extract meaningful information suchthe data observed by IBUKI “. TANSO-FTS, the greenhouse gas

reduction in data processing time, which affected computer power

observing sensor on-board IBUKI , observes sunlight reflected on

assignment in Information Technology Center of the University ofTokyo, and we had to renegotiate how many computers to use.

the ground surface and atmosphere, and their thermal radiation as

We cleared many issues encountered during the short period ofwell. The observed data are transformed into spectra (level 1B data)system development time and came the launch in January, theby the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The spectra are

initial checkout in April 2009.

the mixture of noise and information containing concentrationsof greenhouse gases, from where meaningful information should

The initial checkout and ensuing revision work

be extracted. Some data can be inadequate to be used becauseof observation conditions like cloudy sky. It’s the key point forsuccessful retrieval to sort out data of good quality out of the
mixture with accuracy as better as possible.

We make full use of various resources to extract information fromobserved data. They are auxiliary data indispensable for higher levelprocessing of observed data, programs (algorithms) to processthese data, computers to run the programs, storage*1 to save theoutput, etc. These resources are combined appropriately for GOSAT

data processing system, where greenhouse gases’ concentrations(level 2 data) are retrieved, global distribution of greenhouse gases
and their flux (level 3/ level 4 data) are estimated, and these output
are organized easy to use (data product) or easy to understand(visualization) for users. It is Fujitsu FIP and other companies’
engineers that develop this GOSAT data processing system.

From the start of system development to the launch of
GOSAT2009. At first, we confirmed if each processing program worked

and data provision started in January 2007, which was about

adjustment/confirmation with JAXA, program replacement, or

The first level 1 data were sent to GOSAT DHF from JAXA in April

as specified, and if not, the causes were analyzed for specification

System development at NIES for higher level data processing

parameter adjustment until all worked well. We were located

2 years before the launch in January 2009. That was extremely

downstream of the satellite, ground system, and JAXA, which

short compared to the previous development of ground systemmeans that our system was affected by those upstream ones

for satellites at NIES, which usually took 5 to 6 years. At first, weand it took more than 1 month to get to generation of CO 2 /took up the function to nominally fetch required auxiliary data,i.e., meteorological data and other satellites’ observation data,

CH 4 concentration data after solving the incidental difference

to process the GOSAT data. Also we prepared substitutional data

between real data and previous assumptions. After many repeated

4­­NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#28 JUL. 2013adjustments, data plotted on the map for 9 days of late April

revision. The system development team is always making steadybased observations, i.e., the concentration distribution was highcoming observation data, eventually maximizing the outcome of

showed beautifully approximate compliance with existing groundin the Northern and low in the Southern hemisphere, though

it was relatively lower as a whole. That was the moment when
we believed in the capability of global observation by IBUKI (fig.

effort for utilizing precious past data, improving yield ratio for
GOSAT project, even at this point of time when more than 4 years
have passed since the launch.

above).

Level 2 data product was published in February 2010, about 1

year after the launch. The product repeated improvement and level

4 product was released to the general public in December 2012,
which was the initially set goal of publishing flux estimate reachedat last under 4 years’ effort after starting observation.

Meanwhile, our system was being improved in general handlingvarious issues as algorithm improvement, faster processing, etc.
When the Great East Japan Earthquake attacked, all the system

stopped due to interruption of electrical power supply at NIES and

its complete recovery took 1 month confirming data corruption
and data consistency. NIES supercomputer was stopped for a longtime due to ensuing save power measures, which brought hastilyarranged program importing task from the supercomputer to DHF.

The system improvement is going on

Now it’s an age of shale gas which was known long time but

thought to be unprofitable, however, it found its way to thebusiness owing to recent technologies. The same thing may

Engineers developing/maintaining GOSAT data processing system

at NIES (front row from left, Dr. Nobuta, Mr. Kawasaki, Mr. Ishihara,

Ms. Nakamura; back row from left, Ms. Forsyth, Mr. Ishihama, Mr.
Miyasaka, Mr. Ikegami, Mr. Kasai, Mr. Kojima)

happen to GOSAT data: those data which were considered*1by technological progress such as algorithm upgrading or systemdisk drive, magnetic tape, etc.

inadequate to analyze can be used for higher level data processing

Storage is an external device to keep data/program on thecomputer system. There are various types of them such as hard

PUBLISHED PAPERS
Field of Research: 	carbon balance estimation, atmospherictransport models
Name of Journal: Geophysical Research Letters
		(Volume 40, pages 1252–1256, 2013)
Title: 	Error statistics of Bayesian CO2 flux inversion schemes as
seen from GOSAT
Authors: F. Chevallier, C. W. O’DellField of Research: 	carbon balance estimation, atmospherictransport models
Name of Journal: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
		(Volume 13, pages 4349–4357, 2013)
Title: 	Towards constraints on fossil fuel emissions from total
column carbon dioxide
Authors: G. Keppel-Aleks, P. O. Wennberg, C. W. O’Dell, D. Wunch
Field of Research: 	data application
Name of Journal: Proceedings of the Royal Society B		(Volume 280, 20130171, 2013)
Title: 	F orest produc tivit y and water stress in Amazonia:
observations from GOSAT chlorophyll fluorescence
Authors: 	J.-E. Lee, C. Frankenberg, C. van der Tol, J. A. Berry, L.
Guanter, C. K. Boyce, J. B. Fisher, E. Morrow, J. R. Worden,
S. Asefi, G. Badgley, S. Saatch
Field of Research: 	data application
Name of Journal: Geophysical Research Letters
		(Volume 40, pages 2378–2383, 2013)
Title: 	R educed carbon uptake during the 2010 Nor thern

Hemisphere summer from GOSAT
Authors: 	S . Guerlet, S. Basu, A . But z, M. K rol, P. Hahne, S.
Houweling, O. P. Hasekamp, I. Aben
Field of Research: data processing algorithm, validation
Name of Journal: Atmospheric Measurement Techniques		(Volume 6, pages 1533–1547, 2013)
Title: 	Improvement of the retrieval algorithm for GOSAT SWIR
XCO2 and XCH4 and their validation using TCCON data
Authors: 	Y . Yo s h i d a , N . K i k u c h i , I . M o r i n o, O. U c h i n o, S .
Oshchepkov, A. Bril, T. Saeki, N. Schutgens, G. C. Toon,
D. Wunch, C. M. Roehl, P. O. Wennberg, D. W. T. Griffith,
N. M. Deutscher, T. Warneke, J. Notholt, J. Robinson,
V. Sherlock, B. Connor, M. Rettinger, R. Sussmann, P.
Ahonen, P. Heikkinen, E. Kyrö, J. Mendonca, K. Strong, F.
Hase, S. Dohe, T. Yokota
Field of Research: 	c arbon balance estimation, atmospherictransport models
Name of Journal: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
		(Volume 13, pages 5697–5713, 2013)
Title: 	Estimating regional methane surface fluxes: the relative
imp o r t an ce o f sur f ace an d GOSAT m o l e f r ac tio nmeasurements
Authors: 	A . Fraser, P. I. Palmer, L. Feng, H. Boesch, A. Cogan, R.
Parker, E. J. Dlugokencky, P. J. Fraser, P. B. Krummel, R. L.
Langenfelds, S. O’Doherty, R. G. Prinn, L. P. Steele, M. vander Schoot, R. F. Weiss

5­­

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#28 JUL. 2013

INTERVIEW

A Series: "IBUKI"'s PI Interview
No.9

Dr.

Claude Camy-Peyret
CNRS Emeritus Scientist,

Co-chairman of IASI Sounding Science Working Group
Dr. Claude Camy-Peyret visited Japan this May to attend the 5th

GOSAT RA PI Meeting and IWGGMS-9 as an RA PI. This interview

was held at the opportunity, where he talked about his career as a
researcher since his youth, contacts with Japan, his expectation on

GOSAT, etc., looking back on his various activities in more than 40
years.

(Interviewer: T. Yokota, NIES GOSAT Project)

Yokota (hereafter Y): Thank you forI switched quickly to the spectroscopy of

AFCRL*7 (the name at this time; now AFGL*7)

several questions. You are involved in many

period of my research career I worked on

was later called AFGL and the first issue ofcoming here. Today I would like to ask you
satellite projects, so at first, please tell us on
your scientific background.

Claude Camy-Peyret (hereafter C): I was
recruited by CNRS* in October 1970 and1I started as a young researcher in a lab

water vapor (H 2 O), and for a significant

the spectra of H2O and its isotopes from thefar infrared to the visible. I worked on hightemperature flame spectra recorded by

Fourier transform spectroscopy in emission,

analyzing the highly excited vibrational andthe database was not disseminated publicly
because of defense applications. It became

openly available in 1974. I contributed tothe production of improved or new line
parameters for H 2 O, O 3 , NO 2 , H 2 S, SO 2 ...

rotational states of H 2O. I became then aand I was later co-author of several papers

H2O is one of the best examples of this type

HITRAN. The GEISA database came later

which was doing high resolution infrared

specialist of the theory of asymmetric rotors.

and the theoretical side. I quickly started

of molecules called the XY 2 asymmetric

spectroscopy, both on the experimental

in Hanscom Field, Massachusetts, USA. It

describing the successive versions ofin France for atmospheric and planetary

my first analyses of Fourier transform

tops* : O 3 , NO 2 , H 2 S and SO 2 are of thisspectrometers designed and built by P.

spectra of all these species recording and

Y: When I visited your office in Paris and I

theoretical analysis.

also you had an instrument named LPMA*8.

spectra recorded with the high resolution
Connes and his students. This was the time

when the first interferograms* 2 with morethan 10 6 points where recorded and the
FFT* algorithm was just being available.
3

Magnetic tapes were used for storing theinterferograms and we would wait six hours

4

same type. I did a lot of work on the infraredassigning the spectra and performing the

Y: Is it the time when you have been
involved in HITRAN*5 or GEISA*6?

to get one spectrum from these 10 points.

C : Ye s , i n t h e e a r l y 1 9 7 0 s . I t w a s t h emolecule called methyl iodide CH3I. Then

spectroscopic database. In 1972, I visited

6

My first spectroscopic analysis was on a

beginning of the HITRAN infraredapplications.

remember you had a big laboratory and

Could you tell us more on your work with
Fourier transform instruments?

C: I was interested in the applications ofmolecular spectroscopy to atmosphericscience because I realize quickly theimportance of using the best line parameters*1 CNRS (le Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, French Nationallines’ locations, intensities, etc. of gas molecules, and developed by U.S.

science agency in Europe.

absorption lines for 47 different gas molecules. Each datum includes

Air Force's laboratories since 1973. Its 2012 edition contains 7,400,447

Centre for Scientific Research in English) is the largest fundamental

transition wavenumber, line intensity, Lorentzian halfwidths, and lower-*2 Interferogram is a pattern of light intensity obtained as a result ofstate energy etc.

the following steps: i) split incident light into two beams using the beam

*6

splitter, ii) change one of the path lengths of the two split beams, and iii)GEISA (Gestion et Etude des Informations Spectroscopiques

Atmosphériques) is a database developed by CNRS, similar in kind as

merge the two beams by letting them interfere with each other.

HITRAN above.

*3 FFT (Fast Fourier Transformation) is a fast Fourier transform method*7 AFCRL stands for Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratory, AFGL for

to process digital signals on a computer, which is used to transform

Air Force Geophysics Laboratory, both of which are laboratories of the US

interferogram into spectra.

Air Force.

*4 XY2 asymmetric tops means a molecule with the shape of inverted V,*8 LPMA (Limb Profile Monitor of the Atmosphere) is a Fourier transform

atom X on its top and 2 atoms Y at its feet. It has no symmetry around any

infrared spectrometer based on solar occultation technique*9.

of the 3 main rotational axes, from which the name came.

*5 HITRAN (HIgh resolution TRANsmission) is a database on absorption*9 (see next page)

6­­

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#28 JUL. 2013

preparation of the campaigns, the balloon

measurements and the analysis of thespectra. I was quickly involved in the earlypolar ozone projects in Europe, since we hada very strong stratospheric ozone programin the beginning of the 90s.

Y: Was this your first relation with theJapanese programme?

for atmospheric remote sensing. I went
to Kitt Peak*10

in the 1980s and I was oneof the early users of the Fourier transform

spectrometer there, with which I performed
the first measurements of NO 2 from theground using the sun as the source during

C: When I began the cooperation withJapan, I was trying to do not only solar

absorption spectroscopy but also thermal

Y: And with the ADEOS* 15 project whichstarted from 1982…

C: Yes, I was working on the IMG data with

Sébastien Payan, my student at that time.

With my links with Japanese scientists andwith my own solar occultation instrument,
I decided to contact Sasano-san, the PI of
the ILAS*16 project, and I prepared with him
and more specifically with Hiroshi Kanzawa,

the validation campaign for ILAS and for
ILAS-II*16. We did two balloon campaigns foremission nadir sounding. I was involved inthese two missions, and it’s a pity that ILAS-

was discussed during the “Colloque dedid interesting balloon measurements from1989 in the early proposal of IASI*12, whichprospective du CNES*13”. This is held every

II on ADEOS-II*15 did not last long. But weEsrange/Kiruna in Northern Sweden, and we
produced good validation papers.

the day and using the moon as the source

4 years, and the French space agency is

for NO 2 which is now used everywhere inand examine future space missions. It

Y: And I heard from Prof. Kanzawa of Nagoya

medium resolution Fourier transformteam campaign.

during the night. The infrared micro-window
the NDACC*

11

network was first identified atthat time. I managed to get my first Fouriertransform instrument which was a Bomen
DA2, and I began to use it for atmosphericapplications. I then worked part time in thelab and part time doing field measurements.

My growing interest in atmosphericmeasurements started with NO2 in that case,but I realized that it would be interesting to

fly my instrument under a balloon. My first

balloon instrument was called LPMA for
Limb Profile Monitoring of the Atmosphere.

This solar occultation Fourier transform
instrument was collecting the infrared

radiation with a sun-tracker or heliostat (inFrench) from a stratospheric gondola withazimuth control, thus producing verticalprofiles of atmospheric constituents.

At that time, I was doing in parallel theinviting scientists and engineers to propose

was the time when the idea of an infrared

spectrometer was proposed for measuring

University that you two were leading thetemperature and water vapor profiles (but

C: Yes, we were campaign leaders andthe project really started in 1996, and I haveand to optimize measurements during thealso ozone and other trace gases). In fact
been involved since that time with the IASI

project as chairman of what we call the
ISSWG, the IASI Sounding Science Working

Group. This materialized with the launch of
the IASI instrument ten years later in 2006.

Being involved in the early IASI, I heard
about the Japanese experiment IMG* 14 ofProfessor Haruhisa Shimoda who was also

proposing this type of instrument and I

contacted him at that time to check if we
could detect HNO 3, in the IMG spectra, aweak feature around 12 µm partially coveredby a strong water vapor line.

responsible to organize the balloon flights

over paths of ADEOS and later ADEOS-II.

Then I became more and more involved in
the thermal infrared nadir looking spectra,

and I changed the LPMA instrument into
what we called IASI-balloon. The IASI
program was going well, so we were able

to get spectra in the same type of geometry
and with a resolution similar to what IASI

would achieve later. The first flight of IASIballoon was from Kiruna in 2001 and at thattime I was working on the retrieval of H2O,

CH4, CO and N2O. In 1996 I became directorof LPMAA*17, the lab called “Laboratoire de*9 Solar occultation technique is to observe direct sunlight that slices

Studies in English) is the French government space agency established inhand, IBUKI employs a nadir-looking method. It is a method to observe*14 IMG (Interferometric Monitor for Greenhouse Gases) is a Fourier

1961.

through the atmosphere each time a satellite makes an orbit. On the othertransform spectrometer to observe infrared spectra, mounted on ADEOS

sunlight reflected on the ground or the direct light coming from the Earthfor the purpose of greenhouse gas observation.

by pointing downward on the ground.

*15 ADEOS/ADEOS-II (ADvanced Earth Observing Satellite) are Japanese*10 The Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) is a US astronomicalsatellites with the objective to acquire data of global environmental

observatory site located on Kitt Peak of the Quinlan Mountains, Arizona.

changes such as the greenhouse effect, ozone layer depletion, tropical*11 NDACC (Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition

rain deforestation, and abnormal climatic conditions, launched in

Change) is a global network of 70 or more sites to observe atmospheric

1996/2002. Nicknames are MIDORI / MIDORI-II .

composition of stratosphere and upper troposphere.

*12 IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer) is a sensor*16 ILAS/ILAS-II (Improved Limb Atmospheric Spectrometer) are Japan's

infrared radiation from the ground surface to acquire humidity-,layer in the polar stratosphere developed by Ministry of the Environment

mounted on the European meteorological satellites MetOp to measure

first atmospheric observing sensors to monitor and research the ozone
of Japan. They were installed on ADEOS (MIDORI ) / ADEOS-II (MIDORI-II ).

temperature distribution at troposphere/lower stratosphere, andchemical component data which are important for climate monitoring,*17 LPMAA (Laboratoire de Physique Moléculaire pour l’Atmosphère et

global change, and atmospheric chemistry. The first model was launchedl'Astrophysique, Molecular Physics Laboratory for the Atmosphere andon-board MetOp-A in October 2006.

Astrophysics in English) is a joint laboratory of Pierre-and-Marie-Curie*13 CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales, National Centre for Space

University and CNRS.

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NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#28 JUL. 2013

Physique Moléculaire pour l’Atmosphère

GOSAT status?

C: I wish that GOSAT will operate long1996 to 2008 as director of this laboratory,

C: I think it’s a very successful mission andspectra and products will still improve. I

balloon campaigns and participating in

addition to CH 4 ). So the GOSAT status is

infrared diode lasers for line shape studies

which has demonstrated the use of the

et l'Astrophysique”. I spent 12 years fromand even in this position I was still enjoying
some of the laboratory experiments using
including non-Voigt profiles.

Y: All of them were studies for IASI?
C: Not only! For example, with my LPMA

instrument, and in relation with ILAS, which
had a 765 nm molecular oxygen channel,
I did one balloon flight covering this O 2

A-band and I published one paper on O2 andthe 18O16O isotope. We showed that there

was a disagreement in the positions of the

weak lines. I was then involved in GOSAT.
I had been in contact with you, Yokota-

san, for ILAS and I was interested in GOSAT
because it was focused on greenhousegases. I was wanting to look not only in thethermal infrared for temperature sounding

using the CO2 lines, but also trying to get
the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere using
the short wave infrared. So with my balloon

team and support from CNES, we had 2other balloon campaigns from Kiruna in theconfiguration called “SWIR-balloon”.

Y: You are one of these GOSAT RA PIs.

it’s the first one really measuring CO 2, (inextremely good. It’s also the first mission

high resolution oxygen A-band for aerosols
and that’s quite useful, because this isconstraining the air mass factor* . Even
20

though we “see” the column of CO 2 , wedon't really capture the full column because

enough and I hope that the quality of GOSAT

strongly recommend that efforts are madeto improve the quality of the level 1B
product. Now we have GOSAT-2 in mind,
and I think it’s a good idea to add CO at

2.3 µm, for correlating anthropogenic andnatural sources of CO and CO2. Even though
I mentioned above my interest in NO2, othersensors are measuring NO2 like OMI*21, andTROPOMI*22 and Sentinel-5*23. I would thenscattering effects are slightly modifying thesay it’s more interesting to put the efforts in

The aerosol effect must be modeled and one

in maintaining the TIR channel, but you

effective optical path in the atmosphere.
should continue to make progress in using
at best the combination of TANSO-FTS SWIR
bands. GOSAT is providing high quality dataand improvements have been made on
several problems that have been corrected(like the non-linearity in TANSO-FTS band

improving the quality of the TIR data (I insist
could reduce the band width because you
don’t need to cover the full TIR and we knowthat the noise of GOSAT above 1400 cm-1 isincreasing). So we could reduce the band
pass, just covering the region between 700
cm-1 to 1400 cm-1. That would be sufficient1). Other smaller effects can be corrected.

in the TIR for CO 2 , O 3 , CH 4 , and N 2 O (allthese spectra to check their quality and how

good enough, but with a better radiometric

I would like to continue to have access to

it varies in time (or not). I am also interested

in the solar spectra which are recorded
through the diffuser plate of TANSO-FTS.

Y: OK. So what is the expectation or

recommendation on the future of GOSAT
and GOSAT-2?

greenhouse gases). The spectral resolution isquality in the TIR, one could really perform

synergistic TIR-SWIR measurements, because
if you have 2 identical footprints, one cando level 1-level 1 retrievals since one see thesame surface on the ground.

Y: OK. Thank you for your time.

C: When there was the first researchannouncement for GOSAT, I put forward a
proposal to JAXA/NIES with Sébastien Payan
and with other partners from NOVELTIS*18

with whom I am working. I am working
in close cooperation with them and with
CNES, within the MicroCarb* 19 project. Asa scientist I am advising them and helping

to support retrieval algorithms for this new
proposed satellite mission for measuring

CO2 from space. And this is directly related

to the retrieval of GOSAT spectra. Also wewant to use the GOSAT data to prepare theoperation chain for MicroCarb.

Y: What do you think about the present*18 NOVELTIS is a French private company developing technologies in
the field of space-borne Earth Observation.

*19 MicroCarb is a French GHG observing satellite launching in 2018.

mounted on the satellite Aura of NASA.

*22 TROPOMI (TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument) is a Dutch imaging

spectrometer under development to observe O3, CH4, CO2 using spectra*20 Air mass factor is the value of observation optical path length divided

from UV to SWIR to be launched on-board Sentinel-5 Precursor in 2014.

path length varies when scattered by aerosol.

launched in 2020 as part of Sentinel project by ESA aiming at multi-

by the vertical length from the atmospheric top to the ground. The optical*21 OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) is an ozone observing sensor*23 Sentinel-5 is a satellite to observe atmospheric components to besatellite observation of land, ocean, and atmosphere.

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NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#28 JUL. 2013

DATA PRODUCTS UPDATE

Data Processing Status Update from GOSAT Project Office
Fumie Kawazoe, Specialist, NIES GOSAT Project OfficeObservation Period and Versions of Publicly Released Data

As of July 4, 2013■

FTS L1B data

● 141141 355,100 scenes● 150150 302,200 scenes● 150151 1,258,200 scenes● 160160
42,900 scenes
FTS L2 CO2 column amount  (SWIR)■

85,000 scans
88,400 scans
343,600 scans● 02.00● 02.10● 02.11
FTS L2 CH4 column amount (SWIR)■

85,100 scans
88,400 scans
343,800 scans● 02.00● 02.10● 02.11■

FTS L2 CO2 profile (TIR)● 00.01

204,800 scans

FTS L2 CH4 profile (TIR)● 00.01

206,400 scans

FTS L3 global CO2, CH4 distribution (SWIR)■

8 months
3 months
7 months
1 months
5 months
7 months● 01.10● 01.20● 01.30● 01.31● 01.40● 01.50■

CAI L1B data

705,300 frames● 01.00■

CAI L1B+ data

705,100 frames● 01.00■

CAI L2 cloud flag

701,900 frames● 01.00■■

CAI L3 global radiance distribution

1,536 recur-● 01.00

rences■

CAI L3 global reflectance distribution

504 months● 01.00■

CAI L3 NDVI

15,600 rectangles● 01.00■● 02.01

L4A global CO2 flux

● 02.01

L4B global CO2 distribution

2009/                                     2010/                                               2011/                                                 2012/                                               2013/4       6       8      10     12       2       4       6        8      10      12      2        4       6       8      10     12        2       4        6       8     10      12       2       4       6The chart above is as of July 4, 2013. The latest processed andreleased on are: FTS L1B in upgraded V160.160 (for more detail,please refer to Descriptions of TANSO-FTS Level 1B Product Updates(V160.160) on GUIG; CAI L1B/L1B+/L2 cloud flag/L3 global radianceand reflectance distribution, and NDVI in V01.00. The version namesof FTS L2 CO2/CH4 column amount (SWIR) will be changed into V02.20

according to the FTS L1B upgrade.

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER

1 year

■1 year■← Observ. period

Reprocessing of all past data has been completed for FTS SWIR L2

V02.11, CAI L3 global radiance distribution V01.00, and FTS field-ofview image.

Data provision ended for old versions of FTS L1B data: V050.050 -V130.130, CAI L3 global radiance distribution: V00.50 - V00.92, CAI L3
global reflectance distribution: V00.91 - V00.92.

The number of registered users is 1494 as of July 4, 2013.

ISSUE #28 JULY 2013

issued on : 2013/7/30

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

email : gosat_newsletter@nies.go.jp

いぶき
IBUKI

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER

website : http://www.gosat.nies.go.jp/eng/newsletter/top.htm

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