NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#1 JAN. 2010NIES

GOSJ ATPRO ECT
NEWSL ETTERISSUE #1
JAN. 2010 THE FIRST ISSUECONTENTS

Greetings from the Executive Director
What is GOSAT Project? What is "IBUKI"?
GOSAT NEWS

Minister of the Environment Ozawa Visits GOSAT Project Office 02
DATA PRODUCTS UPDATE"IBUKI"'s Data Products

03

The Announcement of IWGGMS-6

04

People of "IBUKI" ー Shamil Maksyutov

07

Hudson Bay, Canada ー Changing Scenery of Snow and Ice

08

Inverse Model Analysis

08
08

INFORMATIONGOSAT PEOPLE

IMAGES OF THE MONTH
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.

01
02

AHA! OF THE MONTH
ANNOUNCEMENT

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

We are pleased to present the first issue of NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER
at the one year anniversary of "IBUKI"'s launch.

Greetings from the Executive Director
Yoshifumi Yasuoka Executive Director, NIES

It has been one year since the successful launch of theGreenhouse gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT, "IBUKI") on January
23, 2009. I am relieved that we can celebrate the first birthday of"IBUKI."NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER is published to mark thisone year anniversary. The goal of the newsletter is to bring you
the latest news on GOSAT as straightforwardly as possible.
The development of "IBUKI" started in 2003. At that time, we
did not have accurate information on how the greenhouse gases
are distributed geographically on the earth or how they arechanging in each season. Under such circumstance, the decision
was made that the Ministry of the Environment (MOE), Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and National Institutefor Environmental Studies should cooperate in launching thefirst greenhouse gases observing satellite in the world (and thesatellite was given a Japanese nickname "IBUKI" later on).
After the decision, the GOSAT Science Team, a scientific andtechnical advisory board lead by the GOSAT chief scientist, wasorganized. I had the honor of serving as the first chief scientist
while I was still working at the University of Tokyo. The secondand current chief scientist is Professor Gen Inoue of the ResearchInstitute for Humanity and Nature, who was affiliated with NIES
when assigned.

During the seven years of "IBUKI"'s
development, the situation aroundthe climate change, especially global
warming, has changed drastically. The
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) has published the
Fourth Assessment Report (2007),
which suggested global warming is very likely due to humanactivities. Since the cause and effect of the phenomenon became
clear to a certain level, the researchers have started to put
greater emphasis on global warming risk assessment, mitigation,
and adaptation measures.
Although "IBUKI" cannot provide observation data that canfully meet the level of the precision and spatial resolution
required for formulating local mitigation and adaptation plans,
we believe that the satellite’s capability of observing carbon
dioxide and methane globally at a frequency higher thanever would greatly contribute to the effort of global warming
mitigation.
Cooperating closely with MOE, JAXA, and the Science Team,we, at the NIES GOSAT Project, will try our very best to send out
useful and quality information to the world. We thank you foryour support.
NIES Executive Director, Yoshifumi Yasuoka
1­­

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#1 JAN. 2010

What is GOSAT Project?
What is "IBUKI"?

- Tatsuya Yokota
Chief, Satellite Remote Sensing Research Section,
Center for Global Environmental Research (CGER), NIES
NIES GOSAT Project Leader
The earth observing satellite"IBUKI" was launched on January 23,
2009, from JAXA Tanegashima Space
Center. "IBUKI" is a nickname given to theGreenhouse Gases Observing Satellite(GOSAT).
"IBUKI" was launched to achieve
two specific goals. The primary goal isto enhance the accuracy of estimatedabsorptions and emissions of carbon
dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ) on a
sub-continental scale (several thousand
kilometers squares), and to contribute to
the work of environmental management
in identifying the geographical distributionof the absorption and emission, as well as
in assessing the forest carbon balance. We
expect that the data from "IBUKI" will befully utilized to assess the climate change
prediction and its risks.
The second goal is to expand the existing
earth observation technology and develop
new technologies for greenhouse gas
measurements and for the earth observing

satellites of the future.
The GOSAT Project is promoted by acooperative partnership among JAXA, MOE,
and NIES. JAXA mainly takes charge ofdeveloping, launching, and operating thesatellite, and calibrating and operating thesensors onboard, acquiring the observation
data, and processing the acquired data to
Level 1 data products. MOE supplements
the development of the sensors and bears
the responsibility to promote the useof the GOSAT data in its environmental
management. NIES undertakes theprocessing and validation of higher-level
data products, and distribution of the data
products to the public. The three parties
also cooperatively promote the GOSAT
Science Team. The GOSAT Project solicitedresearch proposals from the scientists
worldwide, and 88 proposals from 22
countries have been adopted thus far.
The GOSAT Research Team wasorganized here at NIES in April 2004 andhas been conducting various researches.

Our research activities include developing
the algorithms for retrieving the column
amount of CO2 and CH4 from the GOSAT
data, and the models for estimating theabsorption and emission of CO 2 . We
developed and are operating the GOSAT
Data Handling Facility (GOSAT DHF) where
the data products are processed. Also,
we calibrate and validate the GOSAT data
products and distribute them to the data
users.
We are continuing to make progress after
the launch of "IBUKI" in January 2009. The
project released the reslut of the first data
analysis in May 2009, and in September
2009 announced the completion of initial
calibration. Over the months of Octoberand November in 2009, we initiated the
public release of the Level 1 data products.
The GOSAT data are now available to thegeneral public. The public release of Level
2 data products (concentration of CO2 andCH4 ) is scheduled in 2010.

GOSAT NEWS

Minister of the Environment Ozawa Visits GOSAT Project Office

On January 7, 2010, Minister of the Environment Sakihito Ozawa made a visit （on the left) Minister of the Environment Sakihito Ozawa
to the NIES, and the GOSAT Project office gave the group of officials a slide and video (2nd L) looks at the slide show presented by GOSAT
presentation on the GOSAT project. Minister Ozawa showed a special interest in the Project Leader Tatsuya Yokota (R).
process of greenhouse gases observation and asked a few questions.
（on the right) Minister Ozawa makes a 15 minutes visit to
The group broke into smiles when they were being explained about JAXA's the GOSAT Project office and receives a presentation on
Earth Observation Research Center (the GOSAT data is received there), located in the project.
"Hatoyama"-town in Saitama prefecture, to hear the name same as Prime Minister
Yukio Hatoyama.
2­­

DATA PRODUCTS UPDATEIBUKI's DATA PRODUCTS

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#1 JAN. 2010

Level 2 Products
To be Released in Mid-February, 2010.

- Hiroshi Watanebe, NIES GOSAT Project Office Manager, CGER, NIESAs you may know, two sensors, Fourier Transform retrieved from FTS TIR (Thermal InfraRed) data as soon as the data
Spectrometer (FTS) and Cloud and Aerosol Imager (CAI) are products are ready for use.
These products are available for anyone to search and download
onboard "IBUKI." The data obtained from these sensors generatefrom the URL below (user registration is required). The calibrationsuch data products as listed on Table 1.
As we have announced on our preparation issue, we have been and validation activities are carried out and the quality of the data
providing the Level 1 data products to the general public since products is checked before the release. Currently, the preparation
last fall. Now, the public release of the Level 2 data products is for the Level 3 data products are under way, and we are hoping
scheduled in mid-February. The Level 2 data products released to release the Level 4 data products in 2011, two years after thein this February include CAI cloud flag products, and column- launch.
averaged volume mixing ratio of CO2 and CH4 retrieved from FTS
SWIR data (Short Wavelength InfraRed). Shortly after, we are also GOSAT User Interface Gateway(GUIG)
planning to release the CO2 column-averaged volume mixing ratio https://data.gosat.nies.go.jp/
Table 1. List of the GOSAT data products to be released to the public from GOSAT DHF.
Product
Level
L1B

L1B+

Sensor /Band

Product Designation

Description

Product Provision UnitFTS

FTS L1B data

Radiance spectral data obtained by performing
Fourier transform on interferogram data

per FTS scene

CAI

CAI L1B data

CAI

CAI L1B+ data

FTS SWIRL2
FTS TIRCAIFTS SWIRFTS TIR
L3CAI

L2 CO2 column amount (SWIR)
L2 CH4 column amount (SWIR)
L2 CO2 profile (TIR)
L2 CH4 profie (TIR)
L2 cloud flag

Radiance data (band-to-band and geometric corrections applied / data mapping not performed)
Radiance data (band-to-band and geometric corrections applied / data mapping performed)

L3 global CO2 distribution (TIR)
L3 global CH4 distribution (TIR)

CH4 column abandance data retrieved from SWIR
radiance spectral data

CO2 vertical profile data retrieved from TIR radiancespectral data

CH4 vertical profile data retrieved from TIR radiancespectral data
Cloud coverage data

CH4 column-averaged mixing ratio data projected
on a global map

Monthly-averaged CO2 concentration at each vertical level projected on a global map

L3 global radiance distribution
L3 global reflectance distribution (clear sky)

Clear-sky radiance data (composed only of clear-sky
segments selected from a month worth of data)

L3 global NDVI

Vegitation index global distribution data (cloudy
segments excluded)-

L4A global CO2 flux

L4B-

L4B global CO2 distribution

variable

CO2 flux per each of the 64-divided global regions(monthly average)

Three-dimentional, global distribution of CO2 concentration

HDF5

per CAI frame

per month (global)

Monthly-averaged CH4 concentration at each vertical level projected on a global map
Global radiance distribution data (3 days worth,including data for cloudy segments )

L4A

HDF5

CO2 column abandance data retrieved from SWIR
radiance spectral data

CO2 column-averaged mixing ratio data projected
L3 global CO2 distribution (SWIR)
on a global map
L3 global CH4 distribution (SWIR)

per CAI frame

Data Format

HDF5

per 3 days (global)

per 15 days
30º × 60º (lat. × lon.)
per year (64 regions)

Text

per month
NetCDF
2.5º × 2.5º grid (lat. × lon.)

Notes:
1) For an outline of data product processing., we are planning to bring you more information in coming issues.
2) SWIR and TIR stand for Short Wavelength InfraRed and Thermal InfraRed, respectively. SWIR are detected in Band 1, 2, and 3 of FTS, and Band 4 captures TIR.
3) An FTS scene and a CAI frame are equivalent to 1/60 of one orbital revolution.
4) HDF5 and NetCDF stand for Hierarchical Data Format version 5 and Network Common Data Form, respectively.
5) NDVI stands for Normalized Difference Vegetation Index.
We would like to introduce you how and what tools are needed to read the data in coming issues.

3­­

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#1 JAN. 2010

INFORMATION Announcement of IWGGMS-6

goal of this workshop is to assess the latest science and technologies
in spaceborne measurement of greenhouse gases. There will bepresentations on the new scientific findings and results obtained
from the ongoing satellite missions as well as on the concepts of thenext-generation remote sensing missions.

Here, we would like to the details on the Sixth International
Workshop on Greenhouse Gas Measurements from Space(IWGGMS-6). The event will take place from January 26 through 27,
2010 at the Kyoto International Conference Center, Kyoto, Japan. The

IWGGMS-6 Agenda
January 26, 2010 (TUE)

09:0009:35
09:3509:45
09:4510:00
10:0010:15
10:1510:35
10:5011:10
11:1011:30
11:3011:50
11:5012:10
12:1012:30
13:3014:30

Registration
Welcome address

Yoshifumi Yasuoka (NIES, Japan)

Space Mission Overview

Chair : Masakatsu Nakajima (JAXA,
Japan)One year operation results of TANSO on GOSAT

Akihiko Kuze (JAXA, Japan)

Overview of GOSAT data processing and data product distribution

Tatsuya Yokota (NIES, Japan)

Atmospheric Carbon Observations from Space (ACOS): contributions to the GOSATDavid Crisp (JPL, USA)missionBreak (15 min.)Michael Buchwitz (Univ. Bremen,
Carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) from SCIAMACHY on ENVISAT
Germany)
Total column methane for the years 2003-2009 as seen by SCIAMACHY: Trends and Christian Frankenberg (SRON,
variability
Netherlands)
Moustafa Chahine (JPL, USA)

7-Years of AIRS mid-tropospheric CO2Seven years’ observation of mid-upper tropospheric CH4 and CO2 from AIRS and
Xiaozhen Xiong (NOAA, USA)
recent observation from IASI at NOAA
Characterization of Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) CO2 for carbon cycle
John Worden (JPL, USA)scienceLunch break (60 min.)

Poster Session (Odd-numbered posters are presented.)
GOSAT Sensor, Calibration, and Retrievals

14:3014:50
14:5015:10
15:1015:30

Overview of GOSAT/CAI measurements of the atmosphere
Status of calibration of TANSO FTS and CAI onboard GOSATACOS contributions to the 2009 GOSAT vicavrious calibration experiments overRailroad Valley, Nevada
Break (15 min.)

15:4516:05
16:0516:25
16:2516:45
16:45

Sensitivity of XCO2 retrievals from GOSAT data to aerosol distributions and opticalproperties
Evaluation of strategies to account for scattering effects in greenhouse gas retrievalsfrom space
Adjourn

9:00

The conference venue is opened.

09:2009:40
09:4010:00
10:0010:20

Presenter

Current status of the TANSO-FTS SWIR L2 processing

Chair: Ryoichi Imasu (Univ. Tokyo/CCSR,
Japan)
Teruyuki Nakajima (Univ. Tokyo/CCSR,
Japan)Kei Shiomi (JAXA/EORC, Japan)
Harold R. Pollock (JPL, USA)

Yukio Yoshida (NIES, Japan)
Hartmut Boesch (Univ. Leicester, UK)
Andre Butz (SRON, Netherlands)

January 27, 2010 (WED)

Satellite Data Validation
xCO2 and xCH4 retrievals from the Total Column Carbon Observing Network(TCCON) during the first year of GOSAT operations
Airborne validation of total column CO2, CH4 and CO measurements over six
European FTIR sites
Long-term and 3-D records of atmospheric CO2 observed by CONTRAIL project4­­

Chair: Charles Miller (JPL, USA)
Debra Wunch (CalTech, USA)
Justus Notholt (Univ. Bremen, Germany)
Toshinobu Machida (NIES, Japan)

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#1 JAN. 2010

10:2010:40

Current status for validation of GOSAT standard products

10:5011:50

Poster Session (Even-numbered posters are presented.)

13:0013:20
13:2013:40
13:4014:00
14:0014:20
14:2014:40

15:0015:20
15:2015:40
15:4016:00
16:0016:20
16:2017:00
17:00
17:10
17:30

Isamu Morino (NIES, Japan)

Break (10 min.)Lunch break (70 min.)

Source/Sink Estimation

Chair: Tatsuya Yokota (NIES, Japan)

Global carbon cycle modeling tools for GOSAT data analysis

Shamil Maksyutov (NIES, Japan)

Comparing the information content of various satellite and surface measurements
Peter Rayner (LSCE, France)of CO2Estimation of sources and sinks of CO2 and CH4 from GOSAT: Expected accuracy
Frederic Chevallier (LSCE, France)and preliminary results with real data
Recent changes in the global sources and sinks of methane derived from
Sander Howeling (SRON, Netherlands)
SCIAMACHY
Inverse modeling of carbon sources and sinks using TES CO2 observations
Break (20 min.)

Dylan Jones (Univ. Toronto, Canada)

General Topics and Future Missions

Chair: Haruhisa Shimoda (Tokai Univ.,
Japan)

Global measurement of CO2 from space: Challenges and perspectives

Jianping Mao (NASA/GSFC, USA)

Future greenhouse gas observation strategies for science and society

Stacey Boland (JPL, USA)

Airborne demonstration of potential mission concept for space-based active
remote sensing of CO2

Edward Browell (NASA/LaRC, USA)

Carbon monitoring Satellite (CarbonSat): Mapping of CO2 and CH4 from space
General Discussion

Michael Buchwitz (Univ. Bremen,
Germany)
Chair: Gen Inoue (RIHN, Japan)

Workshop summary & general discussion
Closing Remarks

Takashi Hamazaki (JAXA, Japan)

Adjourn

Conference Dinner

Poster Presentations(All poster presenters are asked to be available at their presentations during the specified session hours.)
Presenter

GOSAT Sensor, Calibration, and Data Processing
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

On orbit status of TANSO on GOSAT

Hiroshi Suto (JAXA, Japan)

Latest GOSAT data processing and its availability to users

Hiroshi Watanabe (NIES, Japan)

Radiometric calibration accuracy of GOSAT TANSO-FTS ( TIR) sensor and gaseous
Ryoichi Imasu (Univ. Tokyo/CCSR, Japan)
component retrieval
Aircraft measurements of atmospheric CO 2 using the 1.57 μ m laser absorption
Shuji Kawakami (JAXA/EORC, Japan)
spectrometer during GOSAT Hokkaido campaign in August 2009
High-resolution simulations of CO2 and CH4 using a NIES atmospheric tracer transport model for

producing a priori concentrations used in the retrieval of GOSAT L2 data processing
Evaluation and early results of GOSAT TANSO-FTS SWIR Level 2 product (CO 2 and CH4column abundances data)

Initial results of actual GOSAT SWIR data processing with PPDF-based method

Tazu Saeki (NIES, Japan)
Nawo Eguchi (NIES, Japan)
Sergey Oshchepkov (NIES, Japan)

Retrieval Algorithms
8

Comparison of retrieval approaches for GOSAT

Austin Cogan (Univ. Leicester, UK)

9

Polarization model for GOSAT and its impact upon retrievals

Denis O'Brien (Colorado State Univ., USA)

Utilization of all spectral channels of IASI for the retrieval of the atmospheric state

Samuele Del Bianco (IFAC, Italy)

10
11
12

Reference radiative transfer model including the polarization effect in a coupled
Yoshifumi Ota (NIES, Japan)
atmosphere-ocean system
Channel selection of CO 2 retrieval from near infrared measurements using information
Le Kuai (CalTech, USA)
content analysis

5­­

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#1 JAN. 201013

Carbon dioxide retrieval from IASI measurements using the KLIMA inversion algorithm

Ugo Cortesi (IFAC, Italy)

14

CO2 vertical profile retrieval from GOSAT measurements using neural network approach

Mikhail Kataev (Tomsk Univ., Russia)

15
16

A new Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) approach for methane retrieval using AIRS
data
Current results for the ACOS XCO2 and surface pressure retrieval algorithms for GOSAT
data
Regional and Global Gas Concentrations

17
18
19
20
21
22

Arctic ocean atmosphere CO2 concentration measurements from AIRS-AMSU: A
complement to GOSAT projectCorrelationship between methane and carbon monoxide concentration in Beijing: fromAIRS Level 2 product to ground-based FTS measurements
A plan of monitoring greenhouse gas emission from large reservoir by remote sensing

Dynamic multiresolution spatial models applied to remotely sensed greenhouse gas data

23
24

Validation of atmospheric CO2 and CH4 retrieved from GOSAT

Data Evaluation and Validation

26
27
28
29
30

Christopher O'Dell (Colorado State Univ.,
USA)
Reginald Muskett (Univ. Alaska, USA)
Zhang Ying (CAS, P. R. China)
Zhao Dengzhong (China Three Gorges Corp.,
P. R. China)

Quantitative remote sensing for monitoring greenhouse gas emissions from hydroelectric
Bingfang Wu (CAS, P. R. China)
reservoirs in China
Multispectral measurements of boundary layer and free tropospheric CO from MOPITT:
Helen Worden (NCAR, USA)
Implications for carbon cycle science
Programming core for massive assimilation of GOSAT spectra and its first retrieval ofcarbon gases over Western Siberia

25

Zhang Ying (CAS, P. R. China)

Validation of GOSAT column-averaged mole fraction of carbon dioxide using aircraft
measurements by CONTRAIL, NOAA and NIES
Validation of GOSAT methane by ground-based MIR- and NIR FTS at the ground-truthingfacility Garmisch/Zugspitze
Aircraft measurement of carbon dioxide for calibration of ground-based high-resolution
Fourier Transform Spectrometer at Tsukuba, Japan

Validation of total column measurements with airborne in-situ profiles of CO2, CH4 and CO

Network observation of GHGs in China and concept of validating satellite remote sensing
and model output
Compact optical spectrum analyzer to monitor atmospheric CO2 and CH4 columns via
remote operation

31

Development of Balloon-borne CO2 instruments

32

Strategy for harmonized retrieval of column-averaged methane from the mid-infrared
NDACC FTS-network and intercomparison with SCIAMACHY satellite data on global scale

Petr Musilek (Univ. Alberta, Canada)

Konstantin Gribanov (Ural State Univ.,
Russia)Austin Cogan (Univ. Leicester, UK)
Yuki Miyamoto (NIES, Japan)
Ralf Sussmann (IMK-IFU, Germany)
Tomoaki Tanaka (NIES, Japan)
Dietrich Feist (MPI, Germany)
Lingxi Zhou (CAMS, P. R. China)
Toshio Ibuki (Kyoto Univ., Japan)
Tomoki Nakayama (Nagoya Univ./STEL,Japan)
Ralf Sussmann (IMK-IFU, Germany)

Atmospheric Transport and Inverse Modeling
33
34
35
36

Carbon Tracker-Asia, a tool to quantify CO2 uptake/release focused on Asia

Inverse modeling system for operational processing of the GOSAT Level 4A regional CO2
flux data productA very high-resolution fossil fuel CO2 emission inventory for the GOSAT operational flux
inversion
Can remote sensing verify carbon-dioxide emissions verification? Recent Pasadena, CA
and proposed Farmington, NM studies
Future Lidar Measurements

37
38

Pulsed airborne lidar measurements of atmospheric CO2 column absorption and line
shapes from 3-13 km altitudes
Continuous wave differential laser absorption spectroscopy of CO2: Airborne instrument
to a space mission concept

Chun Ho Cho (NIMR, Korea)
Hiroshi Takagi (NIES, Japan)
Tomohiro Oda (NIES, Japan)
Manvendra Dubey (Los Alamos National
Lab., USA)James Abshire (NASA, USA)
Jeremy Dobler (ITT, USA)
(38 Posters)

List of Abbreviations for Institution Name (Alphabetical)
CalTechCalifornia Institute of Technology

JPL

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

CAS

Chinese Academy of Sciences

MPI

The Max Planck Institute for Meteorology

CAMS
CCSR

EORC
GSFC
IFAC

IMK-IFUITT

JAXA

Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences
Center for Climate System Research
Earth Observation Research Center
Goddard Space Flight Center

Institute of Applied Physic, Nello Carrara
Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research
Atmospheric Environmental Research
ITT Corporation
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

LSCE
NASA

NCAR
NIES

NIMR

NOAA
RHIN

SRON
STEL

6­­

The Laboratory for the Science of Climate and the Environment
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
The National Center for Atmospheric Research
National Institute for Environmental Studies

National Institute of Meteorological Research

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Research Institute for Humanity and Nature
Netherlands Institute for Space Research

Solar-Terrestrial Environment LaboratoryIWGGMS-6 POSTER PRESENTATIONS MAP
Room B-1

Room B-2
No.17 No.18 No.19 No.20

No.16
No.15
No.14

No.26
No.32

No.23

No.25

No.27

No.28

No.30

No.29

No.21 No.22

No.31

No.24

No.34

No.33

No.35

No.36

No.38
No.37

No.13
No.12

No.8

No.6

No.1

No.11

No.7

No.5

No.2

No.10
No.9

No.3
Window

No.4

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#1 JAN. 2010ACCESS TO THE IWGGMS-6 VENUEThe Kyoto International Conference Center is easily accessed from KansaiInternational Airport (KIX) by taking JR airport express train Haruka leaving
for Kyoto Station (approximately 75 minutes). Participants entering Japanthrough Tokyo Narita International Airport (NRT) may take JR Tokaido
Shinkansen Line (super-express train) departing Tokyo Station for Kyoto
Station (approximately 3 hours). The conference venue can be reached from
Kyoto Station via Kyoto City Subway' s Kokusai Kaikan station on Karasuma
Line (20 minutes).
Kyoto International Conference Center (ICC Kyoto)
Takaragaike, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-0001 Japan
Phone: +81-75-705-1234
http://www.icckyoto.or.jp/en/

GOSAT PEOPLEPEOPLE OF "IBUKI"

Carbon Source/Sink Estimation Field

SHAMIL MaksyutovSpecial Senior Researcher, CGER, NIES
Deputy Leader, NIES GOSAT Project

My involvement in greenhouse gas observations andmodeling study started with participating in the NIES Siberianobservation project in the 1990s. The NIES airborne observation
campaigns and regular monitoring of the greenhouse gas
concentrations using observation towers across the Siberiancontinent began in 1993. During the project I developed an
atmospheric tracer transport model and a backward trajectorymodel for analyzing the collected observational data. Later,
I joined the Greenhouse Gas Modeling group at the Frontier
Research Center for Global Change (a research institute organizedby the National Space Development Agency of Japan and theJapan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology) andstudied the interannual variability of the global carbon cycle using
an atmospheric transport model operated on the supercomputer
Earth Simulator.
Since 2005, I am leading a group of researchers at NIES who
develop a modeling system that estimates sources and sinks ofcarbon dioxide (CO2) using the GOSAT observation data.
The modeling system is composed of an atmospheric transportmodel, simplified models of ocean and atmospheric processes,
models of the carbon cycle in the terrestrial biosphere and ocean,and inventories of anthropogenic and natural CO2 sources such as
forest fires, emissions from fossil fuel burning, and other humaninduced processes. The atmospheric transport model built in thissystem is designed to simulate three-dimensional CO2 variations
effectively at a high resolution on modern supercomputers.
In the GOSAT Project, we use high-resolution wind data
generated by the Japan Meteorological Agency’s global weather
forecast model. The weather forecast model has a horizontal
resolution of 20 km, making it the finest-resolution global
forecast model in the world. To properly account for influencesby emissions from point sources such as fossil-fuel power plantsthat can be seen by the GOSAT’s sensor that has a view field of
10 km in diameter, we use a particle plume diffusion model thatcan even track the paths of gas plumes stretching few kilometers.
By combining the particle diffusion model with the atmospherictransport model, we can simulate the observations globally at thehighest possible resolution. For this simulation, we developed
a global map of fossil fuel emissions at 1 km resolution usingnightlight data collected by satellites and databases of large
power plants distributed around the globe.
To simulate the carbon cycle in the terrestrial biosphere, we use
a process model called VISIT that simulates the carbon exchange
processes of plants and soils via photosynthesis, respiration, anddecomposition of organics. In this model, day-to-day changes
in, rainfall, insolation, air and soil temperatures, soil moisture
content, and other factors affecting the biological processes are
considered.

The concentrations of CO2 at ocean surfaces are simulated withan ocean carbon cycle model that uses ocean current data andan ocean biogeochemistry model. By using a method called data
assimilation, the model-simulated oceanic CO2 concentrations areadjusted to the values of CO2 measured at the ocean surfaces. By
repeating this assimilation process several times, the differences
between the simulations and the observations are gradually
reduced, and we obtain a global distribution of ocean CO2 thatmatches the observations closely. From this distribution we get a
reliable map of CO2 sources and sinks over the world ocean on amonthly basis.
Combining all of these models and modeling techniques,
we will use GOSAT’s CO 2 and CH4 observation data to improveunderstanding of the global carbon cycle and its sensitivity toanthropogenic contributions and climate variations.
Profile:http://www-cger.nies.go.jp/climate/person/maksyutov/e_index.
html
7­­

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#1 JAN. 2010

IMAGES OF THE MONTH※ Because of the map
projection, the bay looks
more condensed verticallythan actual in these images.
©MOE/JAXA/NIESMay 2009©MOE/JAXA/NIES

June 2009©MOE/JAXA/NIES

Changing Scenery of
Ice and Snow

− Tsuneo Matsunaga
Chief, Office for Global Environmental Database,
CGER, NIES

April 2009

©MOE/JAXA/NIES

Hudson Bay, CANADA©MOE/JAXA/NIES

August 2009

©MOE/JAXA/NIES

September 2009

©MOE/JAXA/NIES

July 2009

October 2009

Blue ＝ Band １、Green ＝ Band ３、Red ＝ Band ２

60°

50°

Hudson Bay is a large bay(extends approx. 1000km from east40°
to west) located in north eastern
Canada, and is connected to the
Arctic Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.
100°
90°
80°
Since it is at high latitude (from 50 to 60 degrees north), for more than half a year, it iscovered with ice.
For these “Images of the Month,” we have images of Hudson Bay photographed by
CAI. At NIES, with the images acquired each month, we produce composite images ofusing only the parts that do not contain clouds. This month, we introduce you suchmonthly images of Hudson Bay from April 2009 to October 2009.
In April, the bay and the surrounding land areas are blanketed in ice and snow, but
in May the water surface starts to show. By June, the snow on the ground is alreadygone, but more than half of the bay surface is still covered with ice. The ice has finallydisappeared in August, but by October, the ice and snow are back to show the firstsigns of winter.
Satellites are able to witness such dynamic seasonal changes of our planet as thescenery of ice and snow in high latitude areas as presented here.

AHA! OF THE MONTH
Inverse Model Analysis

ANNOUNCEMENTCALL FOR SUBMISSIONS- Hiroshi Takagi
Specialist, CGER, NIES

An analytical method called
inverse modeling is often used inestimating values that cannot bemeasured directly. With this technique,a cause can be reconstructed from its
effect. In seismology, for example, theintensity of an earthquake (cause) at its
hypocenter can be inversely estimatedfrom the data of shaking ground(effect) acquired by the seismometers
around the world (left figure).
The same technique is applied
when estimating absorptions andemissions of CO2 in each region of the world using the GOSAT observational data. Changes in CO2 concentrations
in each region are brought by human activities, movement of the wind that mixes and carries the emitted CO2,
respiration of the forest, and absorption and emission by the surrounding ocean (right figure). Using the inverse
modeling technique, the "causes" that bring about the concentration changes in each region, the fluxes of CO2,
can be estimated inversely from the “effect”, the changing concentrations of CO2 that IBUKI monitors globally.

GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTERis accepting submissions from ourreaders.
We appreciate your opinion pieces;"I want to read articles on ..."
"I'd like to know what ... means.""... was really interesting. ...could
have been better if ..." etc.
We also appreciate contributions frompeople involved in GOSAT Project;"I'd love people to know about ...""My research (work) is on ...,and I am passionate about it!" etc.
Please feel free to contact:
gosat_newsletter@nies.go.jp.
Thank you for supporting our
newsletter.
-Yuki Tanaka, editor

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE #1 JAN. 2010

Issued On : 2010.1.22

edited and published by : GOSAT Project Oﬃce

NIES

GOSJ ATPRO ECT
NEWSL ETTER

email : gosat̲newsletter@nies.go.jp
website : http://www.gosat.nies.go.jp
address：16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba-City, Ibaraki,305-8506 JapanYou can download this newsletter here:

URL:http://www.gosat.nies.go.jp/eng/newsletter/newsletter01e.pdf
If you would like to subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter,
please email : gosat̲newsletter@nies.go.jp

GOSAT Project Oﬃce
Center for Global Environmental Research
National Institute for Environmental Studies

8­­

Reproduction in any form without publisherʼs permission is prohibited.