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

A Eldering; P O Wennberg; D Crisp; D S Schimel; M R Gunson; A Chatterjee; J Liu; F M Schwandner; Y Sun; C W O'Dell; C Frankenberg; T Taylor; B Fisher; G B Osterman; D Wunch; J Hakkarainen; J Tamminen; B Weir

doi:10.1126/science.aam5745

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

Science. 2017 Oct 13;358(6360):eaam5745. doi: 10.1126/science.aam5745.

Authors

A Eldering¹, P O Wennberg^{2

3}, D Crisp⁴, D S Schimel⁴, M R Gunson⁴, A Chatterjee^{5

6}, J Liu⁴, F M Schwandner⁴, Y Sun⁴, C W O'Dell⁷, C Frankenberg², T Taylor⁷, B Fisher⁴, G B Osterman⁴, D Wunch², J Hakkarainen⁸, J Tamminen⁸, B Weir^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA. [email protected].
² Division of Geology and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
³ Division of Engineering and Applied Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
⁴ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
⁵ Universities Space Research Association, Columbia, MD, USA.
⁶ NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, Greenbelt, MD, USA.
⁷ Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
⁸ Finnish Meteorological Institute, Earth Observation, Helsinki, Finland.

Abstract

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

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Atmosphere / chemistry*
Carbon Cycle*
Carbon Dioxide / analysis*
Chlorophyll / analysis
Climate Change*
Fluorescence
Plants / chemistry
Seasons

Substances

Chlorophyll
Carbon Dioxide

Grants and funding

N-999999/Intramural NASA/United States