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Progress on Passive Sensor for Ultra-Precise Measurement of Carbon Dioxide from SpaceGlobal measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxides (CO2) are needed to resolve significant discrepancies that exist in our understanding of the global carbon budget and, therefore, man's role in global climate change. The science measurement requirements for CO2 are extremely demanding (precision c .3%) No atmospheric chemical species has ever been measured from space with this precision. We are developing a novel application of a Fabry-Perot interferometer to detect spectral absorption of reflected sunlight by CO2 and O2 in the atmosphere. Preliminary design studies indicate that the method will be able to achieve the sensitivity and signal-to-noise required to measure column CO2 at the target specification. We are presently engaged in the construction of a prototype instrument for deployment on an aircraft to test the instrument performance and our ability to retrieve the data in the real atmosphere. In the first 6 months we have assembled a laboratory bench system to begin testing the optical and electronic components. We are also undertaking some measurements of signal and noise levels for actual sunlight reflecting from the ground. We shall present results from some of these ground based studies and discuss their implications for a space based system.
Document ID
20030031380
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Heaps, William S.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Kawa, S. Randolph
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 21, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2002
Subject Category
Meteorology And Climatology
Meeting Information
Meeting: Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere, Ocean, Environment and Space
Location: Hangzhou
Country: China
Start Date: October 23, 2002
End Date: October 27, 2002
Sponsors: International Society for Optical Engineering
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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