Remote sensing of atmospheric CO2 with a gas-filter correlation radiometer:: A concept study

Concern about the climatic effects of anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) has resulted in a growing need, both scientifically and politically, to monitor atmospheric CO2. The development of a satellite instrument which could measure the global distribution of atmospheric CO2 would greatly improve our understanding of the global carbon cycle and provide a means of monitoring regional sources and sinks. In this paper, we propose and analyse the potential of a nadir-viewing, satellite-based remote sensing instrument consisting of a multi-channel Gas-Filter Correlation Radiometer (GFCR) tuned to the 6300 cm(-1) (1.6 mum) and 5000 cm(-1) (2.0 mum) regions to globally measure the atmospheric CO2 column. Although such an instrument would present some engineering challenges, we find that it could potentially measure the atmospheric CO2 integrated-column to a precision of 1ppmv of CO2 or better.