In the cold of winter, the 816 office of Building 2 of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is brightly lit.
Associate researcher Yang Dongxu and his research team have been busy - using the observation data obtained by the mainland's first global carbon dioxide monitoring scientific experimental satellite (carbon satellite), they are analyzing and calculating new results of the global carbon sink and carbon emission spatio-temporal distribution, and discussing the trend of continental carbon sink change. "This will help us understand the advantages and disadvantages of this satellite in order to optimize the design of future satellites."
Carbon dioxide emissions are one of the main causes of global warming. Who emits CO2? How much is emitted? Where does this carbon dioxide go?
Global warming is intensifying, and Antarctic ice melting is intensifying.
This is a question that scientific research needs to answer, a scientific basis for policy formulation, and a key data in the international negotiations on global climate change.
Carbon Satellites can help us come up with answers!
On December 22, 2016, it was successfully launched in Jiuquan. It carries detection equipment such as high-spectrum and high-spatial resolution carbon dioxide detectors, multi-spectral cloud and aerosol detectors independently developed by mainland researchers. This moment marks that the mainland has reached an advanced level in the field of greenhouse gas monitoring.
At 3:22 on December 22, 2016, the mainland successfully launched the Global Carbon Dioxide Monitoring Scientific Experiment Satellite (hereinafter referred to as the "Carbon Satellite") at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center with the Long March 2 D carrier rocket.
Having observational data is only the first step, followed by the inversion of the data -
How is solar radiation transmitted in the atmosphere? What are the characteristics of atmospheric scattering and absorption? The scientific research team of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed the Carbon Dioxide Concentration Inversion Algorithm of China's carbon satellites, which simulates and accurately depicts these problems.
Because of such an accurate and efficient algorithm, the real-time changes in the global atmospheric carbon dioxide content can be truly and objectively reflected, and the quantitative calculation and monitoring of carbon sources and sinks have also been based.
This "carbon satellite" is really extraordinary: in September 2017, the first global carbon dioxide distribution map was released, with an average accuracy of 2.11ppm; in 2020, Liu Yi's team at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences improved the data quality and inversion algorithm, improved the data accuracy to 1.5ppm, and obtained the terrestrial ecosystem daylight-induced chlorophyll fluorescence data product; in 2021, the first global carbon flux data set of China's "carbon satellite" was obtained.
Schematic diagram of China's TanSat monitoring global carbon sources. Image courtesy of the atmosphere
"This is a landmark result, marking that the mainland has the ability to monitor the spatial quantitative monitoring of the global carbon budget, and is the third country in the world after Japan and the United States to have this technology." Yang Dongxu proudly said that this "carbon satellite" allows mainland scientific and technological workers and relevant departments to grasp first-hand data, which increases the mainland's confidence in the global negotiations on climate change.
The work continues, as Liu Yi said: "We hope to cooperate with other countries to form a carbon satellite 'virtual constellation' to jointly observe atmospheric carbon dioxide and provide richer monitoring data for global climate change." At the same time, the design and research and development of a new generation of 'carbon satellites' on the mainland has been put on the agenda. This will help the mainland achieve the 'double carbon' goal, and also reflect the responsibility of a big country." As researchers, we feel deeply honored by our mission. ”
(Reporter Qi Fang)
Source: Guangming Daily (2022-02-08 01 edition)
Photo: Xinhua net, etc
Editor-in-charge: Wang Yuanfang
Editors: Sun Dai, Sun Xiaoting, Zhang Xueyu