http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features.cfm?feature=2037

Orbiting Carbon Observatory Aims To Boost Carbon Management Options
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
February 19, 2009

As the concentration of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in Earth's
atmosphere continues to rise, so also does public awareness, as well
as
efforts to find solutions to this global problem. Increasing
concentrations of this potent greenhouse gas threaten to alter Earth's
climate in ways that will have profound impacts on the welfare and
productivity of society and Earth's ecosystems.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Scripps Institution of
Oceanography scientist Charles David Keeling's Mauna Loa carbon
dioxide
record, the longest continuous record of atmospheric carbon dioxide
measurements. Until now, precise ground-based measurements such as
these
have been the main tool for scientists monitoring the rise of
atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.

Comparisons of these data with carbon dioxide emission rates from
fossil
fuel combustion, biomass burning and other human activities tell us
that
only about half of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere
during this period has remained there. The rest has apparently been
absorbed by surface "sinks" in the land biosphere or oceans. These
measurements also show that, despite the steady long-term growth of
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the buildup varies dramatically from
year to year, even though emissions have increased smoothly. However,
the ground-based carbon dioxide monitoring network is too sparse to
identify the locations of these sinks or tell us what controls changes
in their efficiency from year to year.

NASA's new Orbiting Carbon Observatory is designed to help meet this
need. It will measure the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
over any spot on Earth's surface and establish a record of how carbon
dioxide concentrations change over time. Observations from the mission
will improve our understanding of the carbon cycleâthe movement of
carbon among its "reservoirs" in the Earth system--and help us
understand the influence of the carbon cycle on climate.

The observatory's ability to locate and monitor changes in carbon
sources (places where carbon is generated) and sinks (places where
carbon is absorbed or stored) will provide valuable information to
support decision making by those responsible for managing carbon in
the
environment. It will assist them in developing effective strategies
for
managing global carbon dioxide and monitoring the effectiveness of
those
strategies.

Phil DeCola, a senior policy analyst in the White House Office of
Science and Technology Policy, and former Orbiting Carbon Observatory
program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said solving the
scientific mystery of the missing sinks and their curious variability
is
likely to have large policy and economic impacts.

"If the nations of the world take serious action to limit the use of
fossil fuels, the right to emit carbon dioxide will become scarcer,
and
emission rights would become an increasingly valuable traded
commodity,"
DeCola said. "Observations of the location, amount and rate of carbon
dioxide emission into the air, as well as the stock and flow of all
forms of carbon on land and in the ocean, will be needed to manage
such
a world market fairly and efficiently."

Two commonly discussed strategies for reducing the amount of
atmospheric
carbon dioxide are a carbon tax and a "cap-and-trade" system. A carbon
tax is a fee imposed on activities, such as burning of fossil fuels,
which emit carbon compounds into the atmosphere. The carbon tax
reduces
carbon emissions by encouraging efficiencies of use, or by
alternative,
non-carbon emitting processes.

Cap-and-trade systems establish limits on the carbon emissions that a
company, industry or country is allowed to produce. Those who exceed
their established limits must compensate by either purchasing
emissions
rights from those whose carbon dioxide emissions fall below their
established limits, or by arranging, through contracts, for
sequestration (i.e., storage) of their excess emissions in plants,
soils
or beneath Earth's surface. Effective use of either strategy requires
more accurate information on the existing sources, sinks and fluxes of
carbon dioxide, information that the Orbiting Carbon Observatory can
help provide.

"The new mission will provide information to help develop and
implement
domestic policies and international collaborations to control the
movement of carbon in the environment," said Edwin Sheffner, deputy
chief of Earth Science at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field,
Calif. "By identifying and monitoring carbon sources and sinks within
a
given region, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory will enable comparisons
of
net carbon dioxide emission sources among regions and counties, and
will
improve annual reporting of carbon budgets by industrial countries in
northern latitudes, and by tropical states with large forests."

"Future monitoring systems based on Orbiting Carbon Observatory
technology could report on regional carbon sources and sinks to verify
carbon reporting for many countries as well," he added.

Use of Orbiting Carbon Observatory data in ecosystem models may reduce
uncertainties about carbon uptake, a required part of any carbon
management effort. The mission will help clarify the quantity of
carbon
dioxide being removed from the atmosphere in different geographic
regions. For example, more carbon appears to be taken up by coastal
and
terrestrial ecosystems in North America than in many other parts of
the
world. Orbiting Carbon Observatory observations will help determine
the
specific roles that Alaska, Canada, the contiguous United States and
Mexico play in this North American carbon sink. Understanding the
relative roles of different regions will help policymakers develop the
most efficient carbon dioxide sequestration and reduction policies.

The observatory's measurements may also have direct applications for a
variety of current efforts to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
While the mission will not be able to identify small, individual
sources
of carbon dioxide emissions, it will likely be able to detect
high-emission events such as gas flares, where unwanted gas or other
materials are burned in large quantities. This ability could allow it
to
verify adherence to policies aimed at reducing such flares.

Orbiting Carbon Observatory data will also have implications for land
management and agricultural practices. Plants take carbon dioxide out
of
the atmosphere as they grow--a natural type of carbon sequestration.
By
repeating its measurements over multiple seasons and over regions with
different types of vegetation, such as cornfields or grasslands, the
observatory will help identify how changes in land use affect the
amount
of carbon being sequestered.

Agencies such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture may base policies
for crop production and land conservation, in part, on information
from
Orbiting Carbon Observatory observations, according to Sheffner.
Similar
observations can be used by the Department of Energy to help evaluate
the carbon-capture potential of various biofuels and to assess their
impacts on the environment and the carbon cycle. "These findings will
influence both near- and long-term policy decisions related to
alternative energy," Sheffner added. In regions with large-scale
agricultural land cover, Orbiting Carbon Observatory-type observations
over several growing seasons could help quantify the relative roles of
different types of crops and assess the effectiveness of rangeland
management strategies in statewide carbon budget management.

Orbiting Carbon Observatory data may also prove to be an important
addition to the ongoing effort by the California Air Resources Board
and
NASA scientists to improve California's database on fluctuations in
greenhouse gas emissions. "These state figures, when used to enhance
NASA ecosystem carbon models, can increase our precision and
confidence
in the allocation of industrial sources of carbon dioxide emissions as
compared to emissions caused by terrestrial events such as wildfires
or
crop production," Sheffner said.

Evaluation of the ocean, which takes up about one third of the carbon
humans put into the atmosphere, and its role in the global carbon
cycle,
will also benefit from the new mission's observations. Orbiting Carbon
Observatory data may help show how large-scale ocean events, such as
El
Niño or La Niña, affect carbon storage in the deep ocean and in
coastal
regions. They may also help verify the impacts of these events on
carbon
storage on the continents, such as reduced plant growth during an El
Niño-influenced drought in the U.S. Southwest.

"As the ocean absorbs large amounts of carbon dioxide, seawater
becomes
more acidic, potentially threatening marine life. By monitoring
changes
in the ocean's carbon uptake, the mission may shed new light on ocean
acidification and the resulting changes in ocean ecosystems," said
Sheffner. Knowing more about how ocean carbon levels fluctuate will
also
help scientists evaluate the possibility of using biological or
chemical
processes in the ocean to sequester carbon and perhaps even mitigate
ocean acidification.

Sheffner explained that the Orbiting Carbon Observatory may also aid
efforts to find effective ways to store excess carbon safely
underground. Combining mission data with observations from airborne
and
ground-based instruments will create much more accurate maps of global
carbon sources and sinks than were ever possible before. "Once we have
a
better understanding of the âbackground' fluctuations in carbon
dioxide
near proposed underground carbon storage sites, the observatory's data
could be useful for monitoring underground carbon storage sites for
leakage," he explained.

"The Orbiting Carbon Observatory will provide information needed for
evaluating policy options and monitoring the effectiveness of efforts
to
reduce carbon emissions and increase carbon sequestration locally,
regionally and globally," Sheffner said, in summing up.

Looking to the future, DeCola said the mission will serve as a
prototype
for the next generation of greenhouse gas space missions. "The
Orbiting
Carbon Observatory will be an important experiment because its results
will be used to develop the future long-term, space-based missions
needed to monitor carbon dioxide for science and decision support," he
said.

For more information on the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, see:
http://www.nasa.gov/oco .

Media contact: Alan Buis/JPL
818-354-0474
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