WP 1.2: In situ monitoring of the free troposphere
Objectives
- Consolidate and strengthen of the European observation capacity for the free troposphere and lower
stratosphere by using passenger aircraft - CARIBIC
- Create representative long-term upper-air climatologies of the target species for the CH4 and CO2
Consolidate and strengthen of the European observation capacity for the free troposphere and lower stratosphere by using passenger aircraft - CARIBIC
GEOmon sustains systematic airborne measurements of global distributions of CO2, CH4, and other greenhouse gas onboard the CARIBIC (Civil Aircraft for the Regular Investigation of the Atmosphere Based on an Instrument Container) passenger aircraft. CARIBIC observations are from the upper troposphere and lowermost stratosphere are combined with other free tropospheric greenhouse gas data. WP 1.2 focuses on CO2 and CH4, but cooperates closely with WP 2.2 where CO, NO2 and O3 are analyzed.
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Read more about CARIBIC in GEOmon |
The project CARIBIC (Civil Aircraft for the Regular Investigation of the Atmosphere Based on an Instrument Container) deploys a measurement container onboard a Lufthansa passenger aircraft (Airbus A340-600), see a picture of the inlet. The container accommodates 15 fully automated instruments for measurements of aerosols and various trace gases. In addition to in-situ measurements, whole air samples are collected in glass flasks during the CARIBIC flights at roughly one hour intervals with sampling times between 30 and 120 seconds. The samples are analysed for greenhouse gases as well as for organic compounds and isotopes by a number of European laboratories.
The container became operational in December 2004, with flights conducted almost monthly out of Frankfurt, Germany, to various destinations in South America, Asia, and North America (see map below). At cruising altitudes between 9 and 13 km the aircraft frequently crosses the tropopause, in the extra-tropics about 40% of the flight time is spent in the transition layer above the tropopause.
Results
- First year CARIBIC CO2 climatology based on the air samples available
- Continuous CO2 data still in analysis; will be available soon
- Data available at the CARIBIC data base (pass word required)
- See also results from WP 2.2 (reactive gases from CARIBIC, more) and CARIBIC in the GEOmon news
Create representative long-term upper-air climatologies of the target species for the CH4 and CO2
Upper-air data from aircraft programs (TRADEOFF database, AEROCARB, CARBOEUROPE), ground-based remote-sensing solar FTIR data, and high-altitude stations (4 sites in Europe) and global WMO-GAW stations elsewhere are harmonised and merged. The goal is to create representative upper-air “4-dimensional climatologies”.
LSCE AIRBORNE DATA ARCHIVE (created by LSCE) 
We have created a data archive that contains airborne measurements of CO2 and CH4 collected from measurement campaigns conducted by various research organisations around the world. The archive is based and administered by the Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (LSCE), CEA-CNRS in Paris, France. The creation of the archive is a joint effort with the The Integrated Carbon Observing System (ICOS) project.
