A Decade of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide and Methane Retrieved from SCIAMACHY Onboard ENVISAT
Schneising, Oliver; Reuter, Maximilian; Buchwitz, Michael; Heymann, Jens; Bovensmann, Heinrich; Burrows, John P.
Institute of Environmental Physics (IUP), University of Bremen, GERMANY

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) are the two most important anthropogenic greenhouse gases contributing substantially to climate change. Global satellite measurements combined with inverse modelling can significantly reduce uncertainties in our knowledge of the surface fluxes, provided the satellite data are accurate and precise enough. The significant reduction of regional-scale flux uncertainties additionally requires high sensitivity to the lowest atmospheric layers where the variability is largest. Sensitivity to all altitude levels, including the boundary layer, can be achieved by using reflected solar radiation in the near-infrared/shortwave-infrared (NIR/SWIR) spectral region. SCIAMACHY onboard ENVISAT (launched in 2002, end of mission declared in 2012) was the first and is with TANSO onboard GOSAT (launched in 2009) one of only two satellite instruments yielding measurements of the relevant absorption bands of both gases in this spectral range. We present a decade of global data sets of atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane column-averaged mole fractions retrieved from SCIAMACHY nadir observations covering the entire operational lifespan of the instrument and upgrading pre-existing greenhouse gas information derived from European earth observation data.