May 1, 2024

TanSat Successfully Detects Human-Caused CO2 for the First Time

Concentrations of carbon dioxide continue to rise because of anthropogenic activities such as fossil fuel combustion and land-use modification. It has actually been specifically challenging for researchers to obtain the high-precision measurements they required to study anthropogenic emissions from cities.
Released in 2016, TanSat is Chinas first international carbon dioxide monitoring satellite. Tan is the Chinese pronunciation of carbon. While TanSat has actually been offering researchers with data for several years, new algorithms were recently contributed to the TanSat instruments that considerably improved TanSats measurement precision.
The research study group conducted their research study by looking at two sets of measurements collected over 2 cities. The scientists used TanSat co2 information recorded in May 2018 near Tangshan, China, and in March 2018 near Tokyo, Japan. They compared the TanSat data to nitrogen dioxide measurements captured by the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument onboard the Copernicus Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite on the exact same dates over the same cities.
” We evaluated TanSat information in synergy with European Copernicus Sentinel-5 Precursor TROPOMI nitrogen dioxide observations to help the detection of anthropogenic plumes and to examine the carbon dioxide-to-nitrogen dioxide ratio,” said Dongxu Yang, from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Their two case studies reveal TanSat carbon dioxide measurements have the ability to record the anthropogenic variations in the plume and have spatial patterns like that of the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instruments nitrogen dioxide observations. In addition, the carbon dioxide-to-nitrogen dioxide ratio in Tangshan, China, and Tokyo, Japan, line up with the emission inventories.
” This is an important step in TanSat information analysis. The next action is to presume emissions and to get ready for the TanSat-2 constellation including the joint analysis of CO2 and NO2 plumes,” stated Janne Hakkarainen, from the Finnish Meteorological Institute.
Looking ahead, the group has plans to expand this research. “The TanSat is our first effort on global carbon monitoring. The next generation of Chinas Global Carbon Dioxide Monitoring Satellite objective, TanSat-2, is now in the design phase,” stated Yi Liu, from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
According to Liu, TanSat-2s target measurements will concentrate on cities with an 800-1000 kilometer (500-620 mile) broad swath to tape-record the gradient of carbon dioxide from city central to rural areas utilizing an imaging procedure and a 500-meter (1600-foot) footprint size to enhance the emission estimate accuracy. TanSat-2 will be a constellation of satellites dispersed into a minimum of two orbits in the early morning and afternoon to cover a point or a city source twice a day.
” Our objective is to use satellite measurements to enhance our understanding of the carbon cycle and to further examine and restriction the carbon dioxide sources and sinks and their uncertainties,” stated Liu.
Recommendation: “Detection of Anthropogenic CO2 Emission Signatures with TanSat CO2 and with Copernicus Sentinel-5 Precursor (S5P) NO2 Measurements: First Results” by Dongxu Yang, Janne Hakkarainen, Yi Liu, Iolanda Ialongo, Zhaonan Cai and Johanna Tamminen, 25 October 2022, Advances in Atmospheric Sciences.DOI: 10.1007/ s00376-022-2237-5.
The research study group consists of Dongxu Yang, Yi Liu, Zhaonan Cai, from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Janne Hakkarainen, Iolanda Ialongo, and Johanna Tamminen, from the Finnish Meteorological Institute.
This research study is funded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Finland.

A global research study group has determined carbon dioxide from human activities by analyzing measurements from the TanSat objective and the Copernicus Sentinel-5 Precursor objective. One of the most crucial requirements for greenhouse gas tracking on a worldwide scale is quantifying anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions.
Introduced in 2016, TanSat is Chinas very first international carbon dioxide tracking satellite. The researchers utilized TanSat carbon dioxide information caught in May 2018 near Tangshan, China, and in March 2018 near Tokyo, Japan. The next generation of Chinas Global Carbon Dioxide Monitoring Satellite mission, TanSat-2, is now in the style stage,” said Yi Liu, from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

A coordinate measurement on anthropogenic CO2 emission from TanSat (China) and Sentinel-5P (Europe). Credit: Dongxu Yang
An international research team has identified carbon dioxide from human activities by analyzing measurements from the TanSat mission and the Copernicus Sentinel-5 Precursor mission. This was the first effort to utilize TanSat measurements to identify anthropogenic, or human-caused, co2 emission signatures. One of the most crucial requirements for greenhouse gas tracking on a worldwide scale is quantifying anthropogenic co2 emissions.
The group released their research today (October 25) in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences. It consisted of researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Finnish Meteorological Institute.
Because of its substantial impact on worldwide warming and climate change, Carbon dioxide (CO2) is acknowledged as the most crucial anthropogenic greenhouse gas. Because of this, a number of satellite objectives dedicated to atmospheric greenhouse measurements have been established in the last decade.

By Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
October 25, 2022