CCI Research fellowships - 2014 cohort

A summary of CCI Research fellowships from the 2014 cohort

Summary of 2014 CCI research fellowships:

Name: Jens Heymann

Title: CARBOn dioxide emissions from FIRES (CARBOFIRES)

The focus of the CARBOFIRES project is the analysis of satellite XCO2 data products to estimate fire CO2 emissions for identified fire events. This involves identifying large fire regions that are consistent with XCO2 variation in time and developing associations between XCO2 observations and fire events and given those to conduct atmospheric inversion methods to determine fire CO2 emissions. 

CARBOFIRES Final Report

Publications:

Heymann, J., Reuter, M., Hilker, M., Buchwitz, M., Schneising, O., Bovensmann, H., … Wunch, D. (2015). Consistent satellite XCO2 retrievals from SCIAMACHY and GOSAT using the BESD algorithm. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 8(7), 1787–1832. http://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-2961-2015

Reuter, M., M. Buchwitz, M. Hilker, J. Heymann, H. Bovensmann, J. Burrows, S. Houweling, Y. Liu, R. Nassar, F. Chevallier, P. Ciais, J. Marshall, and M. Reichstein, How much CO2 is taken up by the European terrestrial biosphere? Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-15-00310.1, 2017.

Massart, S., A. Agusti-Panareda, J. Heymann, M. Buchwitz, F. Chevallier, M. Reuter, M. Hilker, J. P. Burrows, N. M. Deutscher, D. G. Feist, F. Hase, R. Sussmann, F. Desmet, M. K. Dubey, D. W. T. Griffith, R. Kivi, C. Petri, M. Schneider, V. A. Velazco, Ability of the 4-D-Var analysis of the GOSAT BESD XCO2 retrievals to characterize atmospheric CO2 at large and synoptic scales, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 1653-1671, doi:10.5194/acp-16-1653-2016, 2016.

Buchwitz, M., M. Reuter, O. Schneising, W. Hewson, R.G. Detmers, H. Boesch, O.P. Hasekamp, I. Aben, H. Bovensmann, J.P. Burrows, A. Butz, F. Chevallier, B. Dils, C. Frankenberg, J. Heymann, G. Lichtenberg, M. De Mazière, J. Notholt, R. Parker, T. Warneke, C. Zehner, D.W.T. Griffith, N.M. Deutscher, A. Kuze, H. Suto, D. Wunch, Global satellite observations of column-averaged carbon dioxide and methane: The GHG-CCI XCO2 and XCH4 CRDP3 data set, Remote Sensing of Environment, DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2016.12.027, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2016.12.027, in press, pp. 20, 2016.

Heymann, J., M. Reuter, M. Buchwitz, O. Schneising, H. Bovensmann, J. P. Burrows, S. Massart, J. W. Kaiser, and D. Crisp, CO2 emission of Indonesian fires in 2015 estimated from satellite-derived atmospheric CO2 concentrations, Geophys. Res. Lett., 44, doi:10.1002/2016GL072042, 2017.

Name: Adam Povey

Title: The Environmental Response to Aerosols observed in CCI ECVs (ERACE)

This project aims to quantify the impact of aerosol on the radiation budget by post-processing the outputs of the aerosol and cloud_cci projects. Aerosols interact with radiation both directly by reflecting light  and indirectly by altering the properties of clouds.

ERACE Final Report

Publications:

Povey, A. C., & Grainger, R. G. (2015). Known and unknown unknowns: Uncertainty estimation in satellite remote sensing. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 8(11), 4699–4718. http://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4699-2015

Merchant, C. J., Paul, F., Popp, T., Ablain, M., Bontemps, S., Defourny, P., et al. (2017). Uncertainty information in climate data records from Earth observation. Earth System Science Data Discussions, 1–28. http://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2017-16

Popp, T., de Leeuw, G., Bingen, C., Brühl, C., Capelle, V., Chedin, A., et al. (2016). Development, Production and Evaluation of Aerosol Climate Data Records from European Satellite Observations (Aerosol_cci). Remote Sensing, 8(5), 421. http://doi.org/10.3390/rs8050421.

Christensen, M. W., Neubauer, D., Poulsen, C. A., Thomas, G. E., McGarragh, G. R., Povey, A. C., Proud, S. R., and Grainger, R. G.: Unveiling aerosol–cloud interactions – Part 1: Cloud contamination in satellite products enhances the aerosol indirect forcing estimate, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 13151-13164, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-13151-2017, 2017.

Name: Tero Mielonen

Title: Does Increasing Temperature Increase Carbonaceous Aerosol Direct Radiative Effect over Boreal Forests? (ITICA)

Aerosol particles are an important regulator of the Earth’s climate. One of the key quantities needed for accurate estimates of anthropogenic radiative forcing is an accurate estimate of radiative effects from natural unperturbed aerosol. The dominant source of natural aerosols over forested regions are biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC). In accordance with the expected positive temperature dependence of BVOC emissions, several previous studies have shown that some aerosol properties, such as mass and ability to act as CCN, also correlate positively with temperature at many forested sites. The goal of ITICA is to investigate whether a temperature effect on AOD occurs over the remote boreal forest region (about 50° N to 70° N), with a focus on Eurasia; and if it occurs, to quantify the influence of rising temperatures on the direct radiative effect of aerosols over the boreal forest.

ITICA Final Report

Publications:

Mielonen, T., Hienola, A., Kühn, T., Merikanto, J., Lipponen, A., Bergman, T., … Kokkola, H. (2016). Temperature-dependence of aerosol optical depth over the southeastern US. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions, 0, 1–28. http://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2016-625

Name: Martin Hieronmyi

Title: Ocean Colour at low sun and high waves (LowSun-OC)

Reflectance and transmittance properties of the sea surface depend on prevailing wind and wave conditions. Up to now, studies focused on sea surface roughness using the Cox and Munk model, which is based on wind speed-depending wave slope statistics. Wind also affects the underwater light field and resulting water-leaving radiance, and hence ocean colour estimates, particularly at low solar angles and in high latitude. This work aims at a revision of reflectance and transmittance properties of the wind-blown sea surface to account for wave effects on ocean colour estimates. The emphasis of this work is on influences of wave height and sea state on interactions of light with the air-sea interface and consequently to reduce uncertainties related to large zenith angles and high wind speeds in order to extend the usability of satellite data.

LowSun-OC Final Report

Publications:

Xi, H., Hieronymi, M., Röttgers, R., Krasemann, H., & Qiu, Z. (2015). Hyperspectral Differentiation of Phytoplankton Taxonomic Groups: A Comparison between Using Remote Sensing Reflectance and Absorption Spectra. Remote Sensing, 7(11), 14781–14805. http://doi.org/10.3390/rs71114781

Hieronymi, M., Muller, D., & Doerffer, R. (2017). The OLCI Neural Network Swarm (ONNS): A Bio-Geo-Optical Algorithm for Open Ocean and Coastal Waters. Frontiers in Marine Science, 4, 140. http://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2017.00140

Xi, H., Hieronymi, M., Krasemann, H., & Röttgers, R. (2017). Phytoplankton Group Identification Using Simulated and In situ Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Reflectance. Frontiers in Marine Science, 4, 272. http://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2017.00272

Name: Omar Bellprat

Title: Verification of high-resolution climate forecasts on Intera-seasonal-to-interannual Timescales with Advanced Satellite datasets of the Climate Change Initiative (VERITAS CCI)

VERITAS_CCI explores the verification of seasonal prediction hindcasts with the newly developed remote sensed observations of the ESA Climate Change Initiative (CCI) and places a special focus on the consideration of observational quality. The seasonal prediction hindcasts evaluate different prospects to improve seasonal forecast skill such as increased horizontal resolution or initialisation of the land surface and sea ice. The CCI observations of sea surface temperature, sea ice and soil moisture are used to judge whether these experiments lead to increased prediction skill but also to evaluate how well the observations agree with the models in order to inform about observational quality and likewise model quality.

VERITAS CCI Final Report

Publications:

Guemas, V., Chevallier, M., Déqué, M., Bellprat, O., & Doblas-Reyes, F. (2016). Impact of sea ice initialization on sea ice and atmosphere prediction skill on seasonal timescales. Geophysical Research Letters, 43(8), 3889–3896. http://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL066626

Bellprat, O., Massonnet, F., Siegert, S., Prodhomme C., Macias-Gomez, D., Guemas, V., Doblas-Reyes, F. 2016: Exploring observational uncertainty for verification of climate predictions. Remote Sensing of the Environment, CCI special issue, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2017.06.034

Bellprat, O., D. Macias-G.mez, C. Prodhomme, V. Guemas and F.J. Doblas-Reyes (2015). Climate prediction with EC-Earth3: Impact of horizontal resolution and initialisation of landsurface and sea-ice. BSC Technical Memorandum No. 2, 14 pp.

Massonnet, F., Bellprat, O., Guemas, V., and F. Doblas-Reyes, 2016: Utilizing climate models to estimate the quality of global observational data sets. Science, 354, 6311, 452-455, http://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf6369

Siegert, S., Stephenson, D., Bellprat, O., M.n.goz, M., and F. Doblas-Reyes, 2017: Detecting improvements in forecast correlation skill: Statistical tests and power analysis. Monthly Weather Review, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-16-0037.1

Prodhomme, C., Batt., L., Massonnet, F., Davini, P., Bellprat, O., Guemas, V., and F. Doblas-Reyes, 2016: Benefits of resolution increase for seasonal forecast quality in ECEarth. Journal of Climate, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0117.1

Name: Simon Munier

Title: Surface water and climate variability from a high-resolution GIEMS-SAR merged product (GIEMS-SAR)

Changes in global surface water extent are closely related to changes in the global carbon cycle (CO2 and methane emission). However, the knowledge of the global distribution and dynamics of surface water remains limited. A Global Inundation Extent from Multi-Satellite (GIEMS) dataset of monthly inundation and surface water dynamics at about 25 x 25 km2 resolution has been produced by a multi-sensor analysis covering 1993-2007. In spite of the high value of this dataset for hydrology and climate studies, its low-resolution limits the observations to only 20% of the global inland surface water. The objetcive of this project is to examine if it would be possible to develop a SAR-based downscaling methodology to derive high-resolution surface water extent from the existing GIEMS low-resolution dataset. 

GIEMS-SAR Final Report

Publications:

Munier, S., F. Aires and C. Prigent (2016). GIEMS-SAR: a high resolution monthly dataset to study surface water extent dynamics - application on the Danube Basin. J of Hydrometeorology. (in prep).

Name: Anna Hogg

Title: CryoSat measurement of the Antartic Ice Shelf thickness change (CryoShelf)

Floating ice shelves that fringe the majority of Antarctica's coastline provide a direct link between the ice sheet and the surrounding oceans, and changes in their constitution have been shown to influence the flow of inland ice due to their buttressing effect. This process has become increasingly important over recent decades as Antarctic ice shelves have thinned, retreated, and collapsed. Fluctuations in the surface elevation of the grounded ice sheet over time are developed as an essential climate variable within the ESA Climate Change Initiative and data users prioritised this parameter among the top three of all Earth Observation data sets. This project outlines has the objective to adapt and use the repeat track processor developed as part of the Antarctic and Greenland CCI projects to measure ice shelf thickness change and basal melt rates in Antarctica.

Publications:

Hogg, A. E., Shepherd, A., Cornford, S. L., Briggs, K. H., Gourmelen, N., Graham, J. A., … Wuite, J. (2017). Increased ice flow in Western Palmer Land linked to ocean melting. Geophysical Research Letters, 44(9), 4159–4167. http://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL072110

Hogg, A. E., & Gudmundsson, G. H. (2017). Impacts of the Larsen-C Ice Shelf calving event. Nature Climate Change, 7(8), 540–542. http://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3359

Gourmelen, N., Goldberg, D. N., Snow, K., Henley, S. F., Bingham, R. G., Kimura, S., et al., (2017). Channelized melting drives thinning under a rapidly melting Antarctic ice shelf. Geophysical Research Letters, 44. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL074929

Name: Marie-Fanny Racault

Title: Climate Impact on Marine Ecosystem State (CLIMARECOS)

The ocean plays a major role in the climate system, absorbing, between 1971 and 2010, approximately 30% of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted to the atmosphere by human activities. This CO2 sink is part of a very active, natural carbon cycle, through which phytoplankton in the surface layer of the ocean fix CO2 into organic matter, some of which subsequently sinks below the mixed layer. Through this process, phytoplankton help to modulate the increase in atmospheric CO2 that results from the burning of fossil fuels. Thus, phytoplankton are key players in the planetary carbon cycle, and it is therefore important to understand phytoplankton dynamics, which in turn depend on the underlying physical forcing (light, temperature, and winds). This project examines the influence of climate variability (as indicated by El Niño Southern Oscillation ENSO) and what can be learnt about potential impact of climate change on the marine ecosystem by studying its response to ENSO.

CLIMARECOS Final Report

Publications:

Meyssignac B, Piecuch CG, Merchant CJ, Racault M-F, Palanisamy H, MacIntosh C, Sathyendranath S, Brewin R (2016) Causes of the Regional Variability in Observed Sea Level, Sea Surface Temperature and Ocean Colour Over the Period 1993–2011. Surveys in Geophysics,doi:10.1007/s10712-016-9383-1.

Racault M-F, Sathyendranath S, Menin N, Platt T (2016) Phenological Responses to ENSO in the Global Oceans. Surveys in Geophysics, doi:10.1007/s10712-016-9391-1;

Gittings JA, Raitsos DE, Racault M-F, Brewin RJW, Pradhan Y, Sathyendranath S, Platt T (2016) Seasonal phytoplankton blooms in the Gulf of Aden revealed by remote sensing. Remote Sensing of Environment doi:10.1016/j.rse.2016.10.043.

Racault M-F, Sathyendranath S, Brewin RJW, Raitsos DE, Jackson T and Platt T (2017) Impact of El Niño Variability on Oceanic Phytoplankton. Front. Mar. Sci. 4:133. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2017.00133

Name: Robert Parker

Title: ExpLoring thE Global cArbon CyclE through atmospheric GreenHouse Gas variability’(ELEGANCE-GHG)

This project focuses on assessing the year to year variations in the regional carbon exchange caused by both climatic drivers (e.g. temperature and precipitation) and disturbances (such as biomass burning, deforestation or a major El Nino event).  This will be achieved by examining temporal and spatial anomalies in satellite-derived atmospheric CO2 and CH4 measurements and linking such anomalies to temporal variations in plant phenology, wetland extent, land-use change and fire activity along with the associated physical drivers such as land surface temperature (LST) and precipitation. 

ELEGANCE Final Report

Parker, R. J., Boesch, H., Byckling, K., Webb, A. J., Palmer, P. I., Feng, L., … Velazco, V. (2015). Assessing 5 years of GOSAT Proxy XCH4 data and associated uncertainties. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques Discussions, 8(6), 5937–5972. http://doi.org/10.5194/amtd-8-5937-2015

Parker, R. J., Boesch, H., Wooster, M. J., Moore, D. P., Webb, A. J., Gaveau, D., & Murdiyarso, D. (2016). Atmospheric CH4 and CO2 enhancements and biomass burning emission ratios derived from satellite observations of the 2015 Indonesian fire plumes. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 16(15), 10111–10131. http://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-10111-2016