About
Background
For a complete understanding of Earth’s climate, it is essential to understand the full basket of atmospheric gases that exhibit a large global warming potential or a strong impact on the ozone layer.
ESA's Climate Change Initiative is already generating robust satellite-based timeseries for the greenhouse gases water vapour, carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). However, several other long-lived greenhouse gases (OLLGHGs) warrant systematic observation, in particular, nitrous oxide (N2O) and halogenated carbon compounds (CFCs, HFCs, HCFCs, PFCs) are also considered by GCOS as Essential Climate Variables (ECVs, GCOS-defined Essential Climate Variables).
These gases exhibit significant global warming potentials and provide a major contribution to radiative forcing uncertainty estimates. Nitrous oxide and chlorine-containing OLLGHGs are also the main source of anthropogenic ozone depletion, with the latter group regulated internationally under the 1989 UN Montreal Protocol.
Satellite Observations & OLLGHGs
Several satellite instruments provide information on the atmospheric abundance and distribution of the OLLGHGs, notable examples being: Envisat MIPAS, Scisat ACE-FTS, MetOp IASI, and Aura HIRDLS. Taken together, these and other instruments provide a valuable multi-mission resource for monitoring and understanding the role OLLGHGs in the atmosphere over the last two decades. Full exploitation of this satellite data will contribute to narrowing-down uncertainties related to the greenhouse-warming and ozone-depleting effects of the OLLGHGs by providing complementary information to the ground-based in-situ monitoring networks.
The Project
The objective of the LOng-LIved greenhouse gas PrOducts Performances project is to assess whether the current set of satellite-based observations is sufficient for the climate user community and to explore potential opportunities to further exploit the available satellite data in climate science and services.
The project is undertaking the following tasks:
Needs identification & state-of-the-art assessment
- An inventory of data products from space and their validation and inter-comparison will establish the availability and quality of relevant products.
- A User (i.e. climate scientist, atmospheric chemistry modellers, climate services) requirements baseline assessment for OLLGHGs, expanding on the GCOS ECV requirements, will be undertaken to identify how the current state-of-the-art addresses users’ needs, identify gaps and opportunities for improvement.
Validation and forward planning
- An R&D roadmap will be defined to explore how users’ needs could better be addressed by the available satellite-based OLLGHG measurements.
- Recommendations will be provided regarding the necessary actions to enhance and exploit existing satellite-derived products and to propose suggestions for further improvements to address identified gaps.
Utilisation and demonstration
- User case studies will illustrate how these OLLGHGs data products can be used in climate studies through publications and presentations.
- A user workshop will provide a dedicated forum to exchange project results, share relevant case studies, and discuss strategies for maximizing the use of OLLGHGs datasets.
- The project may also develop new retrieval techniques or apply novel methods to existing data, in response to identified opportunities.
Synergies will also be sought with activities outside the project, including on-going validation efforts being undertaken for relevant data releases, and feedback will be provided to the respective instrument teams.
Data
Datasets generated as part of the ESA CCI LOLIPOP project will be openly available from the CCI Open Data Portal.
Key documents
Team
The LOng-LIved greenhouse gas PrOducts Performances (LOLIPOP) CCI+ team consists of the following organisations:
Scientific and Project Coordination
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Istituto di Scienze dell'Atmosfera e del Clima (CNR-ISAC): Dr. Elisa Castelli is the Science Leader supported by the former Science Leader Dr. Bianca Maria Dinelli
- Serco Italia: Dr. Massimo Cardaci is the Project Manager supported by Dr. Gabriele Brizzi and Dr. Massimo Valeri
Retrieval team
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Istituto di Fisica Applicata "Nello Carrara" (CNR-IFAC): Dr. Piera Raspollini, Dr. Marco Gai, Dr. Samuele Del Bianco
- University of Basilicata (UniBas): Dr. Guido Masiello, Dr. Giuliano Liuzzi
- Laboratoire Atmosphères & Observations Spatiales - Sorbonne Université (LATMOS-SU): Dr. Cathy Clerbaux, Dr. Maya George
- Spectroscopy, Quantum Chemistry and Atmospheric Remote Sensing - Université libre de Bruxelles (SQUARES-ULB): Dr. Pierre Coheur, Dr. Lieven Clarisse, Dr. Simon Whitburn
- Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB): Dr. Sophie Vandenbusshe
Validation team
- Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB): Dr. Bart Dils, Dr. Corinne Vigouroux
- University of Toronto (UoT): Dr. Kaley Walker, Dr. Laura Saunders
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT): Dr. Gabriele Stiller
Climate team
- Forschungszentrum Julich (FZJ): Dr. Michaela Hegglin, Dr. Reinhold Spang, Dr. Felix Ploeger
- National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO): Dr. Martyn Chipperfield, Dr. Jeremy Harrison, Dr. Antonio Giovanni Bruno
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Istituto di Scienze dell'Atmosfera e del Clima (CNR-ISAC): Dr. Federico Fabiano, Dr. Alessandro Montanarini
Publications
News and events
Contacts
The following people can be contacted within the LOng-LIved greenhouse gas PrOducts Performances (LOLIPOP) CCI project:
- Scientific Leader: Dr. Elisa Castelli (CNR-ISAC)
- Project Manager: Dr. Massimo Cardaci (Serco Italia)
- ESA Technical Officer: Dr. Simon Pinnock (ESA)
LOLIPOP User Workshop 2025
The LOng-LIved greenhouse gas PrOducts Performances (LOLIPOP) project, part of the European Space Agency’s Climate Change Initiative (CCI), invites you to a two-day user workshop in Bologna, Italy, on November 18-19, 2025. This workshop will bring together experts from both the observational and modeling communities, as well as current and potential end users to explore the critical role of Other Long-Lived Greenhouse Gases (OLLGHGs) in climate and atmospheric science and contribute shaping the future of greenhouse gas research.
Background
The ESA CCI delivers high-quality, satellite-derived data of key climate-sensitive variables across various Earth Observation domains. While previous atmospheric chemistry activities have addressed gases like ozone, water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane, the LOLIPOP CCI project focuses on assessing the quality of satellite data for Other Long-Lived GreenHouse Gases (OLLGHGs), including N2O, SF6, CFCs, HCFCs, and their crucial role in climate and atmospheric modeling. This project aims to address significant knowledge gaps in understanding atmospheric chemistry and climate change drivers.
Workshop objectives
The LOLIPOP workshop will provide a dedicated forum to exchange project results, share relevant case studies, and discuss strategies for maximizing the use of OLLGHGs datasets. In particular:
- Evaluating and updating established user requirements for OLLGHGs data;
- Reviewing the state of the art in satellite-based OLLGHGs measurements;
- Assessing how well existing observations meet application needs;
- Discussing the usability of current data for climate models;
- Promoting interdisciplinary exchange between observers, analysts, and modelers.
Participants will have the opportunity to present their research activities, provide expert feedback on project findings, and build valuable connections across the scientific community.
Event Details
This workshop will be an hybrid event, but in person attendance is warmly encouraged.
Call for abstracts
During registration, you’ll have the option (until 15 July) to submit an abstract highlighting your research work related to OLLGHGs. Your contribution might be selected for potential inclusion as an oral presentation at the workshop. The scientific committee will evaluate abstracts and select presentations that most effectively complement the program. Should submissions exceed the available slots, a poster session will be organized to accommodate additional valuable contributions.
Abstracts acceptance and further details will be sent out in August 2025.
Points of Contact
Dr. Elisa Castelli (CNR-ISAC) , Dr. Gabriele Brizzi (Serco)
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