NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Sigma Space Corp. have recently completed work on another flight mission of MABEL, the Multiple Altimeter Beam Experiment Lidar. The mission meant to provide the foundation for future ICESat-2 science, proving that the newer type of laser altimetry  employed by MABEL works at a high altitude.

A four-week deployment to collect altimetry data with the instrument took place over Greenland ice caps and surrounding areas. The mission consisted of a 100 hours of data collection during 16 flights on board the NASA ER-2 aircraft.

In their final report at Sigma Space headquarters, our engineers on the mission, Eugenia De Marco, Dan Reed and Spencer Disque, stated that they are very proud of the exemplary performance of the instrument “Particularly because MABEL flew over very different types of terrain – ocean, sea ice, mountains, glaciers – continuously acquiring data throughout every flight. Our role there was to make sure that everything worked well, I’m glad the mission was accomplished with no surprises.” said Spencer. “Our customer, NASA Goddard, was delighted with the outcome of the mission. We had great collaboration from the ER-2 crew, and the Icelandic locals went above and beyond to support the mission” added Eugenia.

To read more about the mission please click here.

Lanham, May 9, 2012

View of Greenland glaciers from ER-2 during one of the flights of the mission (PHOTO CREDIT: Stu Broce, NASA ER-2 Pilot)

Sigma Space Corporation partnered with Picarro Corporation, Penn State University and CLIMMOD scientists in the City Carbon project, demonstrating near real-time carbon emission estimates in the city of Davos, Switzerland, before, during, and after the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting (2012).

City Carbon combines measurements from the high-precision and easy-to-use Sigma Space MiniMPL (Mini Micro Pulse LiDAR) and Picarro gas analyzers with carbon-cycle modeling and analysis in order to demonstrate how urban greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can be monitored in near real-time. Such networks can provide up-to-date feedback on the GHG emissions from socioeconomic activity and pollution reduction efforts. Cities emit more than 70% of the world’s GHGs, and present the largest opportunity for lowering carbon emissions. Advances in science and technology now allow us to quantify carbon emissions in near real time using data from high-precision instruments that continuously measure a city’s air.

The MiniMPL measures the height of the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL). The PBL is the layer of air closest to the earth, which collects the CO2 and other GHG emissions from surface sources of emissions. The height of the PBL changes depending on many factors including pressure, temperature, terrain and moisture levels. The PBL depth is directly correlated with emission estimates.

The MiniMPL measurements during City Carbon showed a surprisingly low PBL height in the alpine winter skies above Davos. These were very challenging atmospheric conditions for such PBL measurements, and helped the project avoid errors and improve confidence in the City Carbon emission estimates.

City Carbon analyses showed that prior to the WEF CO2 emissions were 35 percent higher than the annual average rate of emissions inferred from accounting-based GHG inventories (adding up sources).

Surprisingly, City Carbon emission estimates during the meeting were 40 percent below the pre-WEF emission estimates. Following WEF, emissions have increased again to 40% above  accounting-based inventories during an extremely cold period.

 “If the nations of the world are going to get serious about limiting climate change, we need to put the right price on the carbon going into the air,” said Phil DeCola, Chief Science Officer of Sigma Space. “Emissions data will need to be reliable to have a healthy carbon market,” he concluded.

“The atmosphere doesn’t lie. Efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions require validation. The Atmosphere captures all emissions, and atmospheric measurements provide a unique and powerful mean of continuous validation,” said Professor Ken Davis of Penn State University. 

To learn more about City Carbon visit http://citycarbon.picarro.com

Our employee Rob Simmons interviewed about his role in creating images of the Earth from remote sensing data. In this video, Rob explains how there must be artistry in creating the world, and how the scientific study of our planet is able to create "one of the most mind expanding images in the human history".

The development of this technology, led by Sigma Space Chief Scientist Dr. John Degnan, has been sponsored over the past decade by NASA and the USAF, and has already shown its potential value in the measurements of ice sheet thickness and biomass in support of global climate change studies.

Read more on LaserFocusWorld.

They have major effects on Earth’s climate and weather. In fact, if there were no aerosols, there would be no clouds, since cloud droplets need these tiny "seeds" to help them form. In this way, aerosols influence the amount and location of rainfall and water. They also warm or cool the air by scattering and absorbing sunlight. Their presence affects the amount photosynthetic light and agricultural production. And when air pollution gets thick, these same particles reduce the quality of the air we breathe and the health of all living organisms.

In light of these important impacts on climate, weather, and air quality, scientists and policy-makers recognize the need to measure and monitor the distribution and evolution of aerosols. While there are a number of key aerosol properties to monitor, a report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Global Atmospheric Watch (GAW) stated, “In view of these objectives the present observations of the vertical distribution of aerosols are far from adequate.” One motivation for more and better aerosol profiles is the impact of long-range (even intercontinental) transport of pollution, which primarily occurs at elevated layers in the atmosphere.

Aerosols are among the most important pollutants and understanding transport of pollutants in elevated layers followed by downward mixing into the surface layer is essential for air quality forecasts. High quality aerosol profiles can also reveal key atmospheric structures like boundary layer height and its evolution. Aerosols are excellent tracers for gas phase pollutants, and direct observation of plumes from major events such as forest fires, dust storms, and volcanic eruptions require vertically resolved measurements at altitude. Most effects of aerosols on climate, such as scattering and absorption of sunlight and their effects on clouds, require knowing their vertical distribution trends.

Based on the same principle as radar, but using optical rather than radio wavelengths, LIDAR provides a real-time visual display of the aerosols and clouds along any path. LIDAR is becoming a standard tool for measuring aerosol trends, and informing improved weather and air quality forecast.

Sigma Space Corporation builds advanced LIDAR systems for space, aircraft, and surface applications. Since 2004 under license from NASA, we have made the surface-based Micro Pulse LIDAR (MPL), a sophisticated yet easy-to-use laser remote-sensing system. It provides continuous, unattended monitoring of aerosol and cloud profiles helping to meet the WMO challenge. And recently, we have created the ultimate portable “plug and play” LIDAR, the MiniMPL, to keep us all looking up!