Building a Greenhouse Gas Atmospheric Observing System for the Next Decade

Atmospheric observations of greenhouse gases have been instrumental in helping us quantify the continued rise in atmospheric burden since the late 1950s as well as to better understand sources and sinks of these gases from global to local scales. However, to address the eminent threat that these gases pose for our future it will be necessary to substantially enhance the atmospheric observing capacity to monitor, report and verify natural and anthropogenic sources and sinks over the next decade. This atmospheric GHG observing system will not only require higher spatial and temporal resolution but also leverage process specific tracers as well as vertical gradients. To achieve this observing capacity both insitu and remote observing measurement systems will be required to leverage an augment their strengths and weakness. NOAA's Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network is rapidly building capacity to support the needs of the next decade through a focus on both the globe and North America. At the global scale aircraft profiles ships are being used to fill gaps to better capture trends and changes in emissions in climate critical regions. Similarly, within North America new towers and aircraft sites, surveys and campaigns are being deployed to enhance regional GHG monitoring capacity. In addition, NOAA continues build new instrumentation and platforms for enhancing our observing capacity. These developments include balloon-borne observations of GHGs and the use of commercial aircraft and ships of opportunity.