A suborbital observation system for measuring carbon flux over land and water

The NASA Suborbital Science Missions of the Future project was designed to review and communicate Earth and Space science technology requirements to the engineering community. Better measurements are needed of surface -air flux in resolving the global carbon cycle on Earth and other planets . This paper describes a mission concept for a suborbital e lement to an observation system -of -systems, co mprised primarily of satellite, manned aircraft, buoys, meterological towers and ships. The suborbital system will provide the needed state variables and atmospheric chemistry measurements for derivation of CO 2 and other gas fluxes between the surface and atmosphere using eddy correlation and precise geolocation. Data products will be useful for providing complementary measurements to atmospheric limb sounders, scatterometers, and optical measurements of total column concentrations of CO 2, CH 4 and other atmospheric constituents. Other applications of the system will include weather forecasting and disaster preparedness, by providing precise, spatially explicit measurements of atmospheric chemistry, wind, humidity, and heat fluxes over relatively large areas.