Climate Data Records on atmospheric composition

Chemical composition and climate
Changes in the Earth system induced by human activities and their impact on life and natural environment are amongst the greatest current environmental challenges. Over the last decade, BIRA-IASB has been involved in several important initiatives to monitor atmospheric composition changes at the global scale based on long-term satellite observations. In these projects, Climate Data Records of various atmospheric pollutants have been generated, quality-assessed, and used in support of scientific studies, environmental assessments, and for raising general public awareness.

Several important initiatives have been undertaken over the last years aiming at generating high-quality long-term data series of Essential Climate Variables (EVCs).

In the atmospheric domain, BIRA-IASB has been involved in several such activities, with a focus on establishing new high-quality standards for the monitoring of key climate-related species such as:

  • green-house gases (CO2 and CH4)
  • ozone and aerosols
  • their precursors, NO2, HCHO and SO2

These activities are being developed in the framework of important international programmes and projects, such as:

  • ESA Climate Change Initiative (CCI)
  • Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S)
  • EU projects QA4ECV and GAIA-CLIM.

In all these projects, a strong focus is put on the generation of highly accurate data series of observations derived from multiple satellite sensors, allowing for improved determination of the long-term variability and trends in key atmospheric variables (see e.g. Figure 1). This also implies the development of advanced quality assurance frameworks allowing for in-depth assessment of uncertainties and full traceability in data production and delivery.

Multi-sensor observations of formaldehyde HCHO columns over Northern India
Figure 1: Multi-sensor observations of formaldehyde HCHO columns over Northern India between 2003 and 2018, showing the long-term increase in the concentration of volatile organic compounds in this part of the world. This analysis has been performed as part of the EU QA4ECV project.