Scientific consensus from a 2015 pre-Decadal Survey workshop highlighted the essential need for a wide-swath (mapping) low earth orbit (LEO) instrument delivering carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and carbon monoxide (CO) measurements with global coverage. OCO-2 pioneered space-based CO₂ remote sensing, but lacks the CH₄, CO and mapping capabilities required for an improved understanding of the global carbon cycle. The Carbon Balance Observatory (CARBO) advances key technologies to enable high-performance, cost-effective solutions for a space-based carbon-climate observing system. CARBO is a compact, modular, 15-30° field of view spectrometer that delivers high-precision CO₂, CH₄, CO and solar induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) data with weekly global coverage from LEO. CARBO employs innovative immersion grating technologies to achieve diffraction-limited performance with OCO-like spatial (2x2 km²) and spectral (λ/Δλ ≈ 20,000) resolution in a package that is >50% smaller, lighter and more cost-effective. CARBO delivers a 25- to 50-fold increase in spatial coverage compared to OCO-2 with no loss of detection sensitivity. Individual CARBO modules weigh < 20 kg, opening diverse new space-based platform opportunities.

Date Published: 19 September 2016
PDF: 13 pages
Proc. SPIE 9976, Imaging Spectrometry XXI, 997609 (19 September 2016);

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9976:
Imaging Spectrometry XXI
John F. Silny; Emmett J. Ientilucci, Editor(s)