Methane is an important greenhouse gas contributing to global climate change, and its warming effect is just second to carbon dioxide. Satellite remote sensing technique can obtain large scale distribution of trace gases, and it has been an important tool in the field of atmospheric observation. This paper presents the annual variations of methane in China based on the vertical columns of methane measured by the SCIAMACHY sensor on board ENVISAT. The variability of yearly averaged CH4 concentration in China and the whole world during 2003-2009 shows that the rapid growth of CH4 in China during 2005-2006 widened the difference between China’s CH4 level and the whole world’s level. China’s methane level has close relations with global climate change.

Date Published: 24 October 2012
PDF: 4 pages
Proc. SPIE 8513, Remote Sensing and Modeling of Ecosystems for Sustainability IX, 85130T (24 October 2012); doi: 10.1117/12.929560

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8513:
Remote Sensing and Modeling of Ecosystems for Sustainability IX
Wei Gao; Thomas J. Jackson, Editor(s)