First forest canopy heights from NASA’s ICESat mission

Posted on June 29, 2019June 29, 2019 by Geoff Zeiss

First terrain surface and canopy heights from ICESat-2

Launched in September 2018, ICESat-2 (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2) has just begun making its first data available. The data map global terrain surface and forest canopies. The Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) instrument on-board ICESat-2 utilizes photon counting technology for the altimetry observations. Photon counting technology is relatively new to the vegetation mapping community. Data from ICESat-2 will provide global terrain elevation and canopy height estimates as well as showing potential for estimation of forest biomass.

The ATL08 land and vegetation product for the ICESat-2 Mission, Amy Neuenschwander, Katherine Pitts Remote Sensing of Environment, 221, February 2019, Pages 247-259 doi/10.1016/j.rse.2018.11.005

New high resolution methane emissions measuring satellite launched

Last night, September 2 GHGSAT-C1 or “Iris”, a 16 kg Canadian satellite that detects methane emissions from specific oil and gas facilities at high resolution was launched. The new satellite will enable private industry to estimate emissions from its own facilities anywhere in the world with 25 metre resolution.

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Temperatures slightly warmer than present deglaciated southern Greenland

Analysis of the last four interglacials reveals that significant loss of Greenland ice occurred under climate conditions only slightly warmer than present. During the oldest interglacial, 394,700 to 424,200 years ago, there was nearly complete deglaciation of southern Greenland.

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Economic losses caused by natural catastrophes are trending upwards

Since 1980 Munich Re has been collecting data on natural events worldwide which are triggered by natural and man-made climate variability. The data reveals an accelerating trend dominated by meteorological and hydrological events.

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From Our Files

Regional principal components for temperature and precipitation PNAS

Geospatial-temporal analysis reveals two trends in global climate during the last deglaciation

The last deglaciation was characterized by increases in surface temperatures of 10-15 °C punctuated by millennial-scale warming/cooling periods, pulses of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide and asynchronously increasing methane. A geospatial-temporal variance analysis reveals a global warming trend correlating with rising CO2 on which is superimposed second trend millennial-scale regional warming/cooling periods associated with variation in the strength of the Atlantic overturning current.

Temperature and atmospheric CO2 from Dome C for 800 000 years

Observed coupling between surface temperature and atmospheric CO2 extended to 1.5 million years ago

Evidence from Antarctic ice cores have revealed a close correlation between surface temperature and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration for the past 800,000 years (excluding the immediate present.) A recent analysis of Antarctic blue ice has found that the close correlation between temperature CO2 extends to 1.5 million years ago during the time when the glacial/interglacial period was 40,000 years.

Solar variability less important than greenhouse gases in global warming

Based on the trend that greenhouse gases are increasing rapidly whereas solar irradiance is changing much more slowly, the evidence reveals that the climate impact of changes in solar irradiance are much smaller in magnitude than the increase in warming due to greenhouse gases.

Temperature, CO2 and CH4 from Dome C ice core

Rising CO2 lagged Southern Hemisphere warming at the beginning of the last deglaciation

A new analysis of Antarctic ice cores shows that at the beginning of the last deglaciation, the start of rising CO2 lagged rising temperature by about 800 years which is consistent with the Southern Hemisphere playing a dominant role in the rise in atmospheric CO2. The concomitant rise in methane appears to be governed by Northern Hemisphere processes.

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