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

Correlation of temperature and CO2 for last 420,000 years from Vostok

EC Perspective: Accounting for 800,000 years of climate change

Approximately 800,000 years ago something changed in the Earth’s climate system that led to the climate then following a series of approximately 100,000 year cycles. Small, predictable changes in the Earth’s orbit about the Sun act as triggers for the glacial and interglacial periods, but other factors such as ice sheet volume, CO2 concentration, and biological feedback mechanisms are also involved.

Black carbon in the atmosphere infographic

Black carbon is the second most important anthropogenic contribution to climate warming

A reanalysis of the effect of black carbon emissions has found that it is second only to carbon dioxide emissions in its warming impact on the climate. Together carbon dioxide, black carbon, and methane emissions represent the anthropogenic sources with the largest impact on Earth’s climate.

Empirical support for the orbital forcing hypothesis from marine sediments

This seminal 1976 paper tested the Milnkovitch orbital forcing hypothesis by comparing the 450,000 year geological record of the climate as recorded in marine sediments with the cycle of variations in Earth’s tilt and orbit. The analysis finds clear evidence for orbital forcing in the marine sediment record, but the authors conclude that orbital forcing by itself is not able to explain the dominant 100,000 year glacial/deglacial cycle.

Low cost sensor enables citizen scientists to measure and share urban air pollution data over the web

Based on the latest results from WHO air pollution is now the world’s largest single environmental health risk, linked to 12% of all global deaths. Citizen scientists can contribute to measuring air pollution using a low cost sensor measuring atmospheric particulate matter and share the measurements via open source geospatial web mapping software.

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