The Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE): Results from 2011 Engineering Test Flights

Charles Miller, NASA JPL, charles.e.miller@jpl.nasa.gov (Presenter)

The carbon balance of Arctic ecosystems is not known with confidence since fundamental elements of the complex Arctic biological-climatologic-hydrologic system are poorly quantified. No current or planned space-based or sub-orbital system provides coincident measurements of surface controls and atmospheric concentrations required to quantify these processes. CARVE’s science objectives are to fill this critical gap in science knowledge by: (1) Directly testing hypotheses attributing the mobilization of vulnerable Arctic carbon reservoirs to climate warming; (2) Delivering the first direct measurements and detailed maps of CO2 and CH4 sources on regional scales in the critical Arctic ecozone; and (3) Demonstrating new remote sensing and modeling capabilities to quantify feedbacks between carbon fluxes and carbon cycle-climate processes in the Arctic region. CARVE measurements and integrated science data will provide unprecedented experimental insights into Arctic carbon cycling and its response to climate change.

CARVE employs a robust and flexible strategy to reconcile Arctic carbon fluxes estimated from atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and CH4 (top-down approach) with carbon fluxes estimated from coincident measurements of surface state controls (bottom-up approach). The CARVE Science Investigation entails intensive seasonal deployments in Alaska during the spring, summer, and fall of each year from 2012–2015. CARVE flight plans sample multiple permafrost domains and ecosystems, and deliver detailed measure¬ments over ground-based measurement sites, fires, and burn-recovery chronosequences.

The CARVE science instrument payload consists of a suite of three flight-proven instruments: (1) JPL’s Passive Active L band System (PALS) to deliver the measurements of soil moisture, freeze/thaw state, inundation state, and surface temperature; (2) an airborne Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) to deliver total atmospheric column measurements of carbon dioxide, methane, and carbon monoxide; and (3) an In Situ Gas Analyzer (ISGA) to deliver continuous measurements of carbon dioxide, methane and carbon monoxide, calibration standards, and whole air flask samples for point measurements of over 50 trace gases. Aircraft measurements are augmented by ground site measurements at key locations spanning a range of ecosystem/permafrost domain combinations.

Engineering test flights in Alaska in April 2011 demonstrated performance readiness, and science operations are scheduled to begin in March 2012.

Presentation Type:  Poster

Session:  Global Change Impact & Vulnerability   (Tue 11:30 AM)

Associated Project(s): 

• Related Activity

Poster Location ID: 241