Satellites are key to monitoring ocean carbon

By University of Exeter
11/4/2019

The Aeolus liftoff. Credit: ESA, S Corvaja

Satellites now play a key role in monitoring carbon levels in the oceans, but we are only just beginning to understand their full potential.

Our ability to predict  relies upon being able to monitor where our  go. So we need to know how much stays in the atmosphere, or becomes stored in the oceans or on

land. The oceans in particular have helped to slow climate change as they absorb and then store the carbon for thousands of years.

The IPCC Special Report on the Oceans and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, published in September, identified this critical role that the  play in regulating our climate along with the need to increase our  and understanding of ocean health.

But the vast nature of the oceans, covering over 70% of the Earth’s surface, illustrates why satellites are an important component of any monitoring.

The new study, led by the University of Exeter, says that increased exploitation of existing satellites will enable us to fill “critical knowledge gaps” for monitoring our climate.

Read more here: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/research/title_763104_en.html

Read the original article in Frontiers here: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/fee.2129