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Research infrastructures play a key role in launching a new generation of integrated long-Term, geographically distributed observation programmes designed to monitor climate change, better understand its impacts on global ecosystems, and evaluate possible mitigation and adaptation strategies. The pan-European Integrated Carbon Observation System combines carbon and greenhouse gas (GHG; CO 2 , CH 4 , N 2 O, H 2 O) observations within the atmosphere, terrestrial ecosystems and oceans. High-precision measurements are obtained using standardised methodologies, are centrally processed and openly available in a traceable and verifiable fashion in combination with detailed metadata. The Integrated Carbon Observation System ecosystem station network aims to sample climate and land-cover variability across Europe. In addition to GHG flux measurements, a large set of complementary data (including management practices, vegetation and soil characteristics) is collected to support the interpretation, spatial upscaling and modelling of observed ecosystem carbon and GHG dynamics. The applied sampling design was developed and formulated in protocols by the scientific community, representing a trade-off between an ideal dataset and practical feasibility. The use of open-Access, high-quality and multi-level data products by different user communities is crucial for the Integrated Carbon Observation System in order to achieve its scientific potential and societal value.

We developed and tested a complete measurement system to quantify CO2 and CH4 emissions at the scale of an industrial site based on the innovative sensor Airborne Ultra-light Spectrometer for Environmental Application (AUSEA), operated on board uncrewed aircraft vehicles (UAVs). The AUSEA sensor is a new light-weight (1.4 kg) open-path laser absorption spectrometer simultaneously recording in situ CO2 and CH4 concentrations at high frequency (24 Hz in this study) with precisions of 10 ppb for CH4 and 1 ppm for CO2 (when averaged at 1 Hz). It is suitable for industrial operation at a short distance from the sources (sensitivity up to 1000 ppm for CO2 and 200 ppm for CH4). Greenhouse gas concentrations monitored by this sensor throughout a plume cross section downwind of a source drive a simple mass balance model to quantify emissions from this source. This study presents applications of this method to different pragmatic cases representative of real-world conditions for oil and gas facilities. Two offshore oil and gas platforms were monitored for which our emissions estimates were coherent with mass balance and combustion calculations from the platforms. Our method has also been compared to various measurement systems (gas lidar, multispectral camera, infrared camera including concentrations and emissions quantification system, acoustic sensors, ground mobile and fixed cavity ring-down spectrometers) during controlled-release experiments conducted on the TotalEnergies Anomaly Detection Initiatives (TADI) test platform at Lacq, France. It proved suitable to detect leaks with emission fluxes down to 0.01 gs-1 , with 24 % of estimated CH4 fluxes within the - 20 % to + 20 % error range, 80 % of quantifications within the - 50 % to + 100 % error range and all of our results within the - 69 % to + 150 % error range. Such precision levels are better ranked than current top-down alternative techniques to quantify CH4 at comparable spatial scales. This method has the potential to be operationally deployed on numerous sites and on a regular basis to evaluate the space- and time-dependent greenhouse gas emissions of oil and gas facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire is considered as an essential climate variable, emitting greenhouse gases in the combustion process. Current global assessments of fire emissions traditionally rely on coarse remotely-sensed burned area data, along with biome-specific combustion completeness and emission factors, to provide near real-time information. However, large uncertainties persist regarding burned areas, biomass affected, and emission factors. Recent increases in resolution have improved previous estimates of burned areas and aboveground biomass, while increasing the information content used to derive emission factors, complemented by airborne sensors deployed in the Tropics. To date, temperate forests, characterized by a lower fire incidence and stricter aerial surveillance restrictions near wildfires, have received less attention. In this study, we leveraged the distinctive fire season of 2022, which impacted Western European temperate forests, to investigate fire emissions monitored by the atmospheric tower network. We examined the role of soil smoldering combustion responsible for higher carbon emissions, locally reported by firefighters but not accounted for in global fire emission budgets. We assessed the CO/CO2 ratio released by major fires in the Mediterranean, Atlantic pine, and Atlantic temperate forests of France. Our findings revealed low Modified Combustion Efficiency (MCE) for the two Atlantic temperate regions, supporting the assumption of heavy smoldering combustion. This type of combustion was associated with specific fire characteristics, such as long-lasting thermal fire signals, and affected ecosystems encompassing needle leaf species, peatlands, and superficial lignite deposits in the soils. Thanks to high-resolution data (approximately 10 meters) on burned areas, tree biomass, peatlands, and soil organic matter, we proposed a revised combustion emission framework consistent with the observed MCEs. Our estimates revealed that 6.15 MtCO2 (± 2.65) were emitted, with belowground stock accounting for 51.75% (± 16.05). Additionally, we calculated a total emission of 1.14 MtCO (± 0.61), with 84.85% (± 3.75) originating from belowground combustion. As a result, the carbon emissions from the 2022 fires in France amounted to 7.95 MteqCO2 (± 3.62). These values exceed by 2-fold the generic GFAS global estimates of 4.18 MteqCO2 (CO and CO2). Fires represent 1.97% (± 0.89) of the country's annual carbon footprint, corresponding to a reduction of 30 % of the forest carbon sink this year. Consequently, we conclude that current European fire emissions estimates should be revised to account for soil combustion in temperate forests. We also recommend the use of atmospheric mixing ratios as an effective monitoring system of prolonged soil fires that have the potential to reignite in the following weeks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We developed an innovative tool to quantify CO2 and CH4 emissions at the scale of an industrial site, based on a mass balance approach relying on a newly developed light-weight (1.4 kg) open path laser absorption spectrometer operable on-board Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles (UAVs). This spectrometer simultaneously records in situ CO2 and CH4 concentrations at high frequency (24 Hz in this study) with precisions of 10 ppb for CH4 and 1 ppm for CO2 averaged at 1 Hz. The large range of measurable concentrations, up to 1000 ppm for CO2 and 200 ppm for CH4, makes this analyzer suitable for operation on industrial sites at a short distance from the emission sources, therefore avoiding many logistical and legal limits associated with most long-range airborne observations. To quantify the emissions, high spatial resolution atmospheric concentration measurements obtained throughout a plume cross-section downwind of a source within the limited UAV flight period are exploited by calculations using a mass balance approach. This high spatial resolution, allowed by the high acquisition frequency, limits the use of horizontal interpolation, thus gaining in precision compared to current airborne alternative quantification techniques. A field validation campaign, conducted on the TotalEnergies TADI test platform at Lacq, France, consisted in controlled CO2 and CH4 leak experiments to which several institutes participated with various measurement systems (gas LiDAR, multispectral camera, infrared camera including concentrations and emissions quantification system, acoustic sensors, ground mobile and fixed Cavity RingDown Spectrometers). Our method was proved suitable to detect leaks during controlled release experiments with emission fluxes down to 0.01 g s-1, with 24 % of estimated CH4 fluxes within the -20 % to +20 % error range, 80 % of quantifications within the 50 % to +100 % error range and all of our results within the -69 % to +150 % error range. Such precision levels are better ranked than current top-down alternative techniques to quantify CH4 at comparable spatial scales. Observations across the plume of two offshore oil and gas platforms operated by TotalEnergies in the North Sea were used to quantify the instantaneous greenhouse gases emissions of these facilities and are coherent with reference emissions for these platforms estimated by mass balance and combustion calculations for CO2. The operational deployment of such instruments and quantification methods, on a large scale and on a regular basis, potentially with fully autonomous UAVs, will allow the quantification of the time dependent greenhouse gases emissions of numerous oil and gas facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Space-based active sensing of C[O.sub.2] concentration is a very promising technique for the derivation of C[O.sub.2] surface fluxes. There is a need for accurate spectroscopic parameters to enable accurate space-based measurements to address global climatic issues. New spectroscopic measurements using laser diode absorption spectroscopy are presented for the preselected R30 C[O.sub.2] absorption line [(([20.sup.0]1).sub.III] [left arrow] (000) band) and four others. The line strength, air-broadening halfwidth, and its temperature dependence have been investigated. The results exhibit significant improvement for the R30 C[O.sub.2] absorption line: 0.4% on the line strength, 0.15% on the air-broadening coefficient, and 0.45% on its temperature dependence. Analysis of potential biases of space-based DIAL C[O.sub.2] mixing ratio measurements associated to spectroscopic parameter uncertainties are presented. [c] 2009 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: 280.1910, 300.6260.

We report on the development and performance of a gas sensor based on a distributed feedback quantum cascade laser operating in continuous wave at room temperature for simultaneous measurement of nitrous oxide ([N.sub.2]O) and methane ([CH.sub.4]) concentrations at ground level, The concentrations of the gases are determined by a long path infrared diode laser absorption spectroscopy. The long-term stability of the instrument is evaluated using the Allan variance technique. A preliminary evaluation of the instrument performance is realized by in situ measurements of [N.sub.2]O and [CH.sub.4] concentrations at ground level during 1 day. The sensor has also been applied to study the time response of [N.sub.2]O concentrations to a fertilizer addition in a soil sample and for the comparison between various types of soils. OCIS codes: 010.1120, 140.5960, 300.6340.

The concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere plays an important role in the radiative effects in the Earth's climate system. Therefore, it is crucial to increase the number of atmospheric observations in order to quantify the natural sinks and emission sources. We report in this paper the development of a new compact lightweight spectrometer (1.8 kg) called AMULSE based on near infrared laser technology at 2.04 μm coupled to a 6-m open-path multipass cell. The measurements were made using the Wavelength Modulation Spectroscopy (WMS) technique and the spectrometer is hence dedicated to in situ measuring the vertical profiles of the CO2 at high precision levels (σAllan = 0.96 ppm in 1 s integration time (1σ) and with high temporal/spatial resolution (1 Hz/5 m) using meteorological balloons. The instrument is compact, robust, cost-effective, fully autonomous, has low-power consumption, a non-intrusive probe and is plug & play. It was first calibrated and validated in the laboratory and then used for 17 successful flights up to 10 km altitude in the region Champagne--Ardenne, France in 2014. A rate of 100% of instrument recovery was validated due to the pre-localization prediction of the Météo--France based on the flight simulation software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]