Skip to main content
Welcome to GCOS
GCOS Slogan

Main navigation

  • Home
  • About
  • ECV
    • Essential Climate Variables
    • ECV Review
    • About Essential Climate Variables
  • Expert Panels
    • Atmospheric Observation Panel for Climate
    • Ocean Observations Physics and Climate Panel
    • Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate
    • Joint Panels Meeting 2019
    • Joint Panels Meeting 2021
  • Cooperation
    • Cooperation Mechanism
    • Regional Workshops
    • National Cooperations
    • CBS Lead Centres for GCOS
  • Indicators
  • News
  • Networks
  • GCOS Goes Green
  • Publications
    • GCOS Implementation Plan 2022
    • GCOS Implementation Plan 2016
    • GCOS Status Report 2021
    • Publications and Outreach
  1. Home
  2. Essential Climate Variables
  3. Carbon Dioxide, Methane & Other Greenhouse Gases

 

Carbon Dioxide, Methane & Other Greenhouse Gases

The atmospheric abundance of carbon dioxide (CO2), the dominant human-produced greenhouse gas, has increased by about 50% since pre-industrial times due to the proliferation of fossil fuel combustion. Methane (CH4) is also a strong greenhouse gas; its atmospheric abundance has more than doubled since the pre-industrial era because of human activities. Other significant greenhouse gases include nitrous oxide (N2O), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).

  Domain: Atmosphere
  Subdomain: Atmospheric Composition
  Scientific Area: Carbon cycle and other GHGs
  ECV Steward: Paolo Laj, Dale Hurst
  Products:  CO2 Mole Fraction, CO2 Column Average Dry Air Mixing Ratio, CH4 Mole Fraction, CH4 Column Average Dry Air Mixing Ratio, N2O Mole Fraction

 


Atmospheric CO2 at Mauna Loa

Figure: Monthly mean atmospheric carbon dioxide at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii

Source: Data are reported as a dry mole fraction defined as the number of molecules of CO2 divided by the number of molecules of dry air multiplied by one million (ppm).

 


ECV Products and Requirements

These products and requirements reflect the Implementation Plan 2022 (GCOS-244).

The requirements are found in the complete 2022 ECVs Requirements document as well: ECV Carbon Dioxide, Methane & Other Greenhouse Gases.

Products     CO2 mole fraction CO2 column average dry air mixing ratio     CH4 mole fraction CH4 column average dry air mixing ratio N2O mole fraction
  (*) Unit Values Values   Unit Values Values Values
Horizontal Resolution G km 100 1   km 100 0.3 100
B 500 5   500 1 500
T 2000 10   2000 10 2000
Vertical Resolution G km 0.1 -   km 0.1 - 0.1
B 1 -   1 - 1
T 3 -   3 - 3
Temporal Resolution G h 1 1   h 1 1 1
B 24 12   24 12 24
T 168 72   168 72 168
Timeliness G d 1 1   d 1 1 1
B 30 7   30 7 30
T 180 14   180 14 180
Required Measurement Uncertainty (2-sigma) G ppm 0.1 0.6   ppb 1 7 0.05
B 0.2 1   2 10 0.1
T 0.5 1.6   5 20 0.3
Stability G ppm/decade 0.1 0.1   ppb/decade  1 1 0.05
B 0.1 0.2   1 2 0.05
T 0.3 0.3   3 4 0.2

 

(*) Goal (G): an ideal requirement above which further improvements are not necessary. Breakthrough (B): an intermediate level between threshold and goal which, if achieved, would result in a significant improvement for the targeted application. The breakthrough value may also indicate the level at which specified uses within climate monitoring become possible. It may be appropriate to have different breakthrough values for different uses. Threshold (T): the minimum requirement to be met to ensure that data are useful


Data Sources

This list provides sources for openly accessible data sets with worldwide coverage for which metadata is available. It is curated by the respective GCOS ECV Steward(s). The list does not claim to be complete. Anyone with a suitable dataset who wishes it to be added to this list should contact the GCOS Secretariat.

In Situ:

  • NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Global Monitoring Division Greenhouse Gas data

https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/dv/iadv/

  • Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC)

http://www.ndsc.ncep.noaa.gov/

  • Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON)

http://tccondata.org/

  • World Data Centre for Greenhouse Gases (WDCGG)

http://ds.data.jma.go.jp/gmd/wdcgg/

Reanalysis:

  • REANALYSES.ORG (Inventory for Reanalysis)

http://reanalyses.org

  • Monitoring Atmospheric Composition & Climate (MACC), European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)

http://apps.ecmwf.int/datasets/data/macc-ghg-inversions

  • Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS), European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)

http://apps.ecmwf.int/datasets/data/cams-ghg-inversions/

Satellite:

  • Satellite ECV Inventory by the CEOS/CGMS Working Group on Climate (WGClimate)

http://climatemonitoring.info/ecvinventory

 

EU Copernicus

 

Sponsors

Twitter icon



Copyright | Privacy | Contact