CHRONOS Supports Science-Based Decision Making

CHRONOS: Revolutionary Science from Space

Innovative Investigation Overview

Principal Investigator: Dr. David Edwards, UCAR/NCAR

Methane (CH4) and carbon monoxide (CO) are ozone precursors (air pollutants).

● Air pollution directly affects human health.● Large uncertainties and conflicting estimates exist in current CH4 and CO emissions inventories.

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, 86 times as potent as CO2 over the 20 year policy-relevant timeframe.

● Reducing CH4 released to the air mitigates both climate change and air pollution in our lifetimes.

Methane escaping from increasing natural gas production is poorly monitored and highly variable.

● Climate advantages from burning natural gas over coal are lost with as little as 3% fugitive emissions from gas extraction.● Ground-based CH4 monitoring shows large inconsistencies.

CO measurements identify regional and urban pollution transport. ● Discriminating between local and transported pollution is fundamental to addressing air quality needs.

Together, CH4, CO, and CO2 define the Earth’s carbon cycle.● CHRONOS’ CH4 and CO observations can be combined in a modeling framework with CO2 observations from other NASA satellites for improved understanding of the Earth’s carbon cycle.

The CHRONOS investigation transforms the assessment of highly uncertain emissions and air quality from space.

CHRONOS Science Goal:Characterize the impacts on air quality, climate and energy policy decisions due to changing emissions of methane and other pollutants in North America from urban sources, wetlands, fires and fossil fuel extraction

CHRONOS Science Objectives:Quantify the temporal and spatial variations of methane (CH4) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions for air quality, climate, and energy policy decisions

Track rapidly changing vertical and horizontal atmospheric pollution transport to determine near-surface air quality at urban to continental spatial scales, and at diurnal to monthly temporal scales

Compelling Science Goal and Objectives

CHRONOS can provide a NASA contribution to the White House OSTP 2014 Strategy to Reduce Methane Emissions, which specifically identified a focus on improving methane measurements.

“Methane emissions come from diverse sources and sectors of the economy, unevenly dispersed across the landscape. These characteristics complicate measurement and attribution and lead to significant uncertainties in estimates of current and projected methane emissions. Better data collection and measurement will improve our understanding of methane sources and trends, and enable more effective management of opportunities to reduce methane emissions.”

Quantifying changing methane emissions and atmospheric pollution transport for informed air quality, climate, and energy policy decisions

New NASA Capability Key Feature

Hourly temporal resolution

First observations of tropospheric CH4 and CO with hourly revisit time examines diurnal evolution of emissions and local to continental scale pollution transport.

4 km x 4 km spatial resolution

Fine spatial resolution distinguishes pollution source regions across cities and rural areas.

Multispectral measurements

State-of-the-art multispectral retrieval of CO gives vertical information near the surface and in the free troposphere to distinguish local from transported pollution through horizontal and vertical tracking.

Dense data for model emissions estimates

Comprehensive and self-consistent measurements provide answers to large inconsistencies in reported emissions.

Integrated observing system

Strengthens the international air quality satellite constellation of both LEO and GEO assets with common tools to integrate information.

CHRONOS Science Team delivers compelling science to address urgent national and international policy needs.

Space View

Earth View

Reliable Instrument Key Characteristics

Effective, Skilled CHRONOS Project Team

Summary Schedule and Cost

Experienced CHRONOS partners are uniquely qualified to deliver the CHRONOS science investigation. Integrated science and engineering teams use design-to-cost methods to optimize science while maintaining cost and schedule.

Internationally Recognized CHRONOS Science TeamCHRONOS delivers CH4 and CO measurements based on thespace-proven gas filter correlation radiometry technique used by Canada’sMOPITT instrument on NASA’s Terra spacecraft for the past 15 years in space. The instrument employs high heritage components and subsystems to achieve a high-performance, low-risk design.

Project Management, SE, S&MA, Instrument Operations, Ground SystemsOver 40 years project management, spaceflight instrument development expertise (CALIPSO, SAGE-III LRD 2016, TEMPO LRD 2018), pioneering commercially hosted science payloads for two decades

Flight Instrument Development, AI&T, Sustaining Engineering50+ years experience developing scientific instruments (Spitzer IRS, IR Astronomical Satellite), premier designer and integrator of current extensive systems like CHRONOS

Roles & ResponsibilitiesPartner

Science Leadership, Science Data ProcessingPI with 27 years experience in satellite remote sensing for atmospheric composition; 16 years demonstrated algorithm development, data processing and science support with MOPITT

CHRONOS is readily accommodated on commercial geostationary communications spacecraft

● CHRONOS views greater North America,including the United States, Canada(up to the Arctic Circle), and Mexico.

● CHRONOS provides a continental pictureof methane sources and pollution transportresolved at the county scale.

● Simple, low-riskdesign is well tailoredfor the CO and CH4measurements.

● Large performancemargins providerobust performance andflexibility to maintainprogram schedule andmeet all sciencerequirements.

● Instrument Delivery to NASA: 2020● Earliest Launch Date: 2021● Two years of science operations with options to extend

● Science investigation cost $97M (FY18$)● Commercial host launch and services approximately $50M

Member & Affiliation

David Edwards, P.I., NCAR

Doreen Neil, (Project Scientist), Co-I., LaRC

Daniel Jacob (lead), Co-I. Harvard Univ.

Roger Drake, Co-I., Ball (Instrument Lead)

Daven Henze, Co-I. Univ. Colorado

Gabriele Pfister, Co-I. NCAR

Dylan Jones, Co-I, (contributed), U. Toronto, Canada

John Gille, Co-I. NCARJim Drummond, Co-I., (contributed) Dalhousie Univ., Canada

Jim Crawford, (lead), Co-I. LaRC

Mike Newchurch, Co-I. Univ. Alabama/AQRSCMichel Grutter de la Mora, Co-I., (contributed), UNAM, Mexico

Gregory Frost (lead), Co-I, NOAA

Drew Shindell, Co-I., Duke University

Bryan Duncan, Co-I. GSFC

Jack Fishman (lead), Co-I, Saint Louis University

Cathy Clerbaux, Co-I. (contributed), CNRS, FranceJhoon Kim, Co-I. (contributed), Yonsei Univ., Seoul, South Korea

Louisa Emmons, Co-I. NCAR

Ilse Aben, Co-I. (contributed), SRON, Netherlands

John Worden, Co-I, JPL

Annmarie Eldering (lead), Co-I, JPL

Brad Pierce, Co-I. NOAA

Kelly Chance, Co-I. Harvard-SAO

Helen Worden (lead), Deputy-PI. NCARChristian Frankenberg, Co-I., Caltech

Discipline Member & AffiliationDiscipline

Principal Investigator

Instrument Science

Validation

Algorithm Development

Chemical Transport

Models, Data Assimilation and Inverse

Modeling

Emissions Inventories, Climate and Air Quality

International Constellation of

Atmospheric Composition

Missions

Air Quality Applications

Proposal is fully peer-reviewed and ready for authorization to proceed (2016)

Mass

209.4 WPower

Volume

GroundSampleArea

104.6 kg

0.9m x 0.7m x 0.9m

12 km2 (center of domain) 33%

43%

43%

Parameter Value Margin

40%