National Centre for Earth Observation

EnviFlux (v1.0): a simplified surface flux inversion tool based on four-dimensional variational data assimilation (4D-Var)

Abstract. This paper introduces EnviFlux, which is a software tool (written in C++) to study the inverse problem of estimating the distribution of fluxes of a trace gas at the Earth's surface. This is done using a four-dimensional variational technique, which combines information...

Improving on the spatial location of geostationary satellite-derived FRP by accounting for parallax effect

When a satellite observes the Earth at an angle, the apparent position of elevated features, such as mountains, clouds or fires in high terrain, can be shifted from their true ground location. This effect, which may be particularly pronounced in the case of geostationary platform...

Hydrological drivers of hydrogen cyanide wildfire emissions from Indonesian peat fires during the 2015, 2019, and 2023 El Niño events

Indonesian peatlands store vast amounts of carbon that are highly vulnerable to fire during El Niño-driven droughts. When ignited, peat releases large quantities of greenhouse gases and other species with significant environmental impacts, including hydrogen cyanide (HCN), a sens...

Direct estimation of wildfire emissions at high latitudes from combined polar orbiter FRP and Sentinel-5P CO data

Abstract. High Latitude (HL) landscape fires are an important source of greenhouse gases and aerosols, with growing significance under rapid anthropogenic climate change-induced warming. Current fire emission inventories are mostly ‘bottom-up’ in nature; combining, or relying on...

Nowcasting convective cores using deep learning

Abstract Extreme precipitation events in the Tropics are often linked to convective storms. Storm nowcasting systems for early warning have been recognized as a necessary adaptation strategy to increase public resilience in a rapidly evolving climate. Ongoing advances in deep‐lea...

TCOM-CFC11 and TCOM-CFC12: a gap-free, observationally constrained global dataset of stratospheric CFC-11 and CFC-12 profiles (v2.0)

Abstract. Understanding the long-term trends of ozone-depleting substances (ODSs), particularly CFC-11 (CFCl3) and CFC-12 (CF2Cl2), is essential for evaluating the effectiveness of the Montreal Protocol. However, reliably estimating these trends is complicated by the inherent spa...

Strategic design of methane observation networks to improve emission estimates: A case study in Africa

Abstract. Ground-based and satellite atmospheric observations are essential for reducing uncertainties in methane (CH4) emissions by atmospheric inversion, particularly in data-sparse regions such as Africa. However, adding new observation sites does not yield linear improvements...

Effects of assimilating phytoplankton carbon in marine ecosystem modelling in NEMO4.0.4-MEDUSA2.0-PDAF2.0

Abstract. The state of the marine ecosystem can be estimated by a combination of numerical models and satellite observations through data assimilation (DA) methods. Satellite data representing phytoplankton chlorophyll are typically used in operational marine ecosystem prediction...