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Abstract text
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The Arctic Observing Mission (AOM) is a satellite mission concept that would use a highly elliptical orbit (HEO) to enable frequent observations of greenhouse gases (GHGs), air quality, meteorological variables and space weather to address the current sparsity in spatial and temporal coverage north of the usable viewing range of geostationary (GEO) satellites. AOM evolved from the Atmospheric Imaging Mission for Northern Regions (AIM-North), which was expanded in scope. AOM would use an Imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer (IFTS) with 4 near infrared/shortwave infrared (NIR/SWIR) bands to observe hourly CO2, CH4, CO and Solar Induced Fluorescence spanning cloud-free land from ~40-80°N. The rapid revisit is only possible due to cloud avoidance using ‘intelligent pointing’, which is facilitated by the availability of real-time cloud data from the meteorological imager and the IFTS scanning approach. Simulations suggest that these observations would improve our ability to detect and monitor changes in the Arctic and boreal carbon cycle, including CO2 and CH4 emissions from permafrost thaw, or changes to northern vegetation carbon fluxes under a changing climate. AOM is envisioned as a Canadian-led mission to be implemented with international partners. AOM is currently undergoing a pre-formulation study to refine options for the mission architecture and advance other technical and design aspects, investigate socio-economic benefits of the mission and better establish the roles and contributions of partners. This presentation will give an overview of the AOM GHG instrument, its expected capabilities and its potential for carbon cycle science and monitoring.
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