XCO2 and XCH4 Reconstruction Using GOSAT Satellite Data Based on EOF-Algorithm

Abstract

The Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) can help to ascertain the global distribution of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), and how the sources and sinks of these gases vary by season, year, and location. However, the data provided by the GOSAT level 2 and 3 products have certain limitations due to their lack of spatial and temporal information; even with the application of the kriging geostatistical method on the level 2 products, the processing algorithms still need further upgrades. In this study, we apply an empirical orthogonal function (EOF)-based method on the GOSAT L3 products (137 images, from January 2010 to May 2021) to estimate the column average of carbon dioxide and methane (XCO2–XCH4) within the entire Earth. The reconstructed results are validated against the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (i.e., TCCON), with 31 in situ stations, and GOSAT L4B column-averaged data, using 107 layers. The results show an excellent agreement with the TCCON data and exhibit an R-squared coefficient of 0.95 regarding the CO2 measurements and 0.86 regarding the CH4 measurements. Therefore, this methodology can be incorporated into the processing steps used to map global greenhouse gases.