Exelis technology provides actionable climate information

Exelis technology provides actionable climate information Environmental information is ubiquitous, with news articles published daily. But scientists are still looking for answers to questions about climate change.

For example, they only know where half of all global carbon dioxide, one of the main greenhouse gases believed to be responsible for climate change, is absorbed, according to Ken Davis, principal investigator for ACT-America and Penn State meteorological professor. They know oceans absorb 25 percent and another 25 percent is absorbed into the ground. But they dont know where the other half goes.

This is one of the many areas in which Exelis is using ground, air and space technology to support climate-related initiatives.

*Exelis is part of a study Penn State is leading to learn more about poorly understood carbon dioxide and methane sources and sinks - where they come from and where they go. The five-year study is funded by NASA. Called the Atmospheric Carbon and Transport-America, or ACT-America, the mission will be the first to use a carbon dioxide remote sensing instrument for a sustained scientific research, Davis said. The team is using an Exelis-built active LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), a remote sensing method that uses a laser to measure the difference in absorption of the atmosphere at two closely spaced wavelengths. Through precise measurements, the team will learn more about the movement of carbon in the atmosphere, the carbon cycle and how to better inform climate-change mitigation efforts.

* This technology is also being used for ground measurements. The U.S. Department of Energy has provided grants to public and private organizations, including Exelis, to test various methods to assess carbon sequestration initiatives at various sites. At one location in Illinois, ground-level measurements collected by laser wavelengths are performing large-scale regional greenhouse gas tomography. In the near future, using complex algorithms and data processing, information can be produced in easily understood formats that can be used at a local level to monitor real-time conditions.

* Finally, in 2017 Japan will launch a climate satellite that will carry anExelis-built instrumentcalled the Thermal and Near infrared Sensor for carbon Observation on its Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite. It will observe infrared light emitted from the sun and reflected at the surface.

Measurements from the ground, air and space will provide the most complete picture of how the Earth breathes, said Eric Webster,Exelis environmental intelligencevice president and director. There is climate data and then theres actionable information. Actionable information is what is needed to build environmental mitigation and adaption plans at the local level.

Cities generate 70 percent of the worlds greenhouse gases, which includes carbon dioxide. City officials in many of them are not waiting for international agreements to take action because they stand to lose up to $4 trillion in accumulated costs for climate change by 2030, according to theCarbon Disclosure Project, an international environmental organization that works with government and business to address environmental issues. The organization surveyed 207 cities worldwide.

More than half of them have inventoried emission sources, which can vary from city to city. Knowing what youre dealing with is a first step to mitigation. However, these inventories are based on mathematical estimations and not observations, Webster said. City-wide greenhouse gas emissions are one of the hardest areas to measure and update annually, according to theC40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, a network of the worlds megacities.

Webster said taking measurements from the ground, air and space and turning the data into actionable information products will enable local decision-makers to take effective steps to address climate change.

This three-pronged approach can fill in the information gaps at the local, regional and global levels, Webster said. You cant do anything without the right information.

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