skip to main content
Caltech
Fires burning in Greater Los Angeles area have had significant impact on the Caltech's community and surrounding areas. For information and resources for members of the Caltech community, go to https://www.caltech.edu/fire.

Theodore von Karman Lecture

Thursday, March 13, 2014
7:00pm to 8:00pm
Add to Cal
JPL, von Karman Auditorium
The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2
David Crisp, Science Team Leader, OCO-2, Jet Propulsion Laboratory,

Fossil fuel combustion and other human activities are now emitting more than 35 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere each year. The ocean and plants on land emit more than 20 times as much CO2 into the atmosphere as humans do, but they reabsorb almost as much, along with about half of human-produced emissions. Ground-based measurements accurately record the global impact of these processes on Earth's atmospheric CO2 budget and its trends. However, their resolution and coverage is not adequate to identify the "sources" emitting CO2 or the natural "sinks" absorbing this gas.

The Orbiting Carbon Observatory – 2 (OCO-2) is NASA's first satellite designed to measure atmospheric CO2 with the accuracy needed to identify these sources and sinks. After its launch in July 2014, its spectrometers will record more than 100,000 CO2 measurements each day.

This event is free and open to the public. Seating is on a first come, first served basis.

For more information, please contact JPL Public Service Office by phone at 818-354-1234 or visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/lectures_archive.php?year=2014&month=3.