Ocean Carbon Task Force

Co-Chairs

Cecile Rousseaux
NASA, USA
cecile.s.rousseaux@nasa.gov

Jamie Shutler
University of Exeter, UK
J.D.Shutler@exeter.ac.uk

Background

Quantification of ocean carbon requires satellite data (including ocean colour, but also sea state, etc.) and many ocean estimates rely on satellite observations. However, the limitations of the satellite data are not clearly understood or the data are not used to their maximum efficiency to contribute to global carbon assessments. There is a clear need for satellite data expertise involved in large-scale global carbon efforts. The wider ocean carbon budget is overlooking some of the Earth observation (EO) satellite advances to estimate the role of the ocean in the carbon cycle. There have been publications that try to estimate the role of satellite data in ocean carbon, but a cross-disciplinary group is needed that can give coherent advice and guidance. The task force on ocean carbon from space was established in March 2023.

The Ocean Carbon task force aims to:

• Encourage uptake of climate quality satellite data records
• Provide support to annual assessments and related workshops (e.g. IPCC)
• Support the aims of the CEOS carbon strategy