Mission and Goals
ICOS aims to build a network of standardized, long-term, high precision integrated monitoring of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. The infrastructure will integrate terrestrial and atmospheric observations at various sites into a single, coherent, highly precise dataset. These data will allow a unique regional top-down assessment of fluxes from atmospheric data, and a bottom-up assessment from ecosystem measurements and fossil fuel inventories. Target is a daily mapping of sources and sinks at scales down to about 10 km, as a basis for understanding the exchange processes between the atmosphere, the terrestrial surface and the ocean. ICOS contributes to the implementation of the Integrated Global Carbon Observation System (IGCO).
Read more about this topic: Integrated Carbon Observation System
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