The MEthane Remote sensing Lidar missioN (MERLIN) aims at demonstrating the spaceborne active measurement of atmospheric methane, a potent greenhouse gas, based on an Integrated Path Differential Absorption (IPDA) nadir-viewing LIght Detecting and Ranging (Lidar) instrument. MERLIN is a joint French and German space mission, with a launch currently scheduled for the timeframe 2021/22. The German Space Agency (DLR) is responsible for the payload, while the platform (MYRIADE Evolutions product line) is developed by the French Space Agency (CNES). The main scientific objective of MERLIN is the delivery of weighted atmospheric columns of methane dry-air mole fractions for all latitudes throughout the year with systematic errors small enough (<3.7 ppb) to significantly improve our knowledge of methane sources from global to regional scales, with emphasis on poorly accessible regions in the tropics and at high latitudes. This paper presents the MERLIN objectives, describes the methodology and the main characteristics of the payload and of the platform, and proposes a first assessment of the error budget and its translation into expected uncertainty reduction of methane surface emissions.

Emissions from strong point sources, primarily large power plants, are a major portion of the total CO₂ emissions. International climate agreements will increasingly require their independent monitoring. A satellite-based, double-pulse, direct detection Integrated Path Differential Absorption (IPDA) Lidar with the capability to actively target point sources has the potential to usefully complement the current and future GHG observing system. This initial study uses simple approaches to determine the required Lidar characteristics and the expected skill of spaceborne Lidar plume detection and emission quantification. A Gaussian plume model simulates the CO₂ or CH₄ distribution downstream of the sources. A Lidar simulator provides the instrument characteristics and dimensions required to retrieve the emission rates, assuming an ideal detector configuration. The Lidar sampling frequency, the footprint distance to the emitting source and the error of an individual measurement are of great importance. If wind speed and direction are known and environmental conditions are ideal, an IPDA Lidar on a 500-km orbit with 2 W average power in the 1.6 µm CO₂ absorption band, 500 Hz pulse repetition frequency, 50 m footprint at sea level and 0.7 m telescope diameter can be expected to measure CO₂ emission rates of 20 Mt/a with an average accuracy better than 3% up to a distance of 3 km away from the source. CH₄ point source emission rates can be quantified with comparable skill if they are larger than 10 kt/a, or if the Lidar pulse repetition frequency is augmented.

We propose an integrated path differential absorption (IPDA) lidar system based on a hybrid master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) and single photon counting detection for column-averaged measurements of atmospheric CO $_2$. The random modulated continuous wave (RM-CW) approach has been selected as the best suited to the average output power obtained from hybrid and monolithically integrated MOPAs. A compact RM-CW IPDA lidar instrument has been designed and fabricated. High-sensitivity and low-noise single photon counting has been used for the receiver. Colocated 2-km horizontal trial path experiments with a pulsed system and in situ measurements were performed for comparison. The RM-CW IPDA lidar instrument shows a relative accuracy of the order of about $\pm$10% or $\pm$ 40 parts per million CO$_2$ concentration in absolute terms. The measurements qualitatively demonstrate the feasibility of CO $_2$ IPDA measurements with an RM-CW system.