Ground based in-situ measurements of carbon dioxide (CO 2) and methane (CH 4) at the dry lakebed at Railroad Valley (RRV) playa, Nevada, USA (38°30.234′ N, 115°41.604′ W, elevation 1437 m) were conducted over a five day period from 20–25 June 2010. The playa is a flat, desert site with virtually no vegetation, an overall size of 15 km × 15 km and is approximately 110 km south-west of the nearest city, Ely (elevation 1962 m, inhabitants 4000). The measurements were taken in support of the vicarious calibration experiment to validate column-averaged dry air mole fractions of CO 2 and CH 4 (X CO2 and X CH4) retrieved from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) which was launched in January 2009. This work reports on ground-based in-situ measurements of CO 2 and CH 4 from RRV playa and describes comparisons made between in-situ data and X CO2 and X CH4 from GOSAT.
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