Dr. Velazco studied Physics and built a continuous wave CO2 laser system from the ground up for his Bachelor thesis. He moved to Bremen, Germany to undertake the Masters degree in Environmental Physics, where he studied aerosols and cirrus clouds using measurements from a high-powered laser LIDAR system in the high Arctic (Ny Alesund, Spitsbergen). The work was in collaboration with the University of Bremen and the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research.
He later investigated the transport of pollutants from biomass burning and their effects on the atmosphere, using techniques in Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) Spectrometry on board the Research Vessel Polarstern, in the Arctic and in the tropics for his Doctorate (summa cum laude), which was partly funded for the validation of the SCIAMACHY satellite.
As a CALTECH postdoctoral scholar, he worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, California Institute of Technology, investigating the upper atmosphere and validating satellite instruments using JPL's MkIV balloon-borne interferometer. He embarked on measurement campaigns in the Arctic (Esrange) to validate the measurements from MLS, HIRDLS and TES instruments on board the AURA spacecraft and in Fort Sumner New Mexico, for the validation of ACE-FTS on the SCISAT spacecraft. In 2010, he worked on CarbonSat (a candidate for a future ESA Earth Explorer satellite), proving and publishing the concept of detecting and monitoring power plant CO2 emissions from space with a CarbonSat-type satellite constellation.
He currently works on retrievals and analysis of total carbon columns via ground-based solar spectrometry and satellites. From 2012 to 2017, he managed the operations of two Australian TCCON (Total Carbon Column Observing Network) stations: Wollongong and Darwin, including the processing, analysis, production and delivery of data products for validation of NASA's OCO-2 and Japan's GOSAT satellites. He conceptualized and spearheaded the establishment of TCCON-Philippines, the first TCCON station in Southeast Asia.
TCCON Philippines: Towards Quantifying Atmospheric Carbon in Southeast Asia
<p>This project established the first greenhouse gas (GHG) observing satellite validation "super site" in Southeast Asia in 2017, through a unique 3-party collaboration among academia (UOW), research institute (NIES) and industry (EDC). The site is composed of state of the art instruments, all dedicated to the validation of the GOSAT-2 satellite, the successor to GOSAT, the first satellite in space dedicated to greenhouse gas observations. In 2018 the TCCON Philippines site took part in a European project to study the effects of megacity emissions (<a href="http://www.iup.uni-bremen.de/emerge/home/home.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">EMeRGe</a>), making UOW the only Australian partner in this high-value mission. In 2019, the TCCON Philippines team was one of the selected science teams as part of a huge NASA mission: <a href="https://espo.nasa.gov/camp2ex/content/CAMP2Ex" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CAMP2Ex</a>. And in 2020, the TCCON Philippines science team became co-recipients of the prestigious NASA Group Achievement Award for an outstanding group accomplishment that has contributed substantially to NASA's mission. (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emLNoQX7_Ik&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emLNoQX7_Ik&feature=youtu.be</a>)<br />TCCON Philippines showcases a project where different groups of people with a common goal, coming from a university, industry and a research institute can work together and benefit, while creating a positive impact globally. </p>
<p><strong>From a shared love of the mountains to a scientific collaboration</strong></p><p>This unique research project had a serendipitous start through mountaineering expeditions. Dr. Velazco’s expertise in atmospheric physics, weather forecasting and mountain climbing experience helped the Philippine Mt. Everest Expedition team in reaching the summit of Mt. Everest, and potentially saving the lives of 3 members with valuable forecasts. Emeritus Chairman of FPH/EDC, Oscar M. Lopez, recognized the importance of climate change and atmospheric research in Southeast Asia and through expedition leader and EDC board member Art Valdez, met with Dr. Velazco to conceive the idea of TCCON Philippines. Driven by social and environmental commitment, Chairman OML and the EDC are fighting the same environmental cause as the TCCON scientists. And so together, Dr. Velazco and the TCCON scientists team up with Chairman OML and the EDC to realize a common goal - the establishment of the first TCCON Station in Southeast Asia. (This initiative was highlighted in the <a href="http://business.inquirer.net/210143/in-the-eye-of-the-storm-edc-adapts-to-climate-realities." title="In the eye of the storm, EDC adapts to climate realities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Philippine Daily Inquirer</a>).</p><p><strong>The TCCON Philippines initiative garners the attention of scientists internationally</strong></p><p>Dr. Velazco, an environmental Physicist, has over 10 years of research experience with TCCON and has done research on cirrus clouds and aerosols in the high Arctic, trace gas measurements on German research ships and worked at NASA studying the upper atmosphere. His work resulted in extensive collaboration networks in Europe, the U.S., and Australia, which would prove to be instrumental in setting up the TCCON station in the Philippines. Dr. Velazco sets out to present the TCCON-Philippines initiative at meetings in Switzerland and eventually, in Japan.</p><p><strong>The Japan connection</strong></p><p>Flashback to 2008: Japan developed and launched the first satellite in orbit dedicated to the remote sensing measurements of CO<sub>2</sub> and CH<sub>4</sub>, its codename: GOSAT (Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite). To continue the important work of GOSAT, Japan will launch GOSAT-2 in 2018. Dr. Isamu Morino, a TCCON scientist and Physical Chemist at NIES will lead the task to provide a validation station in the Tropical Western Pacific for GOSAT-2. Together with world renowned LIDAR expert Dr. Osamu Uchino, they assembled the TCCON and LIDAR instruments bound for the tropics. In 2013, Dr. Morino met with Dr. Velazco and Prof. Griffith in Hokkaido, Japan to discuss the TCCON Philippines initiative. TCCON Philippines became a candidate as primary tropical validation site for Japan’s GOSAT-2 satellite, and also as validation data provider to other space-based satellite missions like NASA’s OCO-2 (Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2).</p><p><strong>The search</strong></p><p>The EDC offered various locations all over the Philippines, which were visited and assessed by Dr. Velazco with the TCCON team. During the site selection process, a super typhoon hits one of the best location candidates - Tacloban, prompting the team to continue the search for a site.</p><p>Finally, after 4 years of scouting and scientific study, the Burgos location was chosen. Now, Dr. Voltaire A. Velazco comes to the Philippines, in Burgos, Ilocos Norte, along with scientists from Japan and Australia, to build the 25th TCCON Station, to close an observation gap in the Southeast Asian atmosphere.</p><p><strong>Results and Beyond</strong></p><p>The site selection process and the scientific studies were published in “Climate, Disaster and Development Journal” (<a href="https://www.cddjournal.org/article/view/vol02-iss2-1" title="TCCON Philippines: Toward Quantifying Atmospheric Carbon in Southeast Asia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Velazco et al., 2017a</a>). This was followed by a paper in “Remote Sensing” (<a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/9/12/1228" title="TCCON Philippines first results" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Velazco et al., 2017b</a>), where first measurements of greenhouse gas total columns in Southeast Asia were shown as well as excellent satellite validation results. This was then followed by a paper on NASA's OCO-2 by <a href="https://www.atmos-meas-tech-discuss.net/amt-2018-257/" title="Improved retrievals of carbon dioxide from Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">O'Dell et al., 2018</a> where TCCON was used as one of the references in the latest version (V8) of the algorithm for data retrieval, which helped reduce regional scale biases, fulfilling one of the project’s main goals. In the formal launching of TCCON Philippines, which was covered by local media (<a href="https://businessmirror.com.ph/hi-tech-climate-change-tracking-station-rises-inside-edcs-burgos-wind-farm/" title="Hi-tech climate-change tracking station rises inside EDC’s Burgos Wind Farm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The business Mirror</a> & <a href="http://manilastandard.net/business/power-technology/249509/high-tech-climate-change-station-established-in-edc-s-burgos-wind-farm.html" title="High-tech climate change station established in EDC’s Burgos wind farm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Manila Standard</a>), First Philippine Holdings (FPH) Chairman and CEO Federico R. Lopez said ”we at FPH believe that every business has a choice and we chose to go beyond our ‘business fence’ and contribute to the common good for the benefit of our environment and the people. Thus, in 2016 we declared to commit all our businesses to a low-carbon and sustainable operation to keep our employees, the communities and our assets out of harm from climate change”. Further, EDC President and COO Richard B. Tantoco said the government can use analyses derived from TCCON data to validate the region's carbon footprint. The footprint calculation will contribute to the world’s aspiration of climate stabilization by 2050 and serve as a guide for climate actions, as committed by signatories to the Paris agreement (COP21). The event was attended by representatives from the government and scientists from different universities.<br /><br />Currently, TCCON Philippines is a key validation site not only for the GOSAT series satellites but also for NASA's OCO-2 and OCO-3 on the International Space Station, ESA's TROPOMI and others, with results already leading to numerous publications. In 2018 the TCCON Philippines site took part in a European project to study the effects of megacity emissions (<a href="http://www.iup.uni-bremen.de/emerge/home/home.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">EMeRGe</a>), making UOW the only Australian partner in this high-value mission. In 2019, the TCCON Philippines team was one of the selected science teams as part of a huge NASA mission; <a href="https://espo.nasa.gov/camp2ex/content/CAMP2Ex" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CAMP2Ex</a>. And in 2020, the TCCON Philippines science team became co-recipients of the prestigious NASA Group Achievement Award for an outstanding group accomplishment that has contributed substantially to NASA's mission. (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emLNoQX7_Ik&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emLNoQX7_Ik&feature=youtu.be</a>)<br />TCCON Philippines showcases a project where different groups of people with a common goal, coming from a university, industry and a research institute can work together and benefit, while creating a positive impact globally. </p>
Dr. Velazco studied Physics and built a continuous wave CO2 laser system from the ground up for his Bachelor thesis. He moved to Bremen, Germany to undertake the Masters degree in Environmental Physics, where he studied aerosols and cirrus clouds using measurements from a high-powered laser LIDAR system in the high Arctic (Ny Alesund, Spitsbergen). The work was in collaboration with the University of Bremen and the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research.
He later investigated the transport of pollutants from biomass burning and their effects on the atmosphere, using techniques in Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) Spectrometry on board the Research Vessel Polarstern, in the Arctic and in the tropics for his Doctorate (summa cum laude), which was partly funded for the validation of the SCIAMACHY satellite.
As a CALTECH postdoctoral scholar, he worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, California Institute of Technology, investigating the upper atmosphere and validating satellite instruments using JPL's MkIV balloon-borne interferometer. He embarked on measurement campaigns in the Arctic (Esrange) to validate the measurements from MLS, HIRDLS and TES instruments on board the AURA spacecraft and in Fort Sumner New Mexico, for the validation of ACE-FTS on the SCISAT spacecraft. In 2010, he worked on CarbonSat (a candidate for a future ESA Earth Explorer satellite), proving and publishing the concept of detecting and monitoring power plant CO2 emissions from space with a CarbonSat-type satellite constellation.
He currently works on retrievals and analysis of total carbon columns via ground-based solar spectrometry and satellites. From 2012 to 2017, he managed the operations of two Australian TCCON (Total Carbon Column Observing Network) stations: Wollongong and Darwin, including the processing, analysis, production and delivery of data products for validation of NASA's OCO-2 and Japan's GOSAT satellites. He conceptualized and spearheaded the establishment of TCCON-Philippines, the first TCCON station in Southeast Asia.
TCCON Philippines: Towards Quantifying Atmospheric Carbon in Southeast Asia
<p>This project established the first greenhouse gas (GHG) observing satellite validation "super site" in Southeast Asia in 2017, through a unique 3-party collaboration among academia (UOW), research institute (NIES) and industry (EDC). The site is composed of state of the art instruments, all dedicated to the validation of the GOSAT-2 satellite, the successor to GOSAT, the first satellite in space dedicated to greenhouse gas observations. In 2018 the TCCON Philippines site took part in a European project to study the effects of megacity emissions (<a href="http://www.iup.uni-bremen.de/emerge/home/home.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">EMeRGe</a>), making UOW the only Australian partner in this high-value mission. In 2019, the TCCON Philippines team was one of the selected science teams as part of a huge NASA mission: <a href="https://espo.nasa.gov/camp2ex/content/CAMP2Ex" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CAMP2Ex</a>. And in 2020, the TCCON Philippines science team became co-recipients of the prestigious NASA Group Achievement Award for an outstanding group accomplishment that has contributed substantially to NASA's mission. (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emLNoQX7_Ik&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emLNoQX7_Ik&feature=youtu.be</a>)<br />TCCON Philippines showcases a project where different groups of people with a common goal, coming from a university, industry and a research institute can work together and benefit, while creating a positive impact globally. </p>
<p><strong>From a shared love of the mountains to a scientific collaboration</strong></p><p>This unique research project had a serendipitous start through mountaineering expeditions. Dr. Velazco’s expertise in atmospheric physics, weather forecasting and mountain climbing experience helped the Philippine Mt. Everest Expedition team in reaching the summit of Mt. Everest, and potentially saving the lives of 3 members with valuable forecasts. Emeritus Chairman of FPH/EDC, Oscar M. Lopez, recognized the importance of climate change and atmospheric research in Southeast Asia and through expedition leader and EDC board member Art Valdez, met with Dr. Velazco to conceive the idea of TCCON Philippines. Driven by social and environmental commitment, Chairman OML and the EDC are fighting the same environmental cause as the TCCON scientists. And so together, Dr. Velazco and the TCCON scientists team up with Chairman OML and the EDC to realize a common goal - the establishment of the first TCCON Station in Southeast Asia. (This initiative was highlighted in the <a href="http://business.inquirer.net/210143/in-the-eye-of-the-storm-edc-adapts-to-climate-realities." title="In the eye of the storm, EDC adapts to climate realities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Philippine Daily Inquirer</a>).</p><p><strong>The TCCON Philippines initiative garners the attention of scientists internationally</strong></p><p>Dr. Velazco, an environmental Physicist, has over 10 years of research experience with TCCON and has done research on cirrus clouds and aerosols in the high Arctic, trace gas measurements on German research ships and worked at NASA studying the upper atmosphere. His work resulted in extensive collaboration networks in Europe, the U.S., and Australia, which would prove to be instrumental in setting up the TCCON station in the Philippines. Dr. Velazco sets out to present the TCCON-Philippines initiative at meetings in Switzerland and eventually, in Japan.</p><p><strong>The Japan connection</strong></p><p>Flashback to 2008: Japan developed and launched the first satellite in orbit dedicated to the remote sensing measurements of CO<sub>2</sub> and CH<sub>4</sub>, its codename: GOSAT (Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite). To continue the important work of GOSAT, Japan will launch GOSAT-2 in 2018. Dr. Isamu Morino, a TCCON scientist and Physical Chemist at NIES will lead the task to provide a validation station in the Tropical Western Pacific for GOSAT-2. Together with world renowned LIDAR expert Dr. Osamu Uchino, they assembled the TCCON and LIDAR instruments bound for the tropics. In 2013, Dr. Morino met with Dr. Velazco and Prof. Griffith in Hokkaido, Japan to discuss the TCCON Philippines initiative. TCCON Philippines became a candidate as primary tropical validation site for Japan’s GOSAT-2 satellite, and also as validation data provider to other space-based satellite missions like NASA’s OCO-2 (Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2).</p><p><strong>The search</strong></p><p>The EDC offered various locations all over the Philippines, which were visited and assessed by Dr. Velazco with the TCCON team. During the site selection process, a super typhoon hits one of the best location candidates - Tacloban, prompting the team to continue the search for a site.</p><p>Finally, after 4 years of scouting and scientific study, the Burgos location was chosen. Now, Dr. Voltaire A. Velazco comes to the Philippines, in Burgos, Ilocos Norte, along with scientists from Japan and Australia, to build the 25th TCCON Station, to close an observation gap in the Southeast Asian atmosphere.</p><p><strong>Results and Beyond</strong></p><p>The site selection process and the scientific studies were published in “Climate, Disaster and Development Journal” (<a href="https://www.cddjournal.org/article/view/vol02-iss2-1" title="TCCON Philippines: Toward Quantifying Atmospheric Carbon in Southeast Asia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Velazco et al., 2017a</a>). This was followed by a paper in “Remote Sensing” (<a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/9/12/1228" title="TCCON Philippines first results" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Velazco et al., 2017b</a>), where first measurements of greenhouse gas total columns in Southeast Asia were shown as well as excellent satellite validation results. This was then followed by a paper on NASA's OCO-2 by <a href="https://www.atmos-meas-tech-discuss.net/amt-2018-257/" title="Improved retrievals of carbon dioxide from Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">O'Dell et al., 2018</a> where TCCON was used as one of the references in the latest version (V8) of the algorithm for data retrieval, which helped reduce regional scale biases, fulfilling one of the project’s main goals. In the formal launching of TCCON Philippines, which was covered by local media (<a href="https://businessmirror.com.ph/hi-tech-climate-change-tracking-station-rises-inside-edcs-burgos-wind-farm/" title="Hi-tech climate-change tracking station rises inside EDC’s Burgos Wind Farm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The business Mirror</a> & <a href="http://manilastandard.net/business/power-technology/249509/high-tech-climate-change-station-established-in-edc-s-burgos-wind-farm.html" title="High-tech climate change station established in EDC’s Burgos wind farm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Manila Standard</a>), First Philippine Holdings (FPH) Chairman and CEO Federico R. Lopez said ”we at FPH believe that every business has a choice and we chose to go beyond our ‘business fence’ and contribute to the common good for the benefit of our environment and the people. Thus, in 2016 we declared to commit all our businesses to a low-carbon and sustainable operation to keep our employees, the communities and our assets out of harm from climate change”. Further, EDC President and COO Richard B. Tantoco said the government can use analyses derived from TCCON data to validate the region's carbon footprint. The footprint calculation will contribute to the world’s aspiration of climate stabilization by 2050 and serve as a guide for climate actions, as committed by signatories to the Paris agreement (COP21). The event was attended by representatives from the government and scientists from different universities.<br /><br />Currently, TCCON Philippines is a key validation site not only for the GOSAT series satellites but also for NASA's OCO-2 and OCO-3 on the International Space Station, ESA's TROPOMI and others, with results already leading to numerous publications. In 2018 the TCCON Philippines site took part in a European project to study the effects of megacity emissions (<a href="http://www.iup.uni-bremen.de/emerge/home/home.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">EMeRGe</a>), making UOW the only Australian partner in this high-value mission. In 2019, the TCCON Philippines team was one of the selected science teams as part of a huge NASA mission; <a href="https://espo.nasa.gov/camp2ex/content/CAMP2Ex" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CAMP2Ex</a>. And in 2020, the TCCON Philippines science team became co-recipients of the prestigious NASA Group Achievement Award for an outstanding group accomplishment that has contributed substantially to NASA's mission. (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emLNoQX7_Ik&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emLNoQX7_Ik&feature=youtu.be</a>)<br />TCCON Philippines showcases a project where different groups of people with a common goal, coming from a university, industry and a research institute can work together and benefit, while creating a positive impact globally. </p>
