MERLIN: The Franco-German mission to perform innovative spaceborne LIDAR measurements of atmospheric methane

Matthias Alpers; Peter Bartsch; Philippe Bousquet; Gerhard Ehret; Achim Friker; Philippe Landiech; Gilles Rougier; Inés Usandizaga

doi:10.1051/epjconf/202636208005

Open Access

Issue		EPJ Web Conf. Volume 362, 2026 31^st International Laser Radar Conference (ILRC 31) Held Together with the 22^nd Coherent Laser Radar Conference (CLRC 22)


Article Number		08005
Number of page(s)		4
Section		Current and Future Space Lidar Missions
DOI		https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202636208005
Published online		09 April 2026

EPJ Web of Conferences 362, 08005 (2026)
https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202636208005

MERLIN: The Franco-German mission to perform innovative spaceborne LIDAR measurements of atmospheric methane

Matthias Alpers^(a), Peter Bartsch^(b), Philippe Bousquet^(c), Gerhard Ehret^(d), Achim Friker^(a), Philippe Landiech^(e), Gilles Rougier^(f) and Inés Usandizaga^(a)

^(a) DLR, German Space Agency, Bonn, Germany
^(b) Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Ottobrunn, Germany
^(c) Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (LSCE), Gif sur Yvette, France
^(d) DLR, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Oberpfaffenhofen, Weßling, Germany
^(e) Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES), Toulouse, France
^(f) Airbus Defence and Space SAS, Toulouse, France This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published online: 9 April 2026

Abstract

The MEthane Remote sensing LIDAR missioN (MERLIN) is a joint French and German project, which will demonstrate the first active measurement of atmospheric methane from space. The main scientific objective of MERLIN is the delivery of dry-air mixing ratio columns (XCH4) in the Earth's atmosphere for all latitudes: expected to be launched in 2028/2029, the satellite will provide data throughout the year with unprecedentedly small systematic errors. This will significantly improve surface CH4 flux estimates and the identification of methane sources on global and regional scales. The paper presents the programmatic background of the mission and gives an overview about the advanced status of its development.

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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