Since the advent of the Industrial Age there has been a dramatic increase in the levels of CO2 in our atmosphere that is principally due to the burning of fossil fuels. The CO2 Boundary Layer Profiler is a ground-based prototype Differential Absorption Lidar. DIAL's measurement technique uses the change in signal strength between a wavelength strongly absorbed by CO2 and one not absorbed at all to make range resolved measurements of CO2.

The profiler is designed to make range resolved measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) within the planetary boundary layer from just above the surface to <2000m altitude. It's data will be used to identify and quantify terrestrial sources and sinks for CO2. Sinks are the physical processes that remove CO2 from the atmosphere. This project is part of NASA's Earth Observing System.