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Johannes Kaiser

Senior Scientist

+47 63 89 81 50

+47 462 86 509

Atmosphere and Climate

Kjeller

jkai@nilu.no

Johannes Kaiser

Dr Johannes Kaiser started working at NILU’s Department for Atmosphere and Climate as a senior scientist in 2023. He has over 25 years of experience with satellite-based remote sensing of fires and atmospheric composition, as well as data assimilation, inversion and climate monitoring.

Kaiser has been the lead developer of the Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS) of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) during 2007-2019 and from 2022 onwards. During his career, he has also built a Research Group on fire emissions at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (MPIC) in Mainz, Germany. He managed the operational activities of the EUMETSAT Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring (CM SAF) for the German national weather service (DWD) and run the scientific consultancy “SatFire Kaiser”.

He founded the Interdisciplinary Biomass Burning Activity (IBBI) for IGAC, WMO and iLEAPS in 2012, and he is currently a member of the Scientific Steering Committee of for IGAC Global Emissions Initiative (GEIA). He has also worked for ECMWF, King’s College London and the Universities of Zurich and Bremen.

Kaiser has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles with an h-index of 45 on Scopus. He has a PhD in Atmospheric Physics and Remote Sensing from the University of Bremen, Germany, and a Diploma (equiv. MSc) in Astrophysics from the Technical University of Berlin, Germany.

Johannes Kaiser has 31 publications at NILU:

Arctic and Northern Latitude Peat and Non-peat Wildfire Aerosols During 2018-2024

Stebel, Kerstin; Schneider, Philipp; Kaiser, Johannes; Aun, Margit

2025

Poster

HTAP3 Fires: towards a multi-model, multi-pollutant study of fire impacts

Whaley, Cynthia H.; Butler, Tim; adame, Jose A.; Ambulkar, Rupal; Arnold, Steve R.; Bucholz, Rebecca; Gaubert, Benjamin; Hamilton, Douglas S.; Huang, Min; Hung, Hayley; Kaiser, Johannes; Kaminski, Jacek W.; Knote, Christoph; Koren, Gerbrand; Kouassi, Jean-Luc; Lin, Meiyun; Liu, Tianjia; Ma, Jianmin; Manomaiphiboon, Kasemsan; Masso, Elise Bergas; McCarty, Jessica L.; Mertens, Mariano; Parrington, Mark; Peiro, Helene; Saxena, Pallavi; Sonwani, Saurabh; Surapipith, Vanisa; Tan, Damaris Y. T.; Tang, Wenfu; Tanpipat, Veerachai; Tsigaridis, Kostas; Wiedinmyer, Christine; Wild, Oliver; Xie, Yuanyu; Zuidema, Paquita

2025

Scientific journal publication

Evaluation of fire emissions for HTAP3 with CAMS GFAS and IFS-COMPO

Kaiser, Johannes; Huijnen, Vincent; Remy, Samuel; Ytre-Eide, Martin Album; de Jong, Marc C.; Zheng, Bo; Wiedinmyer, Christine

2025

Lecture

GFAS status

Kaiser, Johannes

2025

Lecture

GFAS4HTAP

Kaiser, Johannes; Huijnen, Vincent; Remy, Samuel; Ytre-Eide, Martin Album; de Jong, Marc C.; Zheng, Bo; Wiedinmyer, Christine

2025

Lecture

2024 Global anomalies of wildfires​

Kaiser, Johannes; Parrington, Mark; Armenteras, Dolors

2025

Lecture

Methane emissions from Australia estimated by inverse analysis using in-situ and Satellite (GOSAT) atmospheric observations

Wang, Fenjuan; Maksyutov, Shamil; Janardanan, Rajesh; Ito, Akihiko; Morino, Isamu; Yoshida, Yukio; Someya, Yu; Tohjima, Yasunori; Kelly, Bryce F. J.; Kaiser, Johannes; Xin, Lan; Mammarella, Ivan; Matsunaga, Tsuneo

2025

Scientific journal publication

Vegetation fire monitoring with satellites in CAMS and beyond

Kaiser, Johannes

2025

Lecture

Biomass burning emission analysis based on MODIS aerosol optical depth and AeroCom multi-model simulations: Implications for model constraints and emission inventories

Petrenko, Mariya; Kahn, Ralph; Chin, Mian; Bauer, Susanne; Bergman, Tommi; Bian, Huisheng; Curci, Gabriele; Johnson, Ben; Kaiser, Johannes; Kipling, Zak; Kokkola, Harri; Liu, Xiaohong; Mezuman, Keren; Mielonen, Tero; Myhre, Gunnar; Pan, Xiaohua; Protonotariou, Anna; Remy, Samuel; Skeie, Ragnhild Bieltvedt; Stier, Philip; Toshihiko, Takemura; Tsigaridis, Kostas; Wang, Hailong; Watson-Parris, Duncan; Zhang, Kai

2025

Scientific journal publication

Burning of woody debris dominates fire emissions in the Amazon and Cerrado

Forkel, Matthias; Wessollek, Christine; Huijnen, Vincent; Andela, Niels; de Laat, Adrianus; Kinalczyk, Daniel; Marrs, Christopher; van Wees, Dave; Bastos, Ana; Ciais, Philippe; Fawcett, Dominic; Kaiser, Johannes; Klauberg, Carine; Kutchartt, Erico; Leite, Rodrigo V.; Li, Wei; Silva, Carlos; Sitch, Stephen; De Souza, Jefferson Goncalves; Zaehle, Sönke; Plummer, Stephen

2025

Scientific journal publication

Indian Land Carbon Sink Estimated from Surface and GOSAT Observations

Nayagam, Lorna Raja; Maksyutov, Shamil; Janardanan, Rajesh; Oda, Tomohiro; Tiwari, Yogesh K.; Sreenivas, Gaddamidi; Datye, Amey; Jain, Chaithanya D.; Ratnam, Madineni Venkat; Sinha, Vinayak; Hakkim, Haseeb; Terao, Yukio; Naja, Manish; Ahmed, Md. Kawser; Mukai, Hitoshi; Zeng, Jiye; Kaiser, Johannes; Someya, Yu; Yoshida, Yukio

2025

Scientific journal publication

Sentinel and Copernicus powered Arctic Wildfire Knowledge System “Arctic Peat-And Forest-fire Information System”

Stebel, Kerstin; Eckhardt, Sabine; Evangeliou, Nikolaos; Kaiser, Johannes; Schneider, Philipp; Sollum, Espen; Aun, Margit; George, Jan-Peter

2024

Lecture

The Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS) & Peat fire emissions

Kaiser, Johannes; Stebel, Kerstin; Schneider, Philipp

2024

Lecture

Arctic peat fire emissions estimated from satellite observations of fire radiative power

Kaiser, Johannes; Stebel, Kerstin; Schneider, Philipp; Huijnen, Vincent

2024

Lecture

Assessing regional CO2 emissions by global high-resolution inverse model constrained by surface and satellite observations

Nayagam, Lorna Raja; Maksyutov, Shamil; Oda, Tomohiro; Achari, Rajesh Janardanan; Yoshida, Yukio; Kaiser, Johannes; Matsunaga, Tsuneo

2024

Poster

Skogbrann herjer i California: – Ikke sjans til å slukke

Kaiser, Johannes (interview subject); Tangen, Eivind (journalist)

2024

Media contribution

Skogbranner raser i Canada og Russland: – Venter mer ekstreme brannutslipp

Kaiser, Johannes (interview subject); Knežević, Milana (journalist)

2024

Media contribution

Skogbrannene herjer i Europa – Natasha sitter klar til å rømme med 35 hester

Kaiser, Johannes (interview subject); Rotbakken-Gundersen, Amund; Thommessen, Julia Kirsebom; Knežević, Milana (journalists)

2024

Media contribution

Findings from Biomass Burning Field Campaigns Set Directions for 2 Future Research on Atmospheric Impacts

Barsanti, Kelley C.; Brown, Steven S.; Fischer, Emily V.; Kaiser, Johannes; Stockwell, Chelsea E.; Thompson, Chelsea; Warneke, Carsten; Yokelson, Robert

2024

Journal publication

State of the Climate in 2023 : Global Climate

Dunn, Robert J.H.; Blannin, Josh; Gobron, Nadine; Miller, John B.; Willett, Kate M.; Ades, Melanie; Adler, Robert; Alexe, Mihai; Allan, Richard P.; Anderson, John; Anneville, Orlane; Aono, Yasuyuki; Arguez, Anthony; Armenteras Pasqual, Dolors; Arosio, Carlo; Asher, Elizabeth; Augustine, John A.; Azorin-Molina, Cesar; Baez-Villanueva, Oscar M.; Barichivich, J.; Beck, Hylke E.; Bellouin, Nicolas; Benedetti, Angela; Blenkinsop, Stephen; Bock, Olivier; Bodin, Xavier; Bonte, Olivier; Bosilovich, Michael G.; Boucher, Olivier; Buehler, Stefan A.; Byrne, Michael P.; Campos, Diego; Cappucci, Fabrizio; Carrea, Laura; Chang, Kai-Lan; Christiansen, Hanne H; Christy, John R.; Chung, Eui-Seok; Ciasto, Laura M.; Clingan, Scott; Coldewey-Egbers, Melanie; Cooper, Owen R.; Cornes, Richard C.; Covey, Curt; Crétaux, Jean-Francois; Crimmins, Theresa; Crotwell, Molly; Culpepper, Joshua; Cusicanqui, Diego; Isaksen, Ketil; Kääb, Andreas; Kaiser, Johannes

2024

Scientific journal publication

How to measure vegetation fires from space and estimate emission fluxes?

Kaiser, Johannes

2024

Lecture

Peat fire emissions

Kaiser, Johannes

2024

Lecture

Global Fire Monitoring

Kaiser, Johannes; Liu, Zixia; Di Tomaso, Enza; Parrington, Mark

2024

Lecture

Quantifying subnational CO2 emissions by assimilating regional measurements in a global high-resolution inverse model

Nayagam, Lorna Raja; Maksyutov, Shamil; Oda, Tomohiro; Janardanan, Rajesh; Yoshida, Yukio; Trisolino, Pamela; Zeng, Jiye; Kaiser, Johannes; Matsunaga, Tsuneo

2024

Part of book/report

Climate Monitoring with observations of Fire Radiative Power

Kaiser, Johannes; Parrington, Mark; Di Tomaso, Enza; Liu, Zixia; Stebel, Kerstin; Fjæraa, Ann Mari; Schneider, Philipp

2024

Lecture

A satellite view on wildfire plume aerosols in northern high latitudes in 2023

Stebel, Kerstin; Schneider, Philipp; Kaiser, Johannes; Evangeliou, Nikolaos; Fjæraa, Ann Mari

2024

Poster

Skogbrann herjer i Chile: – Hjerteskjærende å se

Kaiser, Johannes (interview subject); Tangen, Eivind (journalist)

2024

Media contribution

Global Vegetation Fires in 2023 As Seen By GFAS in CAMS

Kaiser, Johannes; Parrington, Mark; Inness, Antje; Flemming, Johannes; Remy, Samuel; Huijnen, Vincent

2024

Lecture

A top-down estimation of subnational CO2 budget using a global high-resolution inverse model with data from regional surface networks

Nayagam, Lorna Raja; Maksyutov, Shamil; Oda, Tomohiro; Janardanan, Rajesh; Trisolino, Pamela; Zeng, Jiye; Kaiser, Johannes; Matsunaga, Tsuneo

2023

Scientific journal publication

Inverse Modeling of Subnational Scale CO2 Emissions Using Data from Denser Surface Observation Networks

Nayagam, Lorna Raja; Maksyutov, Shamil; Oda, Tomohiro; Achari, Rajesh Janardanan; Trisolini, Pamela; Zeng, Jiye; Kaiser, Johannes; Matsunaga, Tsuneo

2023

Poster

Challenges in using EO to characterise vegetation fires in the Global Fire Assimilation System of CAMS

Kaiser, Johannes; Stebel, Kerstin; Tørseth, Kjetil; Parrington, Mark; Di Tomaso, Enza

2023

Lecture

Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service Policy User Support (CAMS Policy User Support)

The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) is funded by the European Union and administered by ECMWF. CAMS is the dedicated service within the Copernicus programme for providing services and data products […]

Project period: 2015 – 2028

Ongoing

Dr Johannes Kaiser started working at NILU’s Department for Atmosphere and Climate as a senior scientist in 2023. He has over 25 years of experience with satellite-based remote sensing of fires and atmospheric composition, as well as data assimilation, inversion and climate monitoring.

Kaiser has been the lead developer of the Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS) of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) during 2007-2019 and from 2022 onwards. During his career, he has also built a Research Group on fire emissions at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (MPIC) in Mainz, Germany. He managed the operational activities of the EUMETSAT Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring (CM SAF) for the German national weather service (DWD) and run the scientific consultancy “SatFire Kaiser”.

He founded the Interdisciplinary Biomass Burning Activity (IBBI) for IGAC, WMO and iLEAPS in 2012, and he is currently a member of the Scientific Steering Committee of for IGAC Global Emissions Initiative (GEIA). He has also worked for ECMWF, King’s College London and the Universities of Zurich and Bremen.

Kaiser has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles with an h-index of 45 on Scopus. He has a PhD in Atmospheric Physics and Remote Sensing from the University of Bremen, Germany, and a Diploma (equiv. MSc) in Astrophysics from the Technical University of Berlin, Germany.

Johannes Kaiser has 31 publications at NILU:

Arctic and Northern Latitude Peat and Non-peat Wildfire Aerosols During 2018-2024

Stebel, Kerstin; Schneider, Philipp; Kaiser, Johannes; Aun, Margit

2025

Poster

HTAP3 Fires: towards a multi-model, multi-pollutant study of fire impacts

Whaley, Cynthia H.; Butler, Tim; adame, Jose A.; Ambulkar, Rupal; Arnold, Steve R.; Bucholz, Rebecca; Gaubert, Benjamin; Hamilton, Douglas S.; Huang, Min; Hung, Hayley; Kaiser, Johannes; Kaminski, Jacek W.; Knote, Christoph; Koren, Gerbrand; Kouassi, Jean-Luc; Lin, Meiyun; Liu, Tianjia; Ma, Jianmin; Manomaiphiboon, Kasemsan; Masso, Elise Bergas; McCarty, Jessica L.; Mertens, Mariano; Parrington, Mark; Peiro, Helene; Saxena, Pallavi; Sonwani, Saurabh; Surapipith, Vanisa; Tan, Damaris Y. T.; Tang, Wenfu; Tanpipat, Veerachai; Tsigaridis, Kostas; Wiedinmyer, Christine; Wild, Oliver; Xie, Yuanyu; Zuidema, Paquita

2025

Scientific journal publication

Evaluation of fire emissions for HTAP3 with CAMS GFAS and IFS-COMPO

Kaiser, Johannes; Huijnen, Vincent; Remy, Samuel; Ytre-Eide, Martin Album; de Jong, Marc C.; Zheng, Bo; Wiedinmyer, Christine

2025

Lecture

GFAS status

Kaiser, Johannes

2025

Lecture

GFAS4HTAP

Kaiser, Johannes; Huijnen, Vincent; Remy, Samuel; Ytre-Eide, Martin Album; de Jong, Marc C.; Zheng, Bo; Wiedinmyer, Christine

2025

Lecture

2024 Global anomalies of wildfires​

Kaiser, Johannes; Parrington, Mark; Armenteras, Dolors

2025

Lecture

Methane emissions from Australia estimated by inverse analysis using in-situ and Satellite (GOSAT) atmospheric observations

Wang, Fenjuan; Maksyutov, Shamil; Janardanan, Rajesh; Ito, Akihiko; Morino, Isamu; Yoshida, Yukio; Someya, Yu; Tohjima, Yasunori; Kelly, Bryce F. J.; Kaiser, Johannes; Xin, Lan; Mammarella, Ivan; Matsunaga, Tsuneo

2025

Scientific journal publication

Vegetation fire monitoring with satellites in CAMS and beyond

Kaiser, Johannes

2025

Lecture

Biomass burning emission analysis based on MODIS aerosol optical depth and AeroCom multi-model simulations: Implications for model constraints and emission inventories

Petrenko, Mariya; Kahn, Ralph; Chin, Mian; Bauer, Susanne; Bergman, Tommi; Bian, Huisheng; Curci, Gabriele; Johnson, Ben; Kaiser, Johannes; Kipling, Zak; Kokkola, Harri; Liu, Xiaohong; Mezuman, Keren; Mielonen, Tero; Myhre, Gunnar; Pan, Xiaohua; Protonotariou, Anna; Remy, Samuel; Skeie, Ragnhild Bieltvedt; Stier, Philip; Toshihiko, Takemura; Tsigaridis, Kostas; Wang, Hailong; Watson-Parris, Duncan; Zhang, Kai

2025

Scientific journal publication

Burning of woody debris dominates fire emissions in the Amazon and Cerrado

Forkel, Matthias; Wessollek, Christine; Huijnen, Vincent; Andela, Niels; de Laat, Adrianus; Kinalczyk, Daniel; Marrs, Christopher; van Wees, Dave; Bastos, Ana; Ciais, Philippe; Fawcett, Dominic; Kaiser, Johannes; Klauberg, Carine; Kutchartt, Erico; Leite, Rodrigo V.; Li, Wei; Silva, Carlos; Sitch, Stephen; De Souza, Jefferson Goncalves; Zaehle, Sönke; Plummer, Stephen

2025

Scientific journal publication

Indian Land Carbon Sink Estimated from Surface and GOSAT Observations

Nayagam, Lorna Raja; Maksyutov, Shamil; Janardanan, Rajesh; Oda, Tomohiro; Tiwari, Yogesh K.; Sreenivas, Gaddamidi; Datye, Amey; Jain, Chaithanya D.; Ratnam, Madineni Venkat; Sinha, Vinayak; Hakkim, Haseeb; Terao, Yukio; Naja, Manish; Ahmed, Md. Kawser; Mukai, Hitoshi; Zeng, Jiye; Kaiser, Johannes; Someya, Yu; Yoshida, Yukio

2025

Scientific journal publication

Sentinel and Copernicus powered Arctic Wildfire Knowledge System “Arctic Peat-And Forest-fire Information System”

Stebel, Kerstin; Eckhardt, Sabine; Evangeliou, Nikolaos; Kaiser, Johannes; Schneider, Philipp; Sollum, Espen; Aun, Margit; George, Jan-Peter

2024

Lecture

The Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS) & Peat fire emissions

Kaiser, Johannes; Stebel, Kerstin; Schneider, Philipp

2024

Lecture

Arctic peat fire emissions estimated from satellite observations of fire radiative power

Kaiser, Johannes; Stebel, Kerstin; Schneider, Philipp; Huijnen, Vincent

2024

Lecture

Assessing regional CO2 emissions by global high-resolution inverse model constrained by surface and satellite observations

Nayagam, Lorna Raja; Maksyutov, Shamil; Oda, Tomohiro; Achari, Rajesh Janardanan; Yoshida, Yukio; Kaiser, Johannes; Matsunaga, Tsuneo

2024

Poster

Skogbrann herjer i California: – Ikke sjans til å slukke

Kaiser, Johannes (interview subject); Tangen, Eivind (journalist)

2024

Media contribution

Skogbranner raser i Canada og Russland: – Venter mer ekstreme brannutslipp

Kaiser, Johannes (interview subject); Knežević, Milana (journalist)

2024

Media contribution

Skogbrannene herjer i Europa – Natasha sitter klar til å rømme med 35 hester

Kaiser, Johannes (interview subject); Rotbakken-Gundersen, Amund; Thommessen, Julia Kirsebom; Knežević, Milana (journalists)

2024

Media contribution

Findings from Biomass Burning Field Campaigns Set Directions for 2 Future Research on Atmospheric Impacts

Barsanti, Kelley C.; Brown, Steven S.; Fischer, Emily V.; Kaiser, Johannes; Stockwell, Chelsea E.; Thompson, Chelsea; Warneke, Carsten; Yokelson, Robert

2024

Journal publication

State of the Climate in 2023 : Global Climate

Dunn, Robert J.H.; Blannin, Josh; Gobron, Nadine; Miller, John B.; Willett, Kate M.; Ades, Melanie; Adler, Robert; Alexe, Mihai; Allan, Richard P.; Anderson, John; Anneville, Orlane; Aono, Yasuyuki; Arguez, Anthony; Armenteras Pasqual, Dolors; Arosio, Carlo; Asher, Elizabeth; Augustine, John A.; Azorin-Molina, Cesar; Baez-Villanueva, Oscar M.; Barichivich, J.; Beck, Hylke E.; Bellouin, Nicolas; Benedetti, Angela; Blenkinsop, Stephen; Bock, Olivier; Bodin, Xavier; Bonte, Olivier; Bosilovich, Michael G.; Boucher, Olivier; Buehler, Stefan A.; Byrne, Michael P.; Campos, Diego; Cappucci, Fabrizio; Carrea, Laura; Chang, Kai-Lan; Christiansen, Hanne H; Christy, John R.; Chung, Eui-Seok; Ciasto, Laura M.; Clingan, Scott; Coldewey-Egbers, Melanie; Cooper, Owen R.; Cornes, Richard C.; Covey, Curt; Crétaux, Jean-Francois; Crimmins, Theresa; Crotwell, Molly; Culpepper, Joshua; Cusicanqui, Diego; Isaksen, Ketil; Kääb, Andreas; Kaiser, Johannes

2024

Scientific journal publication

How to measure vegetation fires from space and estimate emission fluxes?

Kaiser, Johannes

2024

Lecture

Peat fire emissions

Kaiser, Johannes

2024

Lecture

Global Fire Monitoring

Kaiser, Johannes; Liu, Zixia; Di Tomaso, Enza; Parrington, Mark

2024

Lecture

Quantifying subnational CO2 emissions by assimilating regional measurements in a global high-resolution inverse model

Nayagam, Lorna Raja; Maksyutov, Shamil; Oda, Tomohiro; Janardanan, Rajesh; Yoshida, Yukio; Trisolino, Pamela; Zeng, Jiye; Kaiser, Johannes; Matsunaga, Tsuneo

2024

Part of book/report

Climate Monitoring with observations of Fire Radiative Power

Kaiser, Johannes; Parrington, Mark; Di Tomaso, Enza; Liu, Zixia; Stebel, Kerstin; Fjæraa, Ann Mari; Schneider, Philipp

2024

Lecture

A satellite view on wildfire plume aerosols in northern high latitudes in 2023

Stebel, Kerstin; Schneider, Philipp; Kaiser, Johannes; Evangeliou, Nikolaos; Fjæraa, Ann Mari

2024

Poster

Skogbrann herjer i Chile: – Hjerteskjærende å se

Kaiser, Johannes (interview subject); Tangen, Eivind (journalist)

2024

Media contribution

Global Vegetation Fires in 2023 As Seen By GFAS in CAMS

Kaiser, Johannes; Parrington, Mark; Inness, Antje; Flemming, Johannes; Remy, Samuel; Huijnen, Vincent

2024

Lecture

A top-down estimation of subnational CO2 budget using a global high-resolution inverse model with data from regional surface networks

Nayagam, Lorna Raja; Maksyutov, Shamil; Oda, Tomohiro; Janardanan, Rajesh; Trisolino, Pamela; Zeng, Jiye; Kaiser, Johannes; Matsunaga, Tsuneo

2023

Scientific journal publication

Inverse Modeling of Subnational Scale CO2 Emissions Using Data from Denser Surface Observation Networks

Nayagam, Lorna Raja; Maksyutov, Shamil; Oda, Tomohiro; Achari, Rajesh Janardanan; Trisolini, Pamela; Zeng, Jiye; Kaiser, Johannes; Matsunaga, Tsuneo

2023

Poster

Challenges in using EO to characterise vegetation fires in the Global Fire Assimilation System of CAMS

Kaiser, Johannes; Stebel, Kerstin; Tørseth, Kjetil; Parrington, Mark; Di Tomaso, Enza

2023

Lecture

Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service Policy User Support (CAMS Policy User Support)

The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) is funded by the European Union and administered by ECMWF. CAMS is the dedicated service within the Copernicus programme for providing services and data products […]

Project period: 2015 – 2028

Ongoing