Space‐based observations of megacity carbon dioxide

Eric A. Kort; Christian Frankenberg; Charles E. Miller; Tom Oda

doi:10.1029/2012gl052738

journal article Sep 14, 2012

Space‐based observations of megacity carbon dioxide

Eric A. Kort

Christian Frankenberg

Charles E. Miller

Tom Oda

Geophysical Research Letters Vol. 39 No. 17 · American Geophysical Union (AGU)

View at Publisher Save 10.1029/2012gl052738

Abstract

Urban areas now house more than half the world's population, and are estimated to contribute over 70% of global energy‐related CO2emissions. Many cities have emission reduction policies in place, but lack objective, observation‐based methods for verifying their outcomes. Here we demonstrate the potential of satellite‐borne instruments to provide accurate global monitoring of megacity CO2 emissions using GOSAT observations of column averaged CO2 dry air mole fraction (XCO2) collected over Los Angeles and Mumbai. By differencing observations over the megacity with those in nearby background, we observe robust, statistically significant XCO2 enhancements of 3.2 ± 1.5 ppm for Los Angeles and 2.4 ± 1.2 ppm for Mumbai, and find these enhancements can be exploited to track anthropogenic emission trends over time. We estimate that XCO2 changes as small as 0.7 ppm in Los Angeles, corresponding to a 22% change in emissions, could be detected with GOSAT at the 95% confidence level.

Topics

No keywords indexed for this article. Browse by subject →

References

25

[1]

10.1126/science.1207824

[2]

10.5194/amt‐3‐781‐2010

[3]

10.5194/amtd‐5‐1‐2012

[4]

10.1016/j.atmosenv.2010.05.041

[5]

Draxler R. R. andG. D.Rolph(2012) HYSPLIT (HYbrid Single‐Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory) report Air Resour. Lab. NOAA Silver Spring Md.[Available athttp://ready.arl.noaa.gov/HYSPLIT.php.]

[6]

10.1080/20430779.2011.579356

[7]

Forster P. (2007)

[8]

10.1029/2011gl048738

[9]

Hoornweg D. (2010)

[10]

10.5194/acp‐12‐337‐2012

[11]

10.1016/1352‐2310(95)00015‐q

[12]

10.1021/es901326b

[13]

10.1073/pnas.1116645109

[14]

10.5194/amt‐4‐1061‐2011

[15]

10.5194/acpd‐12‐5771‐2012

[16]

10.5194/amt‐5‐99‐2012

[17]

Pacala S. W. (2010)

[18]

10.1126/science.1201609

[19]

10.1007/s00442‐006‐0656‐0

[20]

10.1016/j.atmosenv.2008.06.040

[21]

10.5194/acp‐8‐3827‐2008

[22]

10.1029/2011jd015693

[23]

Villaraigosa A. R. (2007)

[24]

10.1029/2009gl039825

[25]

10.5194/acp‐11‐12317‐2011

Cited By

197

Daily Cropland Soil NOx Emissions Identified by TROPOMI and SMAP

Daniel E. Huber, Allison L. Steiner · 2020

Geophysical Research Letters

A city-level comparison of fossil-fuel and industry processes-induced CO2 emissions over the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region from eight emission inventories

Pengfei Han, Ning Zeng · 2020

Carbon Balance and Management

Diurnal and Seasonal Variations of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Concentration in Urban, Suburban, and Rural Areas around Tokyo

Ryoichi Imasu, Yuka Tanabe · 2018

Atmosphere

High‐resolution atmospheric inversion of urban CO2 emissions during the dormant season of the Indianapolis Flux Experiment (INFLUX)

Thomas Lauvaux, Natasha L. Miles · 2016

Journal of Geophysical Research: At...

Tracking city CO 2 emissions from space using a high-resolution inverse modelling approach: a case study for Berlin, Germany

Dhanyalekshmi Pillai, Michael Buchwitz · 2016

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics

Climate change: Track urban emissions on a human scale

Kevin Robert Gurney, Paty Romero-Lankao · 2015

Nature

High‐resolution mapping of motor vehicle carbon dioxide emissions

Brian C. McDonald, Zoe C. McBride · 2014

Journal of Geophysical Research: At...

Metrics

197

Citations

25

References

Details

Published: Sep 14, 2012
Vol/Issue: 39(17)
License: View

Authors

E

Eric A. Kort

Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering University of Michigan Ann Arbor MI USA

C

Christian Frankenberg

Cite This Article

Eric A. Kort, Christian Frankenberg, Charles E. Miller, et al. (2012). Space‐based observations of megacity carbon dioxide. Geophysical Research Letters, 39(17). https://doi.org/10.1029/2012gl052738

Space‐based observations of megacity carbon dioxide

You May Also Like