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Comparing GOSAT observations of localized CO 2 enhancements by large emitters with inventory‐based estimates
Author(s) -
Janardanan Rajesh,
Maksyutov Shamil,
Oda Tomohiro,
Saito Makoto,
Kaiser Johannes W.,
Ganshin Alexander,
Stohl Andreas,
Matsunaga Tsuneo,
Yoshida Yukio,
Yokota Tatsuya
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2016gl067843
Subject(s) - environmental science , greenhouse gas , satellite , atmospheric sciences , megacity , mixing ratio , footprint , east asia , emission inventory , climatology , meteorology , physics , geology , geography , china , air quality index , paleontology , oceanography , economy , archaeology , astronomy , economics
We employed an atmospheric transport model to attribute column‐averaged CO 2 mixing ratios ( X CO2 ) observed by Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite (GOSAT) to emissions due to large sources such as megacities and power plants. X CO2 enhancements estimated from observations were compared to model simulations implemented at the spatial resolution of the satellite observation footprint (0.1° × 0.1°). We found that the simulated X CO2 enhancements agree with the observed over several continental regions across the globe, for example, for North America with an observation to simulation ratio of 1.05 ± 0.38 ( p < 0.1), but with a larger ratio over East Asia (1.22 ± 0.32; p < 0.05). The obtained observation‐model discrepancy (22%) for East Asia is comparable to the uncertainties in Chinese emission inventories (~15%) suggested by recent reports. Our results suggest that by increasing the number of observations around emission sources, satellite instruments like GOSAT can provide a tool for detecting biases in reported emission inventories.