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Carbon monoxide pollution from cities and urban areas observed by the Terra/MOPITT mission
Author(s) -
Clerbaux Cathy,
Edwards David P.,
Deeter Merritt,
Emmons Louisa,
Lamarque JeanFrançois,
Tie Xue Xi,
Massie Steve T.,
Gille John
Publication year - 2008
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 - 10.1029/2007gl032300
Subject(s) - environmental science , troposphere , pollution , daytime , atmospheric sciences , carbon monoxide , air pollution , atmosphere (unit) , satellite , planetary boundary layer , remote sensing , meteorology , geography , geology , ecology , biochemistry , chemistry , turbulence , organic chemistry , aerospace engineering , engineering , biology , catalysis
Carbon monoxide (CO) is a key species for tracking pollution plumes. The Measurement Of Pollution in The Troposphere (MOPITT) mission onboard the Terra satellite has already provided 7.5 years of CO atmospheric concentration measurements around the globe. Limited sensitivity to the boundary layer is well known to be a weakness of nadir looking thermal infrared sounders. This paper investigates the possibility of using the MOPITT surface measurements to detect CO emitted by cities and urban centers. By selecting the data and averaging them over long time periods, we demonstrate that the CO pollution arising from the large cities and urban areas can be distinguished from the background transported pollution. The more favorable observations are obtained during daytime and at locations where the thermal contrast (temperature gradient) between the surface and lower atmosphere is significant.