Periodical and regional change of particulate matter and CO2 concentration in Misurata

Today, environmental pollution, air pollution in particular, is among the most important problems in the world. Air pollution, which has become a global issue, is estimated to cause the death of around 1 in 8 people worldwide. Due to the significance of air pollution, all components of air pollution are of great importance for human health, and thus the studies on air pollution are highly important, especially in areas with high population density. In this study, it was aimed to determine the regional and periodic change of CO₂ and particulate matter pollution in the city of Misurata, one of the important cities of Libya. The study was conducted in the city centre of Misurata, and the measurements were made once in every three days between November and February at 7 different locations selected in the city centre. As a result of the measurements made, the changes in the pollution parameters were evaluated on the basis of zones and months. As a result of the study, the cleanest areas were found to be the industrial area (B3) located in the east of the city and the zone (B4), where the Al-Swehli farm was located, while the dirtiest areas were found to be the main street (B1 and B2) in the city centre and the city centre, in general. In terms of months, the lowest CO₂ values were obtained in January, and the highest value was in February, whereas the lowest particulate matter values were obtained in January and the highest values in December.

Geological CO2 quantified by high-temporal resolution stable isotope monitoring in a salt mine

The relevance of CO₂ emissions from geological sources to the atmospheric carbon budget is becoming increasingly recognized. Although geogenic gas migration along faults and in volcanic zones is generally well studied, short-term dynamics of diffusive geogenic CO₂ emissions are mostly unknown. While geogenic CO₂ is considered a challenging threat for underground mining operations, mines provide an extraordinary opportunity to observe geogenic degassing and dynamics close to its source. Stable carbon isotope monitoring of CO₂ allows partitioning geogenic from anthropogenic contributions. High temporal-resolution enables the recognition of temporal and interdependent dynamics, easily missed by discrete sampling. Here, data is presented from an active underground salt mine in central Germany, collected on-site utilizing a field-deployed laser isotope spectrometer. Throughout the 34-day measurement period, total CO₂ concentrations varied between 805 ppmV (5th percentile) and 1370 ppmV (95th percentile). With a 400-ppm atmospheric background concentration, an isotope mixing model allows the separation of geogenic (16–27%) from highly dynamic anthropogenic combustion-related contributions (21–54%). The geogenic fraction is inversely correlated to established CO₂ concentrations that were driven by anthropogenic CO₂ emissions within the mine. The described approach is applicable to other environments, including different types of underground mines, natural caves, and soils.

A new perspective of probing the level of pollution in the megacity Delhi affected by crop residue burning using the triple oxygen isotope technique in atmospheric CO2

Air quality in the megacity Delhi is affected not only by local emissions but also by pollutants from crop residue burning in the surrounding areas of the city, particularly the rice straw burning in the post monsoon season. As a major burning product, gaseous CO₂, which is rather inert in the polluted atmosphere, provides an alternative solution to characterize the impact of biomass burning from a new perspective that other common tracers such as particulate matters are limited because of their physical and chemical reactiveness. Here, we report conventional ([CO₂], δ¹³C, and δ¹⁸O) and unconventional (Δ¹⁷O) isotope data for CO₂ collected at Connaught Place (CP), a core area in the megacity Delhi, and two surrounding remote regions during a field campaign in October 18-20, 2017. We also measured the isotopic ratios near a rice straw burning site in Taiwan to constrain their end member isotopic compositions. Rice straw burning produces CO₂ with δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O, and Δ¹⁷O values of -29.02 ± 0.65, 19.63 ± 1.16, and 0.05 ± 0.02‰, respectively. The first two isotopic tracers are less distinguishable from those emitted by fossil fuel combustion but the last one is significantly different. We then utilize these end member isotopic ratios, with emphasis on Δ¹⁷O for the reason given above, for partitioning sources that affect the CO₂ level in Delhi. Anthropogenic fraction of CO₂ at CP ranges from 4 to 40%. Further analysis done by employing a three-component (background, rice straw burning, and fuel combustion) mixing model with constraints from the Δ¹⁷O values yields that rice straw burning contributes as much as ∼70% of the total anthropogenic CO₂, which is more than double of the fossil fuel contribution (∼30%), during the study days.

Atmospheric observation-based estimation of fossil fuel CO2 emissions from regions of central and southern California

Combustion of fossil fuel is the dominant source of greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere in California. Here, we describe radiocarbon (¹⁴CO₂) measurements and atmospheric inverse modeling to estimate fossil fuel CO₂ (ffCO₂) emissions for 2009-2012 from a site in central California, and for June 2013-May 2014 from two sites in southern California. A priori predicted ffCO₂ mixing ratios are computed based on regional atmospheric transport model (WRF-STILT) footprints and an hourly ffCO₂ prior emission map (Vulcan 2.2). Regional inversions using observations from the central California site suggest that emissions from the San Francisco Bay Area (SFBA) are higher in winter and lower in summer. Taking all years together, the average of a total of fifteen 3-month inversions from 2009 to 2012 suggests ffCO₂ emissions from SFBA were within 6 ± 35% of the a priori estimate for that region, where posterior emission uncertainties are reported as 95% confidence intervals. Results for four 3-month inversions using measurements in Los Angeles South Coast Air Basin (SoCAB) during June 2013-May 2014 suggest that emissions in SoCAB are within 13 ± 28% of the a priori estimate for that region, with marginal detection of any seasonality. While emissions from the SFBA and SoCAB urban regions (containing ~50% of prior emissions from California) are constrained by the observations, emissions from the remaining regions are less constrained, suggesting that additional observations will be valuable to more accurately estimate total ffCO₂ emissions from California as a whole.

Distribution of CO2 in Western Pacific, Studied Using Isotope Data Made in Taiwan, OCO-2 Satellite Retrievals, and CarbonTracker Products

To assess sources and processes that affect the variability of CO2 at local to regional scales, we have analyzed the mixing ratio [CO2] and stable isotopic compositions (δ13C and δ18O) of atmospheric CO2 for three years (2014-2016) in urban and sub-urban areas in Taipei, Taiwan. The data are compared with those from some background sites, viz., Lulin, Mauna Loa, and Minamitorishima, to evaluate how local emissions affect CO2 level regionally. [CO2] over the urban and sub-urban stations are significantly higher than that observed at the three aforementioned remote sites mainly due to local emissions, which partly mask the seasonal cycle caused by photosynthesis and respiration. Likewise, significantly low δ13C and δ18O values observed at two Taipei stations also point to anthropogenic emissions. The seasonal cycles in [CO2] and in the isotopic compositions are retrieved using the ensemble empirical mode decomposition method. Regional impact is assessed using CO2 products from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 satellite, the NOAA/EARL CarbonTracker project, and meteorological data from European Centre for Medium range Weather Forecast-Interim. We found that besides local emissions, Taiwan is largely affected by external CO2 in winter and spring originated from north, west and southwest landmasses. In winter air masses with elevated CO2 concentrations, originated in eastern China influence Taipei. In spring season, about 2 ppmv enhancement in CO2 observed at the top of Lulin, a high mountain station (2.8 km), could be linked to CO2 produced by biomass burning in the southeast Asian countries and transported to the region by easterly winds.

Long-term urban carbon dioxide observations reveal spatial and temporal dynamics related to urban characteristics and growth

Cities are concentrated areas of CO2 emissions and have become the foci of policies for mitigation actions. However, atmospheric measurement networks suitable for evaluating urban emissions over time are scarce. Here we present a unique long-term (decadal) record of CO2 mole fractions from five sites across Utah's metropolitan Salt Lake Valley. We examine "excess" CO2 above background conditions resulting from local emissions and meteorological conditions. We ascribe CO2 trends to changes in emissions, since we did not find long-term trends in atmospheric mixing proxies. Three contrasting CO2 trends emerged across urban types: negative trends at a residential-industrial site, positive trends at a site surrounded by rapid suburban growth, and relatively constant CO2 over time at multiple sites in the established, residential, and commercial urban core. Analysis of population within the atmospheric footprints of the different sites reveals approximately equal increases in population influencing the observed CO2, implying a nonlinear relationship with CO2 emissions: Population growth in rural areas that experienced suburban development was associated with increasing emissions while population growth in the developed urban core was associated with stable emissions. Four state-of-the-art global-scale emission inventories also have a nonlinear relationship with population density across the city; however, in contrast to our observations, they all have nearly constant emissions over time. Our results indicate that decadal scale changes in urban CO2 emissions are detectable through monitoring networks and constitute a valuable approach to evaluate emission inventories and studies of urban carbon cycles.

Continuous measurements of stable isotopes of carbon dioxide and water vapour in an urban atmosphere: isotopic variations associated with meteorological conditions

Isotope ratios of carbon dioxide and water vapour in the near-surface air were continuously measured for one month in an urban area of the city of Nagoya in central Japan in September 2010 using laser spectroscopic techniques. During the passages of a typhoon and a stationary front in the observation period, remarkable changes in the isotope ratios of CO₂ and water vapour were observed. The isotope ratios of both CO₂ and water vapour decreased during the typhoon passage. The decreases can be attributed to the air coming from an industrial area and the rainout effects of the typhoon, respectively. During the passage of the stationary front, δ¹³C-CO₂ and δ¹⁸O-CO₂ increased, while δ²H-H₂Ov and δ¹⁸O-H₂Ov decreased. These changes can be attributed to the air coming from rural areas and the air surrounding the observational site changing from a subtropical air mass to a subpolar air mass during the passage of the stationary front. A clear relationship was observed between the isotopic CO₂ and water vapour and the meteorological phenomena. Therefore, isotopic information of CO₂ and H₂Ov could be used as a tracer of meteorological information.

Carbon dioxide and methane measurements from the Los Angeles Megacity Carbon Project - Part 1: calibration, urban enhancements, and uncertainty estimates

We report continuous surface observations of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) from the Los Angeles (LA) Megacity Carbon Project during 2015. We devised a calibration strategy, methods for selection of background air masses, calculation of urban enhancements, and a detailed algorithm for estimating uncertainties in urban-scale CO₂ and CH₄ measurements. These methods are essential for understanding carbon fluxes from the LA megacity and other complex urban environments globally. We estimate background mole fractions entering LA using observations from four "extra-urban" sites including two "marine" sites located south of LA in La Jolla (LJO) and offshore on San Clemente Island (SCI), one "continental" site located in Victorville (VIC), in the high desert northeast of LA, and one "continental/mid-troposphere" site located on Mount Wilson (MWO) in the San Gabriel Mountains. We find that a local marine background can be established to within ~1 ppm CO₂ and ~10 ppb CH₄ using these local measurement sites. Overall, atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane levels are highly variable across Los Angeles. "Urban" and "suburban" sites show moderate to large CO₂ and CH₄ enhancements relative to a marine background estimate. The USC (University of Southern California) site near downtown LA exhibits median hourly enhancements of ~20 ppm CO₂ and ~150 ppb CH₄ during 2015 as well as ~15 ppm CO₂ and ~80 ppb CH₄ during mid-afternoon hours (12:00-16:00 LT, local time), which is the typical period of focus for flux inversions. The estimated measurement uncertainty is typically better than 0.1 ppm CO₂ and 1 ppb CH₄ based on the repeated standard gas measurements from the LA sites during the last 2 years, similar to Andrews et al. (2014). The largest component of the measurement uncertainty is due to the single-point calibration method; however, the uncertainty in the background mole fraction is much larger than the measurement uncertainty. The background uncertainty for the marine background estimate is ~10 and ~15 % of the median mid-afternoon enhancement near downtown LA for CO₂ and CH₄, respectively. Overall, analytical and background uncertainties are small relative to the local CO₂ and CH₄ enhancements; however, our results suggest that reducing the uncertainty to less than 5 % of the median mid-afternoon enhancement will require detailed assessment of the impact of meteorology on background conditions.

Carbon dioxide and methane measurements from the Los Angeles Megacity Carbon Project - Part 1: calibration, urban enhancements, and uncertainty estimates

We report continuous surface observations of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) from the Los Angeles (LA) Megacity Carbon Project during 2015. We devised a calibration strategy, methods for selection of background air masses, calculation of urban enhancements, and a detailed algorithm for estimating uncertainties in urban-scale CO2 and CH4 measurements. These methods are essential for understanding carbon fluxes from the LA megacity and other complex urban environments globally. We estimate background mole fractions entering LA using observations from four "extra-urban" sites including two "marine" sites located south of LA in La Jolla (LJO) and offshore on San Clemente Island (SCI), one "continental" site located in Victorville (VIC), in the high desert northeast of LA, and one "continental/mid-troposphere" site located on Mount Wilson (MWO) in the San Gabriel Mountains. We find that a local marine background can be established to within ~1 ppm CO2 and ~10 ppb CH4 using these local measurement sites. Overall, atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane levels are highly variable across Los Angeles. "Urban" and "suburban" sites show moderate to large CO2 and CH4 enhancements relative to a marine background estimate. The USC (University of Southern California) site near downtown LA exhibits median hourly enhancements of ~20 ppm CO2 and ~150 ppb CH4 during 2015 as well as ~15 ppm CO2 and ~80 ppb CH4 during mid-afternoon hours (12:00-16:00 LT, local time), which is the typical period of focus for flux inversions. The estimated measurement uncertainty is typically better than 0.1 ppm CO2 and 1 ppb CH4 based on the repeated standard gas measurements from the LA sites during the last 2 years, similar to Andrews et al. (2014). The largest component of the measurement uncertainty is due to the single-point calibration method; however, the uncertainty in the background mole fraction is much larger than the measurement uncertainty. The background uncertainty for the marine background estimate is ~10 and ~15 % of the median mid-afternoon enhancement near downtown LA for CO2 and CH4, respectively. Overall, analytical and background uncertainties are small relative to the local CO2 and CH4 enhancements; however, our results suggest that reducing the uncertainty to less than 5 % of the median mid-afternoon enhancement will require detailed assessment of the impact of meteorology on background conditions.

Identification of Anthropogenic CO2 Using Triple Oxygen and Clumped Isotopes

Quantification of contributions from various sources of CO₂ is important for understanding the atmospheric CO₂ budget. Considering the number and diversity of sources and sinks, the widely used proxies such as concentration and conventional isotopic compositions (δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O) are not always sufficient to fully constrain the CO₂ budget. Additional constraints may help in understanding the mechanisms of CO₂ production and consumption. The anomaly in triple oxygen isotopes or ¹⁷O excess (denoted by Δ¹⁷O) and molecules containing two rare isotopes, called clumped isotopes, are two recently developed tracers with potentials to independently constrain some important processes that regulate CO₂ in the atmosphere. The clumped isotope for CO₂, denoted by Δ₄₇, is the excess of ¹³C¹⁶O¹⁸O over a random distribution of isotopes in a CO₂ molecule. We measured the concentrations of δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O, Δ¹⁷O, and Δ₄₇ in air CO₂ samples collected from the Hsuehshan tunnel (length: 12.9 km), and applied linear and polynomial regressions to obtain the fossil fuel end-members for all these isotope proxies. The other end-members, the values of all these proxies for background air CO₂, are either assumed or taken as the values obtained over the tunnel and ocean. The fossil fuel (anthropogenic) CO₂ end-member values for δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O, Δ¹⁷O, and Δ₄₇ are estimated using the two component mixing approach: the derived values are -26.76 ± 0.25‰, 24.57 ± 0.33‰, -0.219 ± 0.021‰, and 0.267 ± 0.036‰, respectively. These four major CO₂ isotope tracers along with the concentration were used to estimate the anthropogenic contribution in the atmospheric CO₂ in urban and suburban locations. We demonstrate that Δ¹⁷O and Δ₄₇ have the potential to independently estimate anthropogenic contribution, and the advantages of these two over the conventional isotope proxies are discussed.

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

Based on a uniquely dense network of surface towers measuring continuously the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs), we developed the first comprehensive monitoring systems of CO₂ emissions at high resolution over the city of Indianapolis. The urban inversion evaluated over the 2012-2013 dormant season showed a statistically significant increase of about 20% (from 4.5 to 5.7 MtC ± 0.23 MtC) compared to the Hestia CO₂ emission estimate, a state-of-the-art building-level emission product. Spatial structures in prior emission errors, mostly undetermined, appeared to affect the spatial pattern in the inverse solution and the total carbon budget over the entire area by up to 15%, while the inverse solution remains fairly insensitive to the CO₂ boundary inflow and to the different prior emissions (i.e., ODIAC). Preceding the surface emission optimization, we improved the atmospheric simulations using a meteorological data assimilation system also informing our Bayesian inversion system through updated observations error variances. Finally, we estimated the uncertainties associated with undetermined parameters using an ensemble of inversions. The total CO₂ emissions based on the ensemble mean and quartiles (5.26-5.91 MtC) were statistically different compared to the prior total emissions (4.1 to 4.5 MtC). Considering the relatively small sensitivity to the different parameters, we conclude that atmospheric inversions are potentially able to constrain the carbon budget of the city, assuming sufficient data to measure the inflow of GHG over the city, but additional information on prior emission error structures are required to determine the spatial structures of urban emissions at high resolution.

Development of a multicopter-carried whole air sampling apparatus and its applications in environmental studies

To advance the capabilities of probing chemical composition aloft, we designed a lightweight remote-controlled whole air sampling component (WASC) and integrated it into a multicopter drone with agile maneuverability to perform aerial whole air sampling. A field mission hovering over an exhaust shaft of a roadway tunnel to collect air samples was performed to demonstrate the applicability of the multicopter-carried WASC apparatus. Ten aerial air samples surrounding the shaft vent were collected by the multicopter-carried WASC. Additional five samples were collected manually inside the shaft for comparison. These samples were then analyzed in the laboratory for the chemical composition of 109 volatile organic compounds (VOCs), CH4, CO, CO2, or CO2 isotopologues. Most of the VOCs in the upwind samples (the least affected by shaft exhaust) were low in concentrations (5.9 ppbv for total 109 VOCs), posting a strong contrast to those in the shaft exhaust (235.8 ppbv for total 109 VOCs). By comparing the aerial samples with the in-shaft samples for chemical compositions, the influence of the shaft exhaust on the surrounding natural air was estimated. Through the aerial measurements, three major advantages of the multicopter-carried WASC were demonstrated: 1. The highly maneuverable multicopter-carried WASC can be readily deployed for three-dimensional environmental studies at a local scale (0-1.5 km); 2. Aerial sampling with superior sample integrity and preservation conditions can now be performed with ease; and 3. Data with spatial resolution for a large array of gaseous species with high precision can be easily obtained.

Oxygen anomaly in near surface carbon dioxide reveals deep stratospheric intrusion

Stratosphere-troposphere exchange could be enhanced by tropopause folding, linked to variability in the subtropical jet stream. Relevant to tropospheric biogeochemistry is irreversible transport from the stratosphere, associated with deep intrusions. Here, oxygen anomalies in near surface air CO₂ are used to study the irreversible transport from the stratosphere, where the triple oxygen isotopes of CO₂ are distinct from those originating from the Earth’s surface. We show that the oxygen anomaly in CO₂ is observable at sea level and the magnitude of the signal increases during the course of our sampling period (September 2013-February 2014), concordant with the strengthening of the subtropical jet system and the East Asia winter monsoon. The trend of the anomaly is found to be 0.1‰/month (R² = 0.6) during the jet development period in October. Implications for utilizing the oxygen anomaly in CO₂ for CO₂ biogeochemical cycle study and stratospheric intrusion flux at the surface are discussed.

Diurnal and seasonal variation of mixing ratio and δ¹³C of air CO₂ observed at an urban station Bangalore, India

We present here observations on diurnal and seasonal variation of mixing ratio and δ(13)C of air CO2, from an urban station-Bangalore (BLR), India, monitored between October 2008 and December 2011. On a diurnal scale, higher mixing ratio with depleted δ(13)C of air CO2 was found for the samples collected during early morning compared to the samples collected during late afternoon. On a seasonal scale, mixing ratio was found to be higher for dry summer months (April-May) and lower for southwest monsoon months (June-July). The maximum enrichment in δ(13)C of air CO2 (-8.04 ± 0.02‰) was seen in October, then δ(13)C started depleting and maximum depletion (-9.31 ± 0.07‰) was observed during dry summer months. Immediately after that an increasing trend in δ(13)C was monitored coincidental with the advancement of southwest monsoon months and maximum enrichment was seen again in October. Although a similar pattern in seasonal variation was observed for the three consecutive years, the dry summer months of 2011 captured distinctly lower amplitude in both the mixing ratio and δ(13)C of air CO2 compared to the dry summer months of 2009 and 2010. This was explained with reduced biomass burning and increased productivity associated with prominent La Nina condition. While compared with the observations from the nearest coastal and open ocean stations-Cabo de Rama (CRI) and Seychelles (SEY), BLR being located within an urban region captured higher amplitude of seasonal variation. The average δ(13)C value of the end member source CO2 was identified based on both diurnal and seasonal scale variation. The δ(13)C value of source CO2 (-24.9 ± 3‰) determined based on diurnal variation was found to differ drastically from the source value (-14.6 ± 0.7‰) identified based on seasonal scale variation. The source CO2 identified based on diurnal variation incorporated both early morning and late afternoon sample; whereas, the source CO2 identified based on seasonal variation included only afternoon samples. Thus, it is evident from the study that sampling timing is one of the important factors while characterizing the composition of end member source CO2 for a particular station. The difference in δ(13)C value of source CO2 obtained based on both diurnal and seasonal variation might be due to possible contribution from cement industry along with fossil fuel / biomass burning as predominant sources for the station along with differential meteorological conditions prevailed.

Enhancement of local air pollution by urban CO(2) domes

Data suggest that domes of high CO(2) levels form over cities. Despite our knowledge of these domes for over a decade, no study has contemplated their effects on air pollution or health. In fact, all air pollution regulations worldwide assume arbitrarily that such domes have no local health impact, and carbon policy proposals, such as "cap and trade", implicitly assume that CO(2) impacts are the same regardless of where emissions occur. Here, it is found through data-evaluated numerical modeling with telescoping domains from the globe to the U.S., California, and Los Angeles, that local CO(2) emissions in isolation may increase local ozone and particulate matter. Although health impacts of such changes are uncertain, they are of concern, and it is estimated that that local CO(2) emissions may increase premature mortality by 50-100 and 300-1000/yr in California and the U.S., respectively. As such, reducing locally emitted CO(2) may reduce local air pollution mortality even if CO(2) in adjacent regions is not controlled. If correct, this result contradicts the basis for air pollution regulations worldwide, none of which considers controlling local CO(2) based on its local health impacts. It also suggests that a "cap and trade" policy should consider the location of CO(2) emissions, as the underlying assumption of the policy is incorrect.