Dataset Information

Wintertime CO₂, CH₄, and CO Emissions Estimation for the Washington, DC-Baltimore Metropolitan Area Using an Inverse Modeling Technique.

ABSTRACT: Since greenhouse gas mitigation efforts are mostly being implemented in cities, the ability to quantify emission trends for urban environments is of paramount importance. However, previous aircraft work has indicated large daily variability in the results. Here we use measurements of CO₂, CH₄, and CO from aircraft over 5 days within an inverse model to estimate emissions from the DC-Baltimore region. Results show good agreement with previous estimates in the area for all three gases. However, aliasing caused by irregular spatiotemporal sampling of emissions is shown to significantly impact both the emissions estimates and their variability. Extensive sensitivity tests allow us to quantify the contributions of different sources of variability and indicate that daily variability in posterior emissions estimates is larger than the uncertainty attributed to the method itself (i.e., 17% for CO₂, 24% for CH₄, and 13% for CO). Analysis of hourly reported emissions from power plants and traffic counts shows that 97% of the daily variability in posterior emissions estimates is explained by accounting for the sampling in time and space of sources that have large hourly variability and, thus, caution must be taken in properly interpreting variability that is caused by irregular spatiotemporal sampling conditions.

SUBMITTER: Lopez-Coto I

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7261234 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Wintertime CO2, CH4, and CO Emissions Estimation for the Washington, DC-Baltimore Metropolitan Area Using an Inverse Modeling Technique.

Lopez-Coto Israel I Ren Xinrong X Salmon Olivia E OE Karion Anna A Shepson Paul B PB Dickerson Russell R RR Stein Ariel A Prasad Kuldeep K Whetstone James R JR

Environmental science & technology 20200221 5

Since greenhouse gas mitigation efforts are mostly being implemented in cities, the ability to quantify emission trends for urban environments is of paramount importance. However, previous aircraft work has indicated large daily variability in the results. Here we use measurements of CO2, CH4, and CO from aircraft over 5 days within an inverse model to estimate emissions from the DC-Baltimore region. Results show good agreement with previous estimates in the area for all th ...[more]

PMID: 32045524

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Project description:BackgroundCities contribute more than 70% of global anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and are leading the effort to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through sustainable planning and development. However, urban greenhouse gas mitigation often relies on self-reported emissions estimates that may be incomplete and unverifiable via atmospheric monitoring of GHGs. We present the Hestia Scope 1 fossil fuel CO2 (FFCO2) emissions for the city of Baltimore, Maryland-a gridded annual and hourly emissions data product for 2010 through 2015 (Hestia-Baltimore v1.6). We also compare the Hestia-Baltimore emissions to overlapping Scope 1 FFCO2 emissions in Baltimore's self-reported inventory for 2014.ResultsThe Hestia-Baltimore emissions in 2014 totaled 1487.3 kt C (95% confidence interval of 1158.9-1944.9 kt C), with the largest emissions coming from onroad (34.2% of total city emissions), commercial (19.9%), residential (19.0%), and industrial (11.8%) sectors. Scope 1 electricity production and marine shipping were each generally less than 10% of the city's total emissions. Baltimore's self-reported Scope 1 FFCO2 emissions included onroad, natural gas consumption in buildings, and some electricity generating facilities within city limits. The self-reported Scope 1 FFCO2 total of 1182.6 kt C was similar to the sum of matching emission sectors and fuels in Hestia-Baltimore v1.6. However, 20.5% of Hestia-Baltimore's emissions were in sectors and fuels that were not included in the self-reported inventory. Petroleum use in buildings were omitted and all Scope 1 emissions from industrial point sources, marine shipping, nonroad vehicles, rail, and aircraft were categorically excluded.ConclusionsThe omission of petroleum combustion in buildings and categorical exclusions of several sectors resulted in an underestimate of total Scope 1 FFCO2 emissions in Baltimore's self-reported inventory. Accurate Scope 1 FFCO2 emissions, along with Scope 2 and 3 emissions, are needed to inform effective urban policymaking for system-wide GHG mitigation. We emphasize the need for comprehensive Scope 1 emissions estimates for emissions verification and measuring progress towards Scope 1 GHG mitigation goals using atmospheric monitoring.

Dataset Information

Wintertime CO₂, CH₄, and CO Emissions Estimation for the Washington, DC-Baltimore Metropolitan Area Using an Inverse Modeling Technique.

Publications

Wintertime CO<sub>2</sub>, CH<sub>4</sub>, and CO Emissions Estimation for the Washington, DC-Baltimore Metropolitan Area Using an Inverse Modeling Technique.

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