Carbon monoxide pollution from cities and urban areas observed by the Terra/MOPITT mission

• Published in: Geophysical research letters Vol. 35; no. 3; pp. L03817 - n/a
• Main Authors: Clerbaux, Cathy, Edwards, David P., Deeter, Merritt, Emmons, Louisa, Lamarque, Jean-François, Tie, Xue Xi, Massie, Steve T., Gille, John
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Geophysical Union 01.02.2008; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics; Atmospheric Composition and Structure; carbon monoxide; composition and chemistry; Constituent sources and sinks; constituent transport and chemistry; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Evolution of the atmosphere; Exact sciences and technology; Middle atmosphere; MOPITT; Physics; Pollution; urban and regional; carbon monoxide; MOPITT; pollution; atmosphere; Terra satellite; sensitivity analysis; plumes; boundary layer; concentration; transport; urban areas; troposphere; Polar orbiting satellite; Temperature gradient
• ISSN: 0094-8276; 1944-8007
• DOI: 10.1029/2007GL032300

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.