A14F-05
Attribution of urban greenhouse gas fluxes: Does the biosphere in cities matter?
Monday, 14 December 2015: 16:51
3012 (Moscone West)
Lucy Hutyra1, Conor Gately1, Stephen Decina1, Andrew Reinmann1, Pamela H Templer1, Thomas Nehrkorn2 and Steven C Wofsy3, (1)Boston University, Boston, MA, United States, (2)Atmospheric and Environmental Research Lexington, Lexington, MA, United States, (3)Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States
Abstract:
Urban areas are the dominant anthropogenic source of CO2, responsible for ~70% of fossil fuel emissions, representing a heterogeneous mix of stationary sources (buildings, trees) and sources that are constantly moving (people, vehicles) each with its own temporal pattern. This paper quantifies sources and cycles of urban CO2 fluxes, particularly exploring the role of the urban biosphere in understanding and attributing carbon fluxes. The biosphere has a major influence on daily temporal and spatial patterns of CO2 concentrations in urban areas, even though the net flux may be small. Thus, biosphere fluxes must be modeled accurately in order to use urban concentration data to infer emissions. We present the results of both top-down atmospheric inversions and bottom-up estimations, highlighting the importance of spatially and temporally resolved drivers for urban carbon monitoring.
