Sponsor: National Nature Science Foundation of China (NNSFC)

Headed by. Du Ke

Date: 2011.01-2013.12  

Carbon dioxide (CO2) and black carbon (BC) are considered the two most important pollutants that contribute to global warming. In addition, the emissions of both pollutants are found to be closely related to the formation of urban heat island and exacerbation of the ecological environment at the local and regional scales. In this study, the vertical distribution of CO2 at typical coastal and inland cities will be determined using optical remote sensing technology. The results will be integrated with high resolution GOSAT satellite data to determine ground level CO2 distribution within the city. Remote sensing results will be validated by comparing to the concurrent ground level point measurements and be used to characterize urban CO2 distribution. The results generated from this research will provide a reliable approach for charaterizing CO2 distribution at local and regional scales as well as the contribution of CO2 to the regional thermal environment. The ground level distribution of black carbon will be measured side by side with CO2 monitoring. A one dimentional infrared radiation model will be used to investigate the relative contribution of CO2 and black carbon to the urban thermal environment.