Analysis of long-range transport of carbon dioxide and its high concentration events over East Asian Region using GOSAT Data and GEOS-Chem modeling

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the long-range transport of CO 2 in East Asian region, using concentration data in a surface measurement site (Gosan Station), column averaged concentration data of satellite-borne instrument (GOSAT), and GEOS-Chem modeling results for the period of June 2009 to May 2011. We perform a validation of the data from GOSAT and GEOS-Chem with total column observations (TCCON). The analysis of the long-range transport and high concentration (HC) events using surface/satellite observations and modeling results is conducted. During the HC events, the concentrations in CO 2 and other air pollutants such as SO 2 and CO are higher than that of all episodes. It means that CO 2, known as a globally well-mixed gas, may also act as a fingerprint of human activity with unique regional characteristics like other air pollutants. This comprehensive analysis, in particular with GOSAT CO 2 observation data, shows that CO 2 plume with high concentration can be long-range transported with 1-2 days' duration with regional scale. We can find out with GEOS-Chem tagging simulation that more than 45% of the elevated CO 2 concentration over central/eastern China, Korea, and Japan on high concentration days can be explained by emission sources of East Asia mainland.