Quantification of greenhouse gas emissions in Thessaloniki

<p><span lang="en-US">Large cities and urban areas are </span><span lang="en-US">major</span><span lang="en-US"> contributor</span><span lang="en-US">s</span><span lang="en-US"> to</span><span lang="en-US"> methane and </span><span lang="en-US">carbon-dioxide</span><span lang="en-US"> emissions. Official </span><span lang="en-US">emission </span><span lang="en-US">inventories are mostly based on a </span><span lang="en-US">bottom</span><span lang="en-US">-</span><span lang="en-US">up</span><span lang="en-US"> approach where </span><span lang="en-US">the emissions are</span><span lang="en-US"> derive</span><span lang="en-US">d</span><span lang="en-US"> from </span><span lang="en-US">activity data, e.g. fossil fuel burning</span><span lang="en-US">. Differen</span><span lang="en-US">ces in</span> <span lang="en-US">the </span><span lang="en-US">reporting processes </span><span lang="en-US">in different countries</span><span lang="en-US"> lead to </span><span lang="en-US">high uncertainties </span><span lang="en-US">in the official inventories.<br /></span><span lang="en-US">The C</span><span lang="en-US">O</span><span lang="en-US">llaborative Carbon Column Network </span><span lang="en-US">(</span><span lang="en-US">COCCON</span><span lang="en-US">) measure</span><span lang="en-US">s</span> <span lang="en-US">greenhouse gases </span><span lang="en-US">using</span><span lang="en-US"> ground-based remote sensing</span><span lang="en-US">.</span> <span lang="en-US">In particular</span><span lang="en-US">, portable Fourier transform infrared spectrometers EM27/SUN</span> <span lang="en-US">are used, which were developed at KIT in cooperation with Bruker. Both stationary measurement</span><span lang="en-US">s</span><span lang="en-US"> over longer periods of time </span><span lang="en-US">as well as</span><span lang="en-US"> time-limited measurement campaigns with several instruments are </span><span lang="en-US">performed</span><span lang="en-US">. In the measurement campaigns, the emissions of </span><span lang="en-US">selected </span><span lang="en-US">cities in Europe </span><span lang="en-US">have been</span><span lang="en-US"> determined in a </span><span lang="en-US">top</span><span lang="en-US">-</span><span lang="en-US">down</span><span lang="en-US"> approach in order to compare them with the results of the official inventories</span><span lang="en-US">.<br /></span>In the presented project, results of a preliminary campaign in Thessaloniki in October 2021 are shown, which will be complemented by a campaign lasting several months in the same location planned for summer 2022.<br />In order to be able to draw more precise conclusions on emissions from the measured volume mixing ratio data, the distribution and dispersion of greenhouse gases will be simulated with the state-of-the-art weather forecast model ICON and the ART extension for aerosols and reactive trace gases developed at KIT. The aim of the project presented here is to improve the evaluation of the measurement campaigns by linking them more directly with simulations of emissions and transport.</p>