Micrometeorological measurements of the urban heat budget and CO2 emissions on a city scale

Nemitz, Eiko ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1765-6298; Hargreaves, Kenneth J.; McDonald, Alan G.; Dorsey, James R.; Fowler, David. 2002 Micrometeorological measurements of the urban heat budget and CO2 emissions on a city scale. Environmental Science & Technology, 36 (14). 3139-3146. https://doi.org/10.1021/es010277e

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Abstract/Summary

Direct measurements of urban CO2 emissions and heat fluxes are presented, made using the eddy covariance technique. The measurements were made from the top of a tower, approximately 65 m above the street level of Edinburgh, Scotland, and the fluxes are representative of footprint source areas of several square kilometers. The application of a stationarity test and spectral analysis techniques shows that, at this height, the stationarity criterion for eddy covariance is fulfilled for wind directions from the city center for 93% of the time, while for other wind directions this declines to 59%, demonstrating that pollutant fluxes from urban areas can be measured. The average CO2 emission from the city center was 26 mol m-2 s-1 (10 kt of C km-2 yr-1), with typical daytime peaks of 50-75 and nighttime values of 10 mol m-2 s-1. The correlation between CO2 emission and traffic flow is highly significant, while residential and institutional heating with natural gas are estimated to contribute about 39% to the emissions during the day and 64% at night. An analysis of the energy budget shows that, during the autumn, fossil fuel combustion within the city contributed one-third of the daily anthropogenic energy input of 3.8 MJ m-2 d-1, with the remainder coming from other energy sources, dominated by electricity. Conversely, the total energy input in late spring (May/June) was found to be approximately half this value.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1021/es010277e
Programmes:	CEH Programmes pre-2009 publications > Biogeochemistry > BG01 Measuring and modelling trace gas, aerosol and carbon
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	_ Atmospheric Sciences Billett (to November 2013)
ISSN:	0013-936X
NORA Subject Terms:	Meteorology and Climatology Ecology and Environment Atmospheric Sciences
Date made live:	11 Aug 2008 10:02 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/3641

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