CO2 variability in the Mexico City region from in situ measurements at an urban and a background site

Fuente: Redalyc
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Eugenia González del Castillo
Format: Artículo científico
Language:en
Published: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1876467275054186496
author Eugenia González del Castillo
author_facet Eugenia González del Castillo
contents CO2 variability in the Mexico City region from in situ measurements at an urban and a background site Eugenia González del Castillo Noémie Taquet Alejandro Bezanilla Wolfgang Stremme Michel Ramonet Olivier Laurent Yang Xu Marc Delmotte Michel Grutter Biología Long Mexico City term trends Carbon dioxide Urban pollution Urban areas are important contributors to the increase of global CO2 levels due to human activities, but continuous records of CO2 concentration in cities are scarce, especially in the developing world. In this study we present five years of simultaneous, in-situ measurements at a university campus in the south of Mexico City (UNAM) and at a high-altitude station, the Altzomoni atmospheric observatory (ALTZ), 60 km apart from the first site. The characteristics of the daily cycles, seasonality, and long-term trends were extracted from both time series. The features of the daily and seasonal cycles at UNAM are dominated by the dynamics of the boundary layer growth, while the seasonality at Altzomoni is determined by both the local meteorology and the photosynthetic activity of the vegetation. Annual CO2 growth rates of 2.4 and 2.6 ppm yr–1 were estimated for UNAM and Altzomoni, respectively, in close agreement with reported global growth rates and with previous estimates of total column CO2 trends. The simultaneous monitoring at the urban and the mountain sites revealed a regular exchange of air masses between the city and its vicinities. The annual cycle at UNAM shows a secondary CO2 maximum at the end of the dry season, the source of which is yet to be determined, but likely due to incoming air parcels enriched with emissions from agricultural burnings. Likewise, the daily CO2 cycle at ALTZ during the dry season shows evidence of a daily afternoon arrival of polluted air masses from the neighboring urban areas. This study lays the foundation of an upcoming expansion in the CO2 measurement sites and capabilities in the metropolitan area of Mexico City. 2022 artículo científico 0187-6236 https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=56581609010 https://www.redalyc.org/journal/565/56581609010/ https://www.redalyc.org/journal/565/56581609010/html/ https://www.redalyc.org/journal/565/56581609010/56581609010.epub https://www.redalyc.org/journal/565/56581609010/movil 10.20937/ATM.52956 en http://www.redalyc.org/revista.oa?id=565 Atmósfera application/pdf Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Atmósfera (México) Num.2 Vol.35
format Artículo científico
id redalyc_56581609010
institution Redalyc
language en
publishDate 2022
publisher Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
spellingShingle CO2 variability in the Mexico City region from in situ measurements at an urban and a background site
Eugenia González del Castillo
Biología
Long
Mexico City
term trends
Carbon dioxide
Urban pollution
CO2 variability in the Mexico City region from in situ measurements at an urban and a background site Eugenia González del Castillo Noémie Taquet Alejandro Bezanilla Wolfgang Stremme Michel Ramonet Olivier Laurent Yang Xu Marc Delmotte Michel Grutter Biología Long Mexico City term trends Carbon dioxide Urban pollution Urban areas are important contributors to the increase of global CO2 levels due to human activities, but continuous records of CO2 concentration in cities are scarce, especially in the developing world. In this study we present five years of simultaneous, in-situ measurements at a university campus in the south of Mexico City (UNAM) and at a high-altitude station, the Altzomoni atmospheric observatory (ALTZ), 60 km apart from the first site. The characteristics of the daily cycles, seasonality, and long-term trends were extracted from both time series. The features of the daily and seasonal cycles at UNAM are dominated by the dynamics of the boundary layer growth, while the seasonality at Altzomoni is determined by both the local meteorology and the photosynthetic activity of the vegetation. Annual CO2 growth rates of 2.4 and 2.6 ppm yr–1 were estimated for UNAM and Altzomoni, respectively, in close agreement with reported global growth rates and with previous estimates of total column CO2 trends. The simultaneous monitoring at the urban and the mountain sites revealed a regular exchange of air masses between the city and its vicinities. The annual cycle at UNAM shows a secondary CO2 maximum at the end of the dry season, the source of which is yet to be determined, but likely due to incoming air parcels enriched with emissions from agricultural burnings. Likewise, the daily CO2 cycle at ALTZ during the dry season shows evidence of a daily afternoon arrival of polluted air masses from the neighboring urban areas. This study lays the foundation of an upcoming expansion in the CO2 measurement sites and capabilities in the metropolitan area of Mexico City. 2022 artículo científico 0187-6236 https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=56581609010 https://www.redalyc.org/journal/565/56581609010/ https://www.redalyc.org/journal/565/56581609010/html/ https://www.redalyc.org/journal/565/56581609010/56581609010.epub https://www.redalyc.org/journal/565/56581609010/movil 10.20937/ATM.52956 en http://www.redalyc.org/revista.oa?id=565 Atmósfera application/pdf Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Atmósfera (México) Num.2 Vol.35
title CO2 variability in the Mexico City region from in situ measurements at an urban and a background site
topic Biología
Long
Mexico City
term trends
Carbon dioxide
Urban pollution
url https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=56581609010
https://www.redalyc.org/journal/565/56581609010/
https://www.redalyc.org/journal/565/56581609010/html/
https://www.redalyc.org/journal/565/56581609010/56581609010.epub
https://www.redalyc.org/journal/565/56581609010/movil