Monitoring of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide over Pakistan Using Satellite Dataset

Satellites are an effective source of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) monitoring; however, city-scale monitoring of atmospheric CO2 through space-borne observations is still a challenging task due to the trivial change in atmospheric CO2 concentration compared to its natural variability and background concentration. In this study, we attempted to evaluate the potential of space-based observations to monitor atmospheric CO2 changes at the city scale through simple data-driven analyses. We used the column-averaged dry-air mole fraction of CO2 (XCO2) from the Carbon Observatory 2 (OCO-2) and the anthropogenic CO2 emissions provided by the Open-Data Inventory for Anthropogenic Carbon dioxide (ODIAC) product to explain the scenario of CO2 over 120 districts of Pakistan. To study the anthropogenic CO2 through space-borne observations, XCO2 anomalies (MXCO2) were estimated from OCO-2 retrievals within the spatial boundary of each district, and then the overall spatial distribution pattern of the MXCO2 was analyzed with several datasets including the ODIAC emissions, NO2 tropospheric column, fire locations, cropland, nighttime lights and population density. All the datasets showed a similarity in the spatial distribution pattern. The satellite detected higher CO2 concentrations over the cities located along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) routes. The CPEC is a large-scale trading partnership between Pakistan and China and large-scale development has been carried out along the CPEC routes over the last decade. Furthermore, the cities were ranked based on mean ODIAC emissions and MXCO2 estimates. The satellite-derived estimates showed a good consistency with the ODIAC emissions at higher values; however, deviations between the two datasets were observed at lower values. To further study the relationship of MXCO2 and ODIAC emissions with each other and with some other datasets such as population density and NO2 tropospheric column, statistical analyses were carried out among the datasets. Strong and significant correlations were observed among all the datasets.

Automated summary

In this study, the potential of space-based observations to monitor atmospheric CO2 changes at the city scale in Pakistan was evaluated using satellite data and anthropogenic CO2 emissions. The results showed higher CO2 concentrations in cities located along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) routes. Strong and significant correlations were observed among all the datasets, indicating a relationship between CO2 emissions and other factors such as population density and NO2 tropospheric column.