Large CO2 Emitters as Seen From Satellite: Comparison to a Gridded Global Emission Inventory

Using the multiyear archive of the two Orbiting Carbon Observatories (OCO) of NASA, we have retrieved large fossil fuel CO2 emissions (larger than 1.0 ktCO(2) h(-1) per 10(-2) square degree grid cell) over the globe with a simple plume cross-sectional inversion approach. We have compared our results with a global gridded and hourly inventory. The corresponding OCO emission retrievals explain more than one third of the inventory variance at the corresponding cells and hours. We have binned the data at diverse time scales from the year (with OCO-2) to the average morning and afternoon (with OCO-3). We see consistent variations of the median emissions, indicating that the retrieval-inventory differences (with standard deviations of a few tens of percent) are mostly random and that trends can be calculated robustly in areas of favorable observing conditions, when the future satellite CO2 imagers provide an order of magnitude more data.

Automated summary

Using NASA's OCO satellites, we have retrieved large-scale fossil fuel CO2 emissions globally and compared them with a global inventory. The OCO emission retrievals explain more than one third of the inventory variance and show consistent variations in emission levels across different time scales. This suggests that the retrieval-inventory differences are mostly random and trends can be calculated reliably in areas with favorable observing conditions.