Observational Evidence of Large Contribution from Primary Sources for Carbon Monoxide in the South Asian Outflow

Sanjeev Dasari; August Andersson; Maria E. Popa; Thomas Röckmann; Henry Holmstrand; Krishnakant Budhavant; Örjan Gustafsson

doi:10.1021/acs.est.1c05486

Observational Evidence of Large Contribution from Primary Sources for Carbon Monoxide in the South Asian Outflow

Sanjeev Dasari, August Andersson^*, Maria E. Popa, Thomas Röckmann, Henry Holmstrand, Krishnakant Budhavant, Örjan Gustafsson

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

South Asian air is among the most polluted in the world, causing premature death of millions and asserting a strong perturbation of the regional climate. A central component is carbon monoxide (CO), which is a key modulator of the oxidizing capacity of the atmosphere and a potent indirect greenhouse gas. While CO concentrations are declining elsewhere, South Asia exhibits an increasing trend for unresolved reasons. In this paper, we use dual-isotope (δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O) fingerprinting of CO intercepted in the South Asian outflow to constrain the relative contributions from primary and secondary CO sources. Results show that combustion-derived primary sources dominate the wintertime continental CO fingerprint (f_primary ∼ 79 ± 4%), significantly higher than the global estimate (f_primary ∼ 55 ± 5%). Satellite-based inventory estimates match isotope-constrained f_primary-CO, suggesting observational convergence in source characterization and a prospect for model–observation reconciliation. This “ground-truthing” emphasizes the pressing need to mitigate incomplete combustion activities for climate/air quality benefits in South Asia.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	165-174
Number of pages	10
Journal	Environmental Science and Technology
Volume	56
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c05486
Publication status	Published - 4 Jan 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Elena Kirillova (Stockholm University) is acknowledged for support during the field campaign. We thank the technicians at MCOH for their support with observatory operations. We especially thank the Maldives Meteorological Services (MMS), the government of the Republic of the Maldives. This work was supported by research grants from the Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development (FORMAS Contract Nos. 942-2015-1061 and 2020-01917), the Swedish Research Council (VR Contract Nos. 2015-03279; 2017-01601, and 2020-05384) and The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO project number 824.14.015).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society

Funding

Elena Kirillova (Stockholm University) is acknowledged for support during the field campaign. We thank the technicians at MCOH for their support with observatory operations. We especially thank the Maldives Meteorological Services (MMS), the government of the Republic of the Maldives. This work was supported by research grants from the Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development (FORMAS Contract Nos. 942-2015-1061 and 2020-01917), the Swedish Research Council (VR Contract Nos. 2015-03279; 2017-01601, and 2020-05384) and The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO project number 824.14.015).

Keywords

air pollution
atmospheric chemistry
incomplete combustion
isotopes
model-observation reconciliation
source apportionment

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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acs.est.1c05486Final published version, 4.47 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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abstract = "South Asian air is among the most polluted in the world, causing premature death of millions and asserting a strong perturbation of the regional climate. A central component is carbon monoxide (CO), which is a key modulator of the oxidizing capacity of the atmosphere and a potent indirect greenhouse gas. While CO concentrations are declining elsewhere, South Asia exhibits an increasing trend for unresolved reasons. In this paper, we use dual-isotope (δ13C and δ18O) fingerprinting of CO intercepted in the South Asian outflow to constrain the relative contributions from primary and secondary CO sources. Results show that combustion-derived primary sources dominate the wintertime continental CO fingerprint (fprimary ∼ 79 ± 4%), significantly higher than the global estimate (fprimary ∼ 55 ± 5%). Satellite-based inventory estimates match isotope-constrained fprimary-CO, suggesting observational convergence in source characterization and a prospect for model–observation reconciliation. This “ground-truthing” emphasizes the pressing need to mitigate incomplete combustion activities for climate/air quality benefits in South Asia.",

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note = "Funding Information: Elena Kirillova (Stockholm University) is acknowledged for support during the field campaign. We thank the technicians at MCOH for their support with observatory operations. We especially thank the Maldives Meteorological Services (MMS), the government of the Republic of the Maldives. This work was supported by research grants from the Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development (FORMAS Contract Nos. 942-2015-1061 and 2020-01917), the Swedish Research Council (VR Contract Nos. 2015-03279; 2017-01601, and 2020-05384) and The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO project number 824.14.015). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society",

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AU - Holmstrand, Henry

AU - Budhavant, Krishnakant

AU - Gustafsson, Örjan

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N2 - South Asian air is among the most polluted in the world, causing premature death of millions and asserting a strong perturbation of the regional climate. A central component is carbon monoxide (CO), which is a key modulator of the oxidizing capacity of the atmosphere and a potent indirect greenhouse gas. While CO concentrations are declining elsewhere, South Asia exhibits an increasing trend for unresolved reasons. In this paper, we use dual-isotope (δ13C and δ18O) fingerprinting of CO intercepted in the South Asian outflow to constrain the relative contributions from primary and secondary CO sources. Results show that combustion-derived primary sources dominate the wintertime continental CO fingerprint (fprimary ∼ 79 ± 4%), significantly higher than the global estimate (fprimary ∼ 55 ± 5%). Satellite-based inventory estimates match isotope-constrained fprimary-CO, suggesting observational convergence in source characterization and a prospect for model–observation reconciliation. This “ground-truthing” emphasizes the pressing need to mitigate incomplete combustion activities for climate/air quality benefits in South Asia.

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Observational Evidence of Large Contribution from Primary Sources for Carbon Monoxide in the South Asian Outflow

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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