Black Carbon Emissions Generally Underestimated in the Global South as Revealed by Globally Distributed Measurements
| Published | 17 February 2025 |
|---|---|
| Journal | Research Square |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
| DOI | 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6024974/v1 |
Open access (green)
Carbonaceous aerosols: black carbon and brown carbon Source apportionment and emission sources
Abstract
Characterization of black carbon (BC) on a fine scale across the world is essential for understanding its climate and health impacts. However, a paucity of BC mass measurements in different parts of the world and the coarse scale resolution of global models have inhibited evaluation of global BC emission inventories. Here, we apply a novel dataset of globally distributed BC mass measurements from the Surface Particulate Matter Network (SPARTAN) and complementary measurement networks to evaluate contemporary BC emission inventories. We use a global chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) in its high-performance configuration (GCHP) for high-resolution simulations to relate BC emissions to ambient concentrations for comparison with the measurements. Simulations using the Community Emissions Data System (CEDS) emission inventory exhibit skill (r2 = 0.73) in representing variability in SPARTAN measurements across primarily developed regions with low BC concentrations but exhibit pronounced discrepancy (r2 = 0.00019) across regions with high BC concentrations in the Global South. The model underestimates BC at most Global South sites with a normalized mean bias of -38%. Alternative inventories (EDGAR, HTAP) yield similar results. These findings motivate renewed attention to the challenging task of characterizing BC emissions from developing regions.
Abstract © the authors, published under a CC BY licence.
Cite this
Yuxuan Ren, Christopher Oxford, Dandan Zhang, Xuan Liu, Haihui Zhu, Ann Dillner, Warren White, Rajan Chakrabarty, Sina Hasheminassab, DJ Diner, Emmie Le Roy, Joshin Kumar, Valerie Viteri, Keyao Song, Clement Akoshile, Omar Amador-Muñoz, Araya Asfaw, Rachel Chang, Diana Francis, Paterne Gahungu, Rebecca Garland, Michel Grutter, Jhoon Kim, Kristy Langerman, Pei-Chen Lee, Puji Lestari, Olga Mayol-Bracero, Mogesh Naidoo, Narendra Nelli, Norman O'Neil, Sang Seo Park, Abdus Salam, Bighnaraj Sarangi, Yoav Schechner, Robyn Schofield, Sachchida Tripathi, Eli Windwer, Ming-Tsang Wu, Qiang Zhang, Yinon Rudich, Michael Brauer, Randall V Martin (2025). Black Carbon Emissions Generally Underestimated in the Global South as Revealed by Globally Distributed Measurements. Research Square. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6024974/v1
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