Understanding the emissions of N2O and CH4 within the Netherlands | Xin Tong

Field / Discipline

• Environmental Science
• GHG Measurements
• Atmospheric Science

Summary

To keep the global temperature rise below 1.5 ℃, it is urgent to reduce the emissions of GHGs. N2O and CH4 are the third and the second most abundant anthropogenically enhanced GHGs after CO2, with a global warming potential of 273 and 30 times that of CO2, respectively. CH4 emission inventories have been reported to be underestimated due to missed and/or underestimated sources in several cities in Europe and many cities in America, while N2O emissions are even rarely studied in urban areas. In addition, the top-down and bottom-up estimates of the N2O and CH4 emissions lack consistency for hot-spot regions, and the reasons behind the gap were poorly understood.

This Ph.D. research aimed to provide top-down estimates of N2O and CH4 emissions utilizing atmospheric measurements and verify the bottom-up inventory estimates with study domains in the Netherlands, where high emissions of N2O and CH4 have been reported. The concentration measurement platforms include mobile vans, aircraft, and a tall tower, giving spatial representativeness from urban to regional scales. The emission estimates are determined by micrometeorological methods, and inverse modeling methods were not involved. Part of this Ph.D. research is under the umbrella of the Ruisdael project.

Supervision by

• Promotor: Huilin Chen Isotope Research — Energy and Sustainability Research Institute Groningen

More information and contact details can be found on the personal profile of Xin Tong.