Emission characteristics of greenhouse gases and air pollutants in a Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau city using a portable Fourier transform spectrometer and TROPOMI observations

Tu, Qiansi; Hase, Frank; Zhang, Ying; Fang, Jiaxin; Jiang, Yanwu; Li, Xiaofan; Schneider, Matthias; Yang, Zhuolin; Zhang, Xin; Li, Zhengqiang

doi:10.5194/acp-25-17779-2025

Articles | Volume 25, issue 23

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-17779-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-17779-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 25, issue 23

Research article

|

05 Dec 2025

Research article |

| 05 Dec 2025

Emission characteristics of greenhouse gases and air pollutants in a Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau city using a portable Fourier transform spectrometer and TROPOMI observations

Qiansi Tu, Frank Hase, Ying Zhang, Jiaxin Fang, Yanwu Jiang, Xiaofan Li, Matthias Schneider, Zhuolin Yang, Xin Zhang, and Zhengqiang Li

Data sets

TROPOMI Level 2 Methane Total Column products, Version 02 Copernicus Sentinel-5P (processed by ESA) https://doi.org/10.5270/S5P-3lcdqiv

CAMS global greenhouse gas forecasts Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service https://doi.org/10.24381/93910310

CAMS-GLOB-ANT inventory data A. Soulie et al. https://doi.org/10.24380/eets-qd81

Short summary

Understanding greenhouse gas and air pollutant concentrations and emissions characteristics in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau cities remains limited. We present the first CO₂, CH₄ and CO abundances using a portal Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer in Xining. Ground-based data exceeded satellite/model estimates, indicating higher local emissions. Strong CO discrepancies and ∆XCO–∆XCO₂ correlation under easterly winds highlight the value of portable FTIR for urban emission studies.