Articles | Volume 26, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-4967-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-4967-2026
Research article
 | 
15 Apr 2026
Research article |  | 15 Apr 2026

14C-based separation of fossil and non-fossil CO2 fluxes in cities using relaxed eddy accumulation: results from tall-tower measurements in Zurich, Paris, and Munich

Ann-Kristin Kunz, Samuel Hammer, Patrick Aigner, Laura Bignotti, Lars Borchardt, Jia Chen, Julian Della Coletta, Lukas Emmenegger, Markus Eritt, Xochilt Gutiérrez, Josh Hashemi, Rainer Hilland, Christopher Holst, Armin Jordan, Natascha Kljun, Richard Kneißl, Changxing Lan, Virgile Legendre, Ingeborg Levin, Benjamin Loubet, Matthias Mauder, Betty Molinier, Susanne Preunkert, Michel Ramonet, Stavros Stagakis, and Andreas Christen

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Cited articles

Aigner, P., Chen, J., Böhm, F., Chariot, M., Emmenegger, L., Frölich, L., Grange, S., Kühbacher, D., Kürzinger, K., Laurent, O., Makowski, M., Rubli, P., Schmitt, A., and Wenzel, A.: ACROPOLIS: Munich urban CO2 sensor network, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 19, 745–773, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-745-2026, 2026. a
Aubinet, M., Feigenwinter, C., Heinesch, B., Laffineur, Q., Papale, D., Reichstein, M., Rinne, J., and van Gorsel, E.: Nighttime Flux Correction, in: Eddy Covariance, edited by: Aubinet, M., Vesala, T., and Papale, D., Springer, Dordrecht, 133–158, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2351-1_5, 2012a. a, b
Aubinet, M., Vesala, T., and Papale, D. (Eds.): Eddy Covariance, Springer, Dordrecht, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2351-1, 2012b. a, b
Bakwin, P. S., Tans, P. P., White, J. W. C., and Andres, R. J.: Determination of the isotopic (13C/12C) discrimination by terrestrial biology from a global network of observations, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 12, 555–562, https://doi.org/10.1029/98GB02265, 1998. a
Bowling, D. R., Delany, A. C., Turnipseed, A. A., Baldocchi, D. D., and Monson, R. K.: Modification of the relaxed eddy accumulation technique to maximize measured scalar mixing ratio differences in updrafts and downdrafts, J. Geophys. Res., 104, 9121–9133, https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JD900013, 1999. a
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We present radiocarbon (14C)-based fossil fuel CO2 fluxes from relaxed eddy accumulation measurements on tall towers in the cities of Zurich, Paris, and Munich. By separating net CO2 fluxes into fossil and non-fossil components, these data reveal significant and variable contributions from human, plant, and soil respiration, as well as point-source emissions. These unique insights into CO2 flux composition offer crucial information for observation-based validation of urban emission estimates.
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