Canada's Impact on the Global-Scale and Urban-Scale Carbon Cycle

加拿大对全球范围和城市范围碳循环的影响

• 批准号: RGPIN-2016-06548
• 负责人: Wunch, Debra
• 金额: $ 2.11万
• 依托单位: University of Toronto
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=616380
• 关键词: Canada; Impact; Global; Scale; Urban

The carbon cycle describes the flow of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, between the atmosphere, oceans and land, and is one of the key mechanisms by which the Earth sustains life. It is well understood that the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere raises global temperatures and adversely impacts the biogeochemistry of the planet. About 70% of the global greenhouse gas emissions originate from urban regions, and about half of what is emitted into the atmosphere remains there: the rest is removed by the land and the oceans. Long-term, frequent, high-quality atmospheric measurements of carbon cycle-relevant gases are the key to further our scientific understanding the carbon cycle. My research program will focus on the study of the Boreal forest and urban carbon cycles. My group will develop and analyse atmospheric measurements of carbon-cycle relevant gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, from highly accurate and precise ground-based instruments. We will focus on the interactions between climate and the Canadian Boreal forest, one of the most important biospheric regions for the global carbon cycle. The Boreal forest is the region most sensitive in the world to changing temperatures, and its ability to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere under changing climate conditions is poorly understood. Despite its importance, there are few systematic measurements of carbon-cycle relevant gases in the Boreal forest. We will fill that measurement gap by building and maintaining a long-term monitoring station in the Canadian Boreal forest at East Trout Lake, Saskatchewan, which will measure atmospheric column abundances of carbon dioxide, methane, carbon monoxide, and other trace gases. On urban scales, monitoring greenhouse gas emissions is important to independently evaluate the estimates reported by government agencies. Emissions from urban regions are arguably more easily controlled than rural or natural emissions, thus locating their sources is essential to curbing those emissions. More than 80% of Canadians live in urban regions, and therefore quantifying and attributing emission sources of greenhouse gases and other pollutants within cities is particularly important for evaluating the emissions inventories of Canada. We will build and maintain a mobile carbon monitoring station in Toronto, develop methods of calculating and verifying emissions of methane and other greenhouse gases, and locate large sources of emissions within the city. We will use the measurements from both the Boreal and urban monitoring stations to provide “ground-truth” for satellites measuring atmospheric greenhouse gases: the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) and the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-2), and for the satellites planned for launch in the next few years. Together, these studies will result in new insights into Canada’s impacts on the carbon cycle.

碳循环描述了二氧化碳（一种温室气体）在大气、海洋和陆地之间的流动，是地球维持生命的关键机制之一。众所周知，向大气层排放二氧化碳和其他温室气体会使全球气温升高，并对地球的地球化学产生不利影响。全球约70%的温室气体排放来自城市地区，排放到大气中的温室气体约有一半留在那里：其余的被陆地和海洋吸收。对碳循环相关气体进行长期、频繁、高质量的大气测量是进一步科学理解碳循环的关键。 我的研究计划将集中在北方森林和城市碳循环的研究。我的小组将开发和分析碳循环相关气体的大气测量，如二氧化碳和甲烷，从高度准确和精确的地面仪器。 我们将重点关注气候与加拿大北方森林之间的相互作用，这是全球碳循环最重要的生物圈区域之一。北方森林是世界上对温度变化最敏感的地区，人们对它在不断变化的气候条件下从大气中清除二氧化碳的能力知之甚少。尽管它的重要性，有几个系统的测量碳循环相关的气体在北方森林。我们将通过在萨斯喀彻温省东鳟鱼湖的加拿大北方森林建立和维护一个长期监测站来填补这一测量空白，该监测站将测量二氧化碳、甲烷、一氧化碳和其他痕量气体的大气柱丰度。 在城市范围内，监测温室气体排放量对于独立评估政府机构报告的估计数非常重要。城市地区的排放可以说比农村或自然排放更容易控制，因此确定其来源对于遏制这些排放至关重要。超过80%的加拿大人生活在城市地区，因此量化和归因于城市内温室气体和其他污染物的排放源对于评估加拿大的排放清单尤为重要。我们将在多伦多建立和维护一个移动的碳监测站，开发计算和核实甲烷和其他温室气体排放的方法，并确定城市内的大型排放源。 我们将利用北方和城市监测站的测量结果，为测量大气温室气体的卫星提供“地面实况”：温室气体观测卫星和轨道碳观测卫星，并为计划在今后几年发射的卫星提供“地面实况”。总之，这些研究将导致加拿大对碳循环的影响的新见解。