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Exploring the influence of land use on the urban carbonyl sulfide budget: a case study of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona
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  • Carme Estruch,
  • Sauveur Belviso,
  • Alba Badia,
  • Veronica Vidal,
  • Roger Curcoll,
  • Mireia Udina,
  • Claudia Grossi,
  • Josep-Anton Morguí,
  • Ricard Segura,
  • Sergi Ventura,
  • Yolanda Sola,
  • Gara Villalba
Carme Estruch
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
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Sauveur Belviso
LSCE
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Alba Badia
Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals
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Veronica Vidal
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
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Roger Curcoll
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
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Mireia Udina
University of Barcelona
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Claudia Grossi
Instituto Catalàn de Ciencias del Clima
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Josep-Anton Morguí
Climate Research Laboratory, Science Park in Barcelona
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Ricard Segura
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
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Sergi Ventura
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
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Yolanda Sola
University of Barcelona
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Gara Villalba
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Abstract

Carbonyl sulfide (OCS) is used to quantify the carbon capture potential of the biosphere because of its direct correlation with CO2 uptake during photosynthesis. However, to constrain the urban biosphere signal, it is necessary to evaluate potential anthropogenic sources. We conducted two sampling campaigns in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB), Spain, during May (full COVID lockdown) and October 2020 to measure the spatial distribution and variability of OCS in four urban land uses as follows: built, urban forest, urban park, and peri-urban agriculture. The OCS background levels determined at Tibidabo (442 m asl) were approximately 484 ±20 ppt and 407 ±8 ppt for May and October 2020, respectively, and agreed with other seasonal surveys conducted in Europe during that same period. The urban values ranged from neutral to above background, suggesting nearby anthropogenic and marine emissions such as +D150 ppt in Montjuic, which is downwind of Barcelona’s harbor. During the crop-growing season in May, the agricultural areas consistently showed values below the background (uptake) at 7:00 UTC when the land breezes were dominant, while later in the morning, when the sea breeze are developed, the plant sink is masked by the transport of marine emissions. Urban forests located north of Tibidabo showed OCS values up to -D70 ppt, suggesting significant uptake by urban forests. We conclude that determining the urban biosphere signal using OCS as a tracer is more complex than expected because the marine and anthropogenic emissions from the port strongly impact the spatial-temporal distribution of OCS.
27 Jun 2023Submitted to ESS Open Archive
08 Jul 2023Published in ESS Open Archive