Comparing Near-Simultaneous OCO-3 and EMIT Observations of CO2 Point
Sources from the ISS
Abstract
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from combustion sources are uncertain in
many places across the globe. Here, we estimate CO2 emission rates from
a small number of collocated observations from the Orbiting Carbon
Observatory-3 (OCO-3) and the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source
Investigation (EMIT), both onboard the International Space Station
(ISS). These near-simultaneous measurements allow for an unprecedented
comparison of two unique space-based CO2 sensors over both isolated
coal-fired power plants and multi-source scenes in China. We estimate
CO2 emission rates using integrated mass enhancement and a Gaussian
plume model. Where validation data is available, 15 of the 19 estimated
emission rates have errors less than 37%. For the multi-source scenes,
EMIT can estimate emissions from individual facilities but its aggregate
emissions are 33% lower than OCO-3, likely because it cannot detect
small sources or diffuse emissions. OCO-3, with its excellent precision,
may better constrain CO2 emissions over the entire scene.