Inverse Modeling of Tropospheric CO Using Satellite Measurements

The availability of remotely-sensed CO measurements from the MOPITT instrument provides an opportunity to better characterize the spatial and temporal distribution of CO sources. This is especially true for biomass burning emissions given the recent availability of complementary datasets of fire parameters derived using other satellite measurement products. In this study, we present estimates of time-dependent CO sources by region and sector derived from a global synthesis inversion using MOPITT CO column measurements. We present monthly CO emission estimates for April 2000 to March 2001 and focus, in particular, on the seasonal distribution of large-scale biomass burning emissions. A satellite-constrained fire emission product is used as a starting point in the inversion. Our analyses show the combined utility of MOPITT CO measurements and fire emission product in characterizing the spatial and temporal CO biomass burning emissions. Differences between top-down estimates and satellite-constrained fire emission inventories are identified as a first step towards improving the global fire emission product.