Trends of Greenhouse Gases and Air Pollutants

Factors controlling the atmospheric methane concentration and its effects on tropospheric oxidants

Atmospheric methane (CH4) is the second most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. It is also significantly affects the tropospheric oxidants (such as OH and ozone) and then affects the cleansing capability of the atmosphere. Factors controlling the methane concentration and its impacts on tropospheric oxidants are still poorly understood. We are using observations from the surface network and multiple satellite instruments (GOSAT, SCIAMACHY) to examine inter-annual variability of atmospheric methane during 1985-2012.

The figure to the right shows annual CH4 emissions from four emission sectors over Asia for the year 2008 estimated in the bottom-up EDGAR emission inventory (http://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/index.php). We are improving the Asian CH4 emission estimates using inverse modeling approaches.

Atmospheric Chemistry Simulation in the BCC Climate System Model

We are evaluating the atmospheric chemistry simulation in the Beijing Climate Center Climate System Model (BCC CSM).