Trace gases in the atmosphere over Russian cities

- Mobile railroad lab collected unique data about atmospheric chemistry over Russia.
- Structure and pollution in ABL over main Russian cities revealed on this base.
- NOx, CO, and CH4 fluxes and integral emissions from large cities assessed.
- Calculated from observations emissions are compared with EDGAR v4.2 inventory data.

Multiyear observational data (obtained at the mobile railroad laboratory in the course of the 1995-2010 TROICA experiments) on the composition and state of the atmosphere were used to study the features of both spatial and temporal variations in the contents of trace gases in the surface air layer over Russian cities. The obtained characteristics of urban air noticeably differ from those obtained at stationary stations. The emission fluxes of NOx, CO, and CH4 and their integral emissions from large cities have been estimated on the basis of observational data obtained at the mobile laboratory. The values of these emission fluxes reflect the state of urban infrastructure. The integral urban emissions of CO depend on the city size and vary from 50 Gg yr−1 for Yaroslavl to 130 Gg yr−1 for Yekaterinburg. For most cities, they agree with the EDGAR v4.2 data within the limits of experimental error. The agreement is worse for the emissions of NOx. The EDGAR v4.2 data on the emissions of CH4 seem to be overestimated.