Estimation of carbon dioxide flux and source partitioning over Beijing, China

The magnitude and partitioning of carbon dioxide emission from the urban area in Beijing, China was estimated based on a statistical approach. Results showed that the urban surface is a net source of CO2 to atmosphere. The main sources of CO2 are vehicles, which accounted for 75.5% and 38.9% of CO2 emission in summer and winter, respectively. At midday in summer, the CO2 uptake of −0.034 mg/(m2·sec) indicated that vegetation is an important sink of CO2 in summer. Comparison between the annual emission rates of CO2 from the statistical approach and that directly measured by the eddy covariance technique implies that a bottom-up emission approach is a viable means to estimate CO2 emission in an urban area.