Refined measurement of pollutants

A researcher at the University of Michigan has developed a method much more accurate and refined existing ones to assess the emissions of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, contributing to climate change. 

The new method, called geostatistical inverse modeling, is the work of Anna Michalak, Department of Space Science, oceanic and atmospheric of the institution and allows to calculate the amounts of carbon are emitted or absorbed in small scales, in regions and even specific countries. 

In contrast, previous models used for half a century, are based on monitoring of CO2 in the air in a large number of sites scattered around the globe, as well as small towers that measure the capture or release of gas from a small area. 

This information, along with inventories of fossil fuel use to calculate the quantities of this gas were released into the atmosphere: about 8 billion tons each year. 

With these processes, investigators obtained a knowledge of sources of carbon enough to understand its variability and make predictions quite accurate. In contrast, according to Michalak, the new tool allows an accuracy never before achieved, "is to determine where it was originally poured the cream in a cup of coffee at half beat," said the researcher. 

"The winds and weather patterns combine CO2 in the atmosphere in the same way they beat the cream stirred into the cup of coffee. As soon as the shaking starts, you lose information about where and when it was added, "he explained. 

Michalak's work, funded by NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy, was presented and discussed during the Congress 175 of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, held in Chicago.