Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Atmospheric CO along the Trans-Siberian Railroad and River Ob: source identification using isotope analysis

  • Published:
Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The concentration, radiocarbon (14C) and stable isotope (13C and 18O) content of CO have been determined in air samples collected across Russia (about 8,500 km) and along the Ob river during the summer of 1999 to study the CO sources and sinks. An instrumented carriage on the Trans-Siberian railway and a boat on the river Ob were used as atmospheric measurement platforms. In general, CO mixing ratios, CO stable isotope ratios, as well as the abundances of 14CO over West Siberia were similar to those found at remote northern hemispheric baseline monitoring stations. Identified sources of CO along the Ob appear to be connected to methane oxidation based on an inferred δ13Csource = −36.8 ± 0.6‰, while the value for δ18Osource = 9.0 ± 1.6‰ identifies it as burning. Thus flaring in the oil and gas production can be supposed to be a source. The extreme 13C depletion and concomitant 18O enrichment for two of the boat samples unambiguously indicates contamination by CO from combustion of natural gas (inferred values δ13Csource = −40.3‰ and δ18Osource = 17.5‰). For these two samples, that have strongly elevated 14CO concentrations, the industrial area near Tomsk is identified as a source area using meteorological calculations. Along the Trans-Siberian Railroad background CO was to various degrees contaminated with CO from methane combustion (δ13Csource = −35.7 ± 6.2‰ and δ18Osource = 10.3 ± 1.8‰). The impact of industrial burning was discernable in the vicinity of Perm-Kungur.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bergamaschi, P., Brenninkmeijer, C.A.M., Hahn, M., Röckmann, T., Scharffe, D.H., Crutzen, P.J., Elansky, N.F., Belikov, I.B., Trivett, N.B.A., Worthy, D.E.J.: Isotope analysis based source identification for atmospheric CH4 and CO sampled across Russia using the Trans-Siberian railroad. J. Geophys. Res. 103(D7), 8227–8235 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brenninkmeijer, C.A.M.: Measurement of the abundance of 14CO in the atmosphere and the 13C/12C and 18O/16O ratio of atmospheric CO with applications in New Zealand and Antarctica. J. Geophys. Res. 98(D6), 10595–10614 (1993)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brenninkmeijer, C.A.M., Röckmann, T., Bräunlich, M., Jöckel, P., Bergamaschi, P.: Review of progress in isotope studies of atmospheric carbon monoxide. Chemosphere, Glob. Chang. Sci. 1(1–3), 33–52 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brenninkmeijer, C.A.M., Koeppel, K., Röckmann, T., Scharffe, D.S., Bräunlich, M., Gros, V.: Absolute measurement of the abundance of atmospheric carbon monoxide. J. Geophys. Res. 106(D9), 10003–10010 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brenninkmeijer, C.A.M., Janssen, C., Kaiser, J., Röckmann, T., Rhee, T.S., Assonov, S.S.: Isotope effects in the chemistry of atmospheric trace gases. Chem. Rev. 103, 5125–5162 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crutzen, P.J., Elansky, N.F., Hahn, M., Golitsyn, G.S., Brenninkmeijer, C.A.M., Scharffe, D., Belikov, I.B., Maiss, M., Bergamaschi, P., Röckmann, T., Grisenko, A.M., Sevostyanov, V.M.: Trace gas measurements between Moscow and Vladivostok using the Trans-Siberian Railroad. J. Atmos. Chem. 29(2), 179–194 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crutzen, P.J., Golitsyn, G.S., Elansky, N.F., Brenninkmeijer, C.A.M., Scharffe, D.H., Belikov, I.B., Elokhov, A.S.: Observations of trace gases in the atmosphere in Russia using a railroad wagon laboratory (in Russian). Dokl. Ross. Akad. Nauk. 350, 1–5 (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  • de Laat, A.T.J., Gloudemans, A.M.S., Schrijver, H., van den Broek, M.M.P., Meirink, J.F., Aben, I., Krol, M.: Quantitative analysis of SCIAMACHY carbon monoxide total column measurements. Geophys. Res. Letters 33, (2006), doi:10.1029/2005GL025530

  • Deeter, M.N., Emmons, L.K., Edwards, D.P., Gille, J.C., Drummond J.R.: Vertical resolution and information content of CO profiles retrieved by MOPITT. Geophys. Res. Letters 31, (2004), doi:10.1029/2004GL020235

  • Granier, C., Artaxo, P., Reeves, C.E. (eds.): Emissions of atmospheric trace compounds. In: Advances in Global Change Research Series, vol. 18, pp. 376–397. Kluwer, Norwell, MA (2004)

  • Gros, V., Jöckel, P., Brenninkmeijer, C.A.M., Röckmann, T., Meinhardt, F., Graul R.: Characterization of pollution events observed at Schauinsland, Germany, using CO and its stable isotopes. Atmos. Environ. 36(17), 2831–2840 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kato, S., Akimoto, H., Röckmann, T., Bräunlich, M., Brenninkmeijer C.A.M.: Stable isotopic compositions of carbon monoxide from biomass burning experiments. Atmos. Environ. 33(27), 4357–4362 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kato, S., Kajii, Y., Akimoto, H., Bräunlich, M., Röckmann, T., Brenninkmeijer, C.A.M.: Observed and modeled seasonal variation of 13C, 18O, and 14C of atmospheric CO at Happo, a remote site in Japan, and a comparison with other records. J. Geophys. Res. 105(D7), 8891–8900 (2000), doi:10.1029/1999JD901144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Novelli, P.C., Masarie, K.A., Lang, P.M., Hall, B.D., Myers, R.C., Elkins, J.W.: Reanalysis of tropospheric CO trends: effects of the 1997–1998 wildfires. J. Geophys. Res. 108(D15), 4464 (2003), doi:10.1029/2002JD003031

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oberlander, E.A., Brenninkmeijer, C.A.M., Crutzen, P.J., Elansky, N.F., Golitsyn, G.S., Granberg, I.G., Scharffe, D.H., Hofman, R., Belikov, I.B., Paretzke, H.G., van Velthoven, P.: Trace gas measurements along the Trans-Siberian railroad, the Troica 5 expedition. J. Geophys. Res. 107(D14) (2002), doi:10.1029/2001JD000953

  • Pfister, G., Pe´tron, G., Emmons, L.K., Gille, J.C., Edwards, D.P., Lamarque, J.-F., Attie, J.-L., Granier, C., Novelli P.C.: Evaluation of CO simulations and the analysis of the CO budget for Europe. J. Geophys. Res. 109(D19304) (2004), doi:10.1029/2004JD004691

  • Röckmann, T., Brenninkmeijer, C.A.M.: CO and CO2 isotopic composition in Spitsbergen during the 1995 ARCTOC campaign. Tellus 49B, 455–465 (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  • Röckmann, T., Brenninkmeijer, C.A.M., Saueressig, G., Bergamaschi, P., Crowley, J., Fischer, H., Crutzen, P.J.: Mass independent fractionation of oxygen isotopes in atmospheric CO due to the reaction CO + OH. Science 281, 544–546 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Röckmann, T., Brenninkmeijer, C.A.M., Hahn, M., Elansky, N.F.: CO mixing and isotope ratios across Russia; Trans-Siberian Railroad Expedition TROICA 3, April 1997. Chemosphere, Glob. Chang. Sci. 1, 219–231 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Röckmann, T., Jöckel, P., Gros, V., Bräunlich, M., Possnert, G., Brenninkmeijer, C.A.M.: Using 14C, 13C, 18O and 17O isotopic variations to provide insights into the high northern latitude surface CO inventory. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 2, 147–159 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rom, W., Brenninkmeijer, C.A.M., Bräunlich, M., Golser, R., Mandl, M., Kaiser, A., Kutschera, W., Priller, A., Puchegger, S., Röckmann, T., Steier, P.: A detailed 2-year record of atmospheric 14CO in the temperate northern hemisphere. Nucl. Instr. and Meth. B 161–163, 780–785 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sofiev, M., Atlaskin E.: An example of application of data assimilation technique and adjoint dispersion modelling to an inverse dispersion problem based on the ETEX experiment. In Air Polution Modelling and its Applications XVII (in press.), also in pre-prints of 27-th Int. Technical Meeting on Air Pollution Modelling and its Applications, Banff, 23–30.10.2004, Canada, 405–412 (2004)

  • Sofiev, M., Siljamo, P., Valkama, I., Ilvonen, M., Kukkonen, J.: A dispersion modelling system SILAM and its evaluation against ETEX data. Atmosph. Environ. 40, 674–685 (2006), doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2005.09.069.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soja, A.J., Cofer, W.R., Shugart, H.H., Sukhinin, A.I., Stackhouse, Jr., P.W., McRae, D.J., Conard S.G.: Estimating fire emissions and disparities in boreal Siberia (1998–2002). J. Geophys. Res. 109(D14S06) (2004), doi:10.1029/2004JD004570

  • Tarasova, O.A., Brenninkmeijer, C.A.M., Elansky, N.F., Kuznetsov, G.I., Assonov, S.S.: Investigation of carbon monoxide variability over Russia on the basis of TROICA experiment data. Atmos. Oceanic Opt. 18(5–6), 459–463 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  • Tarasova, O.A., Brenninkmeijer, C.A.M., Assonov, S.S., Elansky, N.F., Roeckmannd, T., Brass, M.: Atmospheric CH4 along the Trans-Siberian railroad (TROICA)and river Ob: Source identification using stable isotope analysis. Atmosph.Environ. 40(2), 5617–5628 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, C., Prinn R.G.: Impact of emissions, chemistry and climate on atmospheric carbon monoxide: 100-yr predictions from a global chemistry-climate model. Chemosphere, Glob. Chang. Sci. 1(1–3), 73–81 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the staff of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Russia and Dr. Igor B. Belikov in particular for their technical support and carrying out these successful expeditions, Dr. Eva Oberlander for preliminary work on the paper, Dr. Patrick Jöckel and Dr. Peter Zimmermann, Max-Planck-Institute for Chemistry, Germany, for providing graphical support and creating the TROICA homepage (http://www.troica-environmental.com). We also thank the International Science and Technology Centre of the EU (Projects No 2773 and 2770), the Volkswagen Foundation, Eon-Ruhrgas AG, the European Commission (Marie-Curie IIF project N 039905-FP6-2005-Mobility-7) and Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project 06-05-64427) for financial support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Atmosphere Physics Department, Moscow State University, Lebedeva str., 2, 119992, Moscow, Russia

    O. A. Tarasova

  2. Atmospheric Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Joh-Joachim-Becher-Weg 27, 55128, Mainz, Germany

    O. A. Tarasova, C. A. M. Brenninkmeijer & S. S. Assonov

  3. Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pyzhevsky per. 3, 109017, Moscow, Russia

    N. F. Elansky

  4. Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht, Utrecht University, Princetonplein 5, 3508 TA, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    T. Röckmann

  5. Atmospheric Physics Department, Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany

    T. Röckmann

  6. Finnish Meteorological Institute, Erik Palminen Aukio 1, 00560, Helsinki, Finland

    M. A. Sofiev

Authors
  1. O. A. Tarasova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. C. A. M. Brenninkmeijer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. S. S. Assonov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. N. F. Elansky
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. T. Röckmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. M. A. Sofiev
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to O. A. Tarasova.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Tarasova, O.A., Brenninkmeijer, C.A.M., Assonov, S.S. et al. Atmospheric CO along the Trans-Siberian Railroad and River Ob: source identification using isotope analysis. J Atmos Chem 57, 135–152 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10874-007-9066-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10874-007-9066-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation