On the diurnal, weekly, and seasonal cycles and annual trends in atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> at Mount Zugspitze, Germany, during 1981–2016

Abstract

Abstract. A continuous, 36-year measurement composite of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) at three measurement locations on Mount Zugspitze, Germany, was studied. For a comprehensive site characterization of Mount Zugspitze, analyses of CO2 weekly periodicity and diurnal cycle were performed to provide evidence for local sources and sinks, showing clear weekday to weekend differences, with dominantly higher CO2 levels during the daytime on weekdays. A case study of atmospheric trace gases (CO and NO) and the passenger numbers to the summit indicate that CO2 sources close by did not result from tourist activities but instead obviously from anthropogenic pollution in the near vicinity. Such analysis of local effects is an indispensable requirement for selecting representative data at orographic complex measurement sites. The CO2 trend and seasonality were then analyzed by background data selection and decomposition of the long-term time series into trend and seasonal components. The mean CO2 annual growth rate over the 36-year period at Zugspitze is 1.8±0.4 ppm yr−1, which is in good agreement with Mauna Loa station and global means. The peak-to-trough amplitude of the mean CO2 seasonal cycle is 12.4±0.6 ppm at Mount Zugspitze (after data selection: 10.5±0.5 ppm), which is much lower than at nearby measurement sites at Mount Wank (15.9±1.5 ppm) and Schauinsland (15.9±1.0 ppm), but following a similar seasonal pattern.

Continuous atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub>, CH<sub>4</sub> and CO measurements at the OPE station in France from 2011 to 2018

“…This is in agreement with the Mauna Loa global station rate which is also 2.4 ppm/year on average for the period 2011-2018. It is stronger than the growth rate reported for Zugspitze mountain site: 1.8ppm /year, for 1981-2016 (Yuan et al, 2019), as well as Cabauw: 2.0 ppm/year, over 2005-2009(Vermeulen et al, 2011.…”

Comparison of Continuous In-Situ CO2 Measurements with Co-Located Column-Averaged XCO2 TCCON/Satellite Observations and CarbonTracker Model Over the Zugspitze Region

“…The complete and validated CO 2 time-series has been available since 2002, and thus was used here as CO 2_INSITU_ ZSF . For more detailed information regarding the site and experimental instruments, we refer the reader to Yuan et al [22].…”

Assessment of Urban CO2 Measurement and Source Attribution in Munich Based on TDLAS-WMS and Trajectory Analysis

“…They found that CO 2 concentrations on workdays were slightly higher with later peak values during the day compared to weekends and that the results correlated with traffic volume. From the workday-to-weekend differences, we can confirm that daily anthropogenic activities augment the CO 2 concentration in the city center [4]. The analyses above focused on the temporal variability of the measured CO 2 concentrations.…”

“…Therefore, it is crucial to study the anthropogenic CO 2 emissions in the urban areas. In Germany, continuous observations have been performed to measure atmospheric CO 2 for decades [2][3][4]. However, these sites are always located in rural areas or high mountains, exhibiting lesser impacts from local pollution, and thus, cannot detect the urban emissions directly.…”