Satellite observations African cities: carbon monoxide emissions deviate from inventories

Carbon monoxide (CO) is released during incomplete combustion and plays an important role in air pollution. It can also serve as a tracer for CO2, which is difficult to measure directly. Researchers from SRON and TNO are now using satellite data to map local CO emissions from African cities. These turn out to differ from commonly used emission inventories. It means that combustion efficiency estimates should be adjusted.