Abstract

The identification and quantification of greenhouse gas emissions from urban centers are becoming of more interest. Recent measurements indicate that urban emissions are a significant source of Methane (CH₄) and in fact may be substantially higher than current inventory estimates¹. As such urban emissions could contribute 7-15% to the global anthropogenic budget of methane. Although it is known that the per capita carbon footprint of compact cities such as New York City, Boston, and San Francisco are smaller than sprawling cities such as Houston, the strengths of individual sources within these cities are not well known. Such information is of use to government policy makers because it can be used to incentivize changes in transportation and land use patterns.

© 2011 Optical Society of America