Munich is home to the world's first fully automated sensor network for measuring urban greenhouse gas emissions based on ground-based remote sensing of the atmosphere.
Munich is home to the world's first fully automated sensor network for measuring urban greenhouse gas emissions based on ground-based remote sensing of the atmosphere. It has been developed by scientists in the group of Jia Chen, Professor of Environmental Sensing and Modeling at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). Now, anyone can view the measurement data via an Internet platform.
The sensor network MUCCnet (Munich Urban Carbon Column network) consists of five high-precision optical instruments that analyze the sun’s light spectra. They measure the concentration of the gases carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and carbon monoxide (CO). Since each gas has its own unique spectral "fingerprint", concentrations of these gases can be determined in the columns of air between the instruments and the sun.
"By measuring a vertical column of the atmosphere, local disturbances, such as the disproportionate influence of neighboring stacks, can be removed. Therefore, this type of greenhouse gas balancing is considered particularly robust and accurate," says Prof. Jia Chen.
Read More: Technical University of Munich
Measuring device of the MUCCnet sensor network set up by Prof. Jia Chen, Chair of Environmental Sensing and Modeling, at the TUM Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) on the roof of a building in Taufkirchen. (Photo Credit: F. Dietrich / TUM)
