Modeling Earth Systems and Environment (2020) 6:301–309

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40808-019-00679-8

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Statistical and synoptical analysis of China’s carbon monoxide

emission and transportation using satellite images
Saadoun Salimi1   · Seyed Asaad Hosseini2 · Zahra Yarmoradi3 · Jabar Rezaei4 · Ali Bayat5

Received: 23 September 2019 / Accepted: 26 October 2019 / Published online: 7 November 2019
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019

Abstract
Air pollution, one of the most hazardous environmental problems in urban space is closely associated with the climate condi-
tions. Today, pollution in the metropolitan has become an important issue which requires the management to provide practical
solutions to improve biological conditions. Thus, recognizing the relationship between synoptic systems and air pollutants
will contribute greatly to solving the environmental issues and for future planning. Hence, the present research was carried
out to analyze the statistical–synoptical aspects of China’s carbon monoxide (CO) emission and transfer during 2016–17.
For this purpose, the number of pollutant days was extracted. Then, the synoptic patterns of pollutant days were analyzed
using satellite images of CO concentration and mean sea level pressure. The results revealed that January and July periods,
respectively, had the highest and lowest amount of CO in low- and high-pressure systems for the transfer of pollutant expan-
sion. Also, based on the results, sub-tropical high pressure (STHP) was the main factor for CO transfer and compression of
the western Pacific to the northern parts of the Pacific and the western coast of North America and Canada. The capability of
absorption of low pressures and transfer of high pressures had a major role in lower atmospheric CO transfer of eastern and
southeastern coasts of Asia to the Pacific Ocean regions. In terms of CO pollution, a correlation of 0.47 was, also, observed
between two regions of China and the Pacific Ocean.

Keywords  The Pacific Ocean · Synoptic analysis · Carbon monoxide · China · Satellite images

Introduction

Air pollution is one of the most environmental destruc-

tive hazards due to metropolitans which has made the life
of cities expensive and even dangerous during the past 4
* Saadoun Salimi decades (Hosseinzade 2004). On one hand, the expansion
Saadun1989@gmail.com of urbanization and high consumption of fossil fuels, and
Seyed Asaad Hosseini on the other hand, changes in the use and development of
Hosseini.asad8@gmail.com industries, have increased the concentration of pollutants
Zahra Yarmoradi in cities. One of the most dangerous actors of these pollut-
Yarmoradi.za@fh.lu.ac.ir ants is CO, i.e., is an odorless, colorless and tasteless gas
Jabar Rezaei that is produced from the partial oxidation of carbon-con-
Kordestan_miyane@yahoo.com taining compounds. The CO is a very toxic gas which has
Ali Bayat been dubbed as an invisible killer. This gas may result in
alibayat86@yahoo.com fatality in both humans and animals in a high concentration.
Entering the respiratory system, the CO combines with red
1
Synoptic Climatology, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran blood cells immediately and causes less oxygen to reach the
2
Climatology, Mohaqheqh Ardabili University, Ardabil, Iran organs, leading to drowsiness and excessive tiredness, mak-
3
Climatology, Lorestan University, Lorestan, Iran ing the person unconscious. The amount of CO depends on
4
Climatology, Zanjan University, Zanjan, Iran combustion conditions. When there is not enough oxygen
5 to produce carbon dioxide (­ CO2), CO is produced during
Climatology, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran

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302
incomplete burning of carbon-containing compounds. Peo-
ple who are exposed to the gas in an enclosed space, at first
feel numbness and drowsiness and if they do not leave the
space instantly or do not breathe fresh air, they will feel suf-
focated, lose consciousness and finally die. Major amounts
of the CO are emitted from the surface of the earth (Andreae
and Merlet 2001). Totally, the source of the CO is either
natural or anthropological. Technologically, CO is caused by
human activities that are chiefly due to incomplete burning
of carbon-containing materials used in vehicles, industries,
factories and household fuels (Schueneman et al. 1963; Von
Oettingen 1944; US Dept of Health, Ed., and Welfare 1960;
Health Service of US, Motor Vehicles, Air Pollution, and
Health 1962; Flury and Zernik 1931) Natural resources,
as a major producer of the CO, have not been thoroughly
investigated particularly in the past (Bates and Witherspoon
1952; Robbins et al. 1968). While some reports suggest that
some of the CO originate from volcanoes, natural gas, coal
resources and partly due to lightning (White 1932; Migeotte
and Neven 1952), and small amounts of the CO are formed
during growth of trees and seed germination of plants, some
are also produced during drying and cutting of trees and
farming (Siegel et al. 1962; Wilks 1959). Many studies have
also shown that, at a depth of 300 m, corals called Siphono-
phores which have pouches in their body, produce CO and
this type of invertebrate has a wide range in seas (Barham
and Wilton 1964; Barham 1963). Also, many believe that
­CO2 decays into CO and oxygen at an altitude of more than
70 km in the atmosphere, where short waves flow below
1700 A, and as a result, CO is produced (Bates and With-
erspoon 1952):
CO2 + hv ⟶ CO + O
If the CO is concentrated over a few weeks to several
months, it can be a good case to study the transmission of
atmospheric pollution and its impacts on the regions (Liang
et al. 2004; Schoeberl et al. 2006) Specifically, in pollutant
studies, it appears that surface pollutants can be transmitted
from the troposphere to the stratosphere and inflicts its own
effects (Chen et al. 2006). Particularly, vast and active trans-
portations have the main role in tropical regions (Liu and
Zipser 2005). Monsoon also plays a major role in the trans-
mission of pollutants from the surface to the stratosphere,
(Li et al. 2005; Randel et al. 2010; Bian et al. 2011). Some
studies were conducted about the distribution and changes
of CO in the tropical troposphere and lower stratosphere
in 2014. Their results showed that there are four CO dense
centers in tropical regions in which two centers are located
in the northern hemisphere and two centers in the southern
hemisphere, respectively. These centers show higher reac-
tions to tropical monsoons and anticyclones. Upper atmos-
phere anticyclones in tropical regions have a great influence
on the transfer of the CO to the middle troposphere and the
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Modeling Earth Systems and Environment (2020) 6:301–309
upper troposphere as well as the lower stratosphere, and con-
sequently, can cause CO concentralization. Also, in south-
east Asia and India, CO is more injected into the atmosphere
through the collision of the winds on both sides of the equa-
tor and deep convections and monsoons in summer (Li et al.
2014). In the troposphere of the northern hemisphere, CO
concentration generally decreases as altitude increases, but
in the southern hemisphere, it is inverse due to the trans-
port of CO from the northern hemisphere to the southern
hemisphere. Above the tropopause, the concentrations are
drastically reduced, so that CO is less between altitudes
20–40 km. At the highest altitudes, the mixing ratio may
increase again (Seiler and Junge 1969; Seiler and Warneck
1972; Fabian et al. 1981).
In the southern Atlantic Ocean, some studies have also
been conducted to measure the amount of CO in the water
and atmosphere, whose results revealed that in the ITC
region, the ocean has the smallest amount and toward the
Southern Atlantic CO increased in the atmosphere and ocean
(Seiler and Junge 1970; Swinnerton and Lamontagne 1974).
China is the most populated country with high air pollu-
tion. By studying the air pollution control patterns in ten
main cities in the north of the country, there was a strong
relationship between pollution and pressure systems. Also,
in the study area, high-pressure systems at surface level and
dynamic conditions in the back of trough (negative Vorticity
advection) at the upper atmosphere were identified as the
main factor of pollutant concentration (Chen et al. 2008).
Therefore, this study was carried out to analyze the statisti-
cal and synoptical emission and transfer of CO from China
to the northern Pacific Ocean using satellite images.
Materials and methods
The study area included China and the Northern Pacific
Ocean, whose geographical location is presented in Fig. 1.
This study is based on an environmental to circulation
approach. According to the concentration of CO in 2016
and 2017, the synoptic patterns of this phenomenon have
been identified.
Then, the satellite images of CO concentration on Earth’s
surface were collected from GMAO/GEOS-5/NASA. For
synoptic analysis, satellite images of mean sea level pressure
were received and analyzed according to the GFS/NCEP/
US National Weather Service organizations and monthly
based satellite images of the CO were also extracted from
the MOPITT sensor of Terra. The MOPITT sensor is actu-
ally a troposphere pollution measurement device that can
detect air pollution. The sensor is the first satellite sensor
designed to use gas correlation spectroscopy and is a part of
the NASA operational program, which launched its opera-
tional program in 1999 and has been installed it in tree Terra,
Modeling Earth Systems and Environment (2020) 6:301–309 303
Fig. 1  Location of the study
area
Aura and Aqua satellites. It acts as an equator orbit which
depends on the mission in space. The sensor measures only
two methane and CO variables in the troposphere. For this
purpose, it uses three bands and eight channels for meas-
urement of 62.5 μm (using four channels), 33.2 μm (using
two channels) of CO, and 26.2 μm of methane (using two
channels), respectively. The MOPITT sensor is specifically
designed to measure CO. Given that the images of this sen-
sor were not available for 2017, in this study, the CO images
were just extracted for 2016. The study area was selected
in such a way that included all the effective atmospheric
systems. Subsequently, two points of the Pacific Ocean with
coordinates 50  N–180 E and 40  N–160 E, and also two
points in China with coordinates 36  N–117 E and 30  N–114
E, were selected according to a survey of satellite images
during 2016–17 which witnessed a great deal of pollution
throughout the year. Also, the correlation between the two
study areas was determined and analyzed.
Results and discussion
Pressure systems have a lot of impact on the pollution of cit-
ies. In the north of Greece, the highest rate of pollution was
related to the dominance of a high-pressure system (Flocas
et al. 2009). By surveying the air pollution control patterns
in ten main cities in the north of China, it was found that
there is a strong relationship between pollution and pres-
sure systems. In the study area, high-pressure systems at
ground level and dynamical conditions at the back of upper
air trough were also identified as the main factor of pollut-
ant density (Chen et al. 2008). The images below are the
pressure systems that have the most important role in the
expanding of the China’s CO to the Pacific Ocean. Differ-
ent patterns of pressure systems and the CO are observed
in satellite images. Many of these patterns enjoyed a great
relationship with each other. In the following MSLP satellite
images, those patterns were extracted that cause the most
CO transfer from China to the Pacific Ocean. In this study,
the effective patterns in the transfer of the CO includes: two
low pressure and one high pressure (2L + 1H), (2L + 2H),
(2L + 3H), (3L + 2H), (3L + 3H) and (3L + 4H). If the low
pressures are placed linearly on the east coast of Asia, and
the second and the third low pressures are stronger than the
first one, CO is transferred to further regions in the Pacific
Ocean (Fig. 2m). In this case, at few lower latitudes and
between two low pressures, there are some high pressures
which contribute to transfer of the CO from a low pressure
to the next one (Fig. 2m). The average CO transferred to
the Pacific Ocean is about 140 ppbv. This amount can be
transported through pressure systems to the east coast of
the United States (Fig. 2d–f). In the transmission patterns,
there is a partly direct relationship between the number of
high–low-pressure systems and the spread of pollutants as
shown in Fig. 2c. The STHP is the main factor for the trans-
port and compression of CO of the western regions of the
Pacific Ocean to the northern parts of the Pacific Ocean,
the west coast of North America and Canada. Low pressure
with the capability of pull and absorption and high pressure
with the capability of transfer play a major role in the lower
atmospheric transport of CO of the east and southeast coasts
of Asia to the Pacific Ocean regions.
On January the 7th, 2017, a low-pressure core formed
in eastern China at 15 Z and latitude of 30.19 and longi-
tude of 129.20. The pressure of this core was recorded to
be about 1009 hPa (Fig. 3a). On this day, pollution in China
reached the highest level, 2221 ppbv and severe pollutions
were observed in the eastern half of China (Fig. 3b). On
the second day, the low-pressure core strengthened and a
drop of 21 hPa has shifted to 988 hPa (Fig. 3c). On the 3rd
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304
Fig. 2  Satellite images of carbon monoxide surface concentration and mean sea level pressure on 2016–17
day, the low-pressure center also strengthened and amounted
to 965 hPa (Fig. 3e). On January the 12th, 2014, the low-
pressure core shifted to the northeast and created a vast low-
pressure zone (Fig. 3g) which on the next day, turned into
two low-pressure regions (Fig. 3i). During the formation and
strengthening of low pressures during 8 consecutive days, it
can be seen that in the CO satellite images, the CO started
to move towards the Pacific Ocean with the formation of
a low-pressure center on the shores of China. As the low
pressure strengthened, the expansion of the CO rose to the
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Modeling Earth Systems and Environment (2020) 6:301–309
ocean and the concentration of the CO in China minimized
and scattered at the lower level of the troposphere over the
ocean. On January the 15th, 2017, CO expanded to 142 W
(Fig. 3j). The reason for this expansion is the formation of
two low-pressure centers at 164 E and 155 W.
In this study, satellite images of two A–B regions in the
Pacific Ocean and C–D region in the east of China were
used to extract the amount of CO (Fig. 4). East China is one
of the world’s most polluted in terms of CO ( Zheng et al.
2018) which is also visible in satellite images (Figs. 2 and 3).
Modeling Earth Systems and Environment (2020) 6:301–309 305

Fig. 2  (continued)

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306 Modeling Earth Systems and Environment (2020) 6:301–309

Fig. 3  Satellite images of low-pressure formation and the process of increasing carbon monoxide from January 7, 2017, to January 15, 2017

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Modeling Earth Systems and Environment (2020) 6:301–309 307

Fig. 4  Location of the study

area in the Pacific Ocean (a, b)
and China (c, d) to study the
effects of China’s CO on the
lower atmosphere of the Pacific
Ocean

700 pacific ocean china Table 1  The correlation coefficient between the CO of the Pacific
Ocean and China during 2016–17
600
Chinese CO Pacific Ocean CO
500
Chinese CO
Co (ppbv)

400
Pearson Correlation 1 0.469
300
Sig. (two-tailed) 0.021
200 N 24 24
100 Pacific Ocean CO
Pearson Correlation 0.469 1
0
jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
Sig. (two-tailed) 0.021
Month N 24 24

Fig. 5  Monthly average of CO in the Pacific Ocean and China in

2016

presented in Figs. 5 and 6. Based on the results, in 2016

900 (2017), the average of the CO in China was 412 (427) ppbv
pacific ocean china
800 and in the Pacific Ocean was around 127 (121) ppbv. Dur-
700 ing the 2 years, the largest amount of the CO in China is
600 concentrated in January, increasing to 850 ppbv in January
Co (ppbv)

500 2017. The lowest amount of the CO was also in July 2016
400 and in October and March 2017. In the Pacific Ocean, the
300 lowest amount of CO was observed in August in 2016–17.
200 Investigating the relationship of CO between China and
100 the Pacific Ocean using the Pearson correlation showed
0 that 47% of CO of the lower atmosphere in the Pacific
jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec Ocean is owing to the transport of CO from east of China
Month
through the pressure systems of the west of Northern
Pacific Ocean (Table 1, Fig. 2).
Fig. 6  Monthly average of CO in the Pacific Ocean and China in Investigating the MOPITT sensor satellite images of CO
2017
revealed that China is in the first place for CO producer
in the world. Seasonally, the highest amount of CO in this
The average monthly emission of CO in the east of country is related to the cold season (fall and winter) and
China at two D and C points and for the Pacific Ocean the lowest amount belongs to summer. On a monthly basis,
at two A and B points for the years of 2016 and 2017 are the highest and lowest amounts belong to January and July,
respectively (Fig. 7).

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308
Fig. 7  Monthly amounts of CO in lower troposphere are measured by MOPITT sensor in 2016
Conclusion
Meteorological conditions and changes in the physical and
dynamic characteristics of the atmosphere play an important
role in air pollution levels. The most important factor con-
tributing to the diffusion and transmission of air pollutants is
the surface and lower atmospheric winds. Synoptic systems
also play a decisive role in creating ascending movements
and diffusion of air pollutants as well as boundary layer
adjustment. This study was carried out to do a synoptic and
statistical analysis of CO emission and transfer from China
to the Northern Pacific Ocean using satellite images dur-
ing 2016 and 2017. The results of monthly changes in the
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Modeling Earth Systems and Environment (2020) 6:301–309
concentration of the CO in two regions indicated that the
highest and lowest amounts of the CO were concentrated
in January and July–August, respectively. Synoptic patterns
analysis affecting the transportation of the CO also revealed
that two low-pressure and one high-pressure system are the
main factors of the CO transfer from China to the Northern
Pacific Ocean in most cases. If the low pressures are placed
linearly on the eastern coasts of Asia and other low pressures
are stronger than the first one, CO will be transferred further
distances in the Pacific Ocean. Meanwhile, the high pressure
located between two low pressures also contribute to the
transfer of the CO from one low pressure to the next one.
The average CO gas transmitted to the Pacific Ocean regions
Modeling Earth Systems and Environment (2020) 6:301–309 309
is about 140 ppbv which can be transported by pressure sys-
tems to the eastern coast of the United States. According
to the results, the STHP is the main factor for the transfer
and compression of CO from western regions of the Pacific
Ocean to the northern parts of the Pacific Ocean and western
coasts of North America and Canada.
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