Variation Trend and Characteristics of Anthropogenic CO Column Content in the Atmosphere over Beijing and Moscow

The anthropogenic CO column content in the atmosphere is derived from measurements with infrared grating spectrometers in Beijing, China, and Moscow, Russia, during 1992-2012. Some specific variation char- acteristics and long-term variation trends of the CO col- umn content in the atmosphere in these regions are dis- cussed. An evident variation trend of anthropogenic CO in the atmosphere for the Beijing region is not observed during 1992-2012, while for the Moscow region, it de- creases yearly by about 1.4% for the same period. High CO concentrations appear quite frequently in Beijing, but much less frequently in Moscow, except during the natu- ral fire events in summer 2010. From back trajectory analysis, the high CO concentration observed in Beijing can be attributed to the intensive CO emission sources in its surrounding areas.