Ground-Based Atmospheric CO2, CH4, and CO Column Measurements at Golmud in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and Comparisons with TROPOMI/S5P Satellite Observations

Measurements of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ), and carbon monoxide (CO) are of great importance in the Qinghai-Tibetan region, as it is the highest and largest plateau in the world affecting global weather and climate systems. In this study, for the first time, we present CO 2 , CH 4 , and CO column measurements carried out by a Bruker EM27/SUN Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) at Golmud (36.42°E, 94.91°N, 2808 m) in August 2021. The mean and standard deviation of the column-average dry-air mixing ratio of CO 2 , CH 4 , and CO (XCO 2 , XCH 4 , and XCO) are 409.3 ± 0.4 ppm, 1905.5 ± 19.4 ppb, and 103.1 ± 7.7 ppb, respectively. The differences between the FTIR co-located TROPOMI/S5P satellite measurements at Golmud are 0.68 ± 0.64% (13.1 ± 12.2 ppb) for XCH 4 and 9.81 ± 3.48% (−10.7 ± 3.8 ppb) for XCO, which are within their retrieval uncertainties. High correlations for both XCH 4 and XCO are observed between the FTIR and S5P satellite measurements. Using the FLEXPART model and satellite measurements, we find that enhanced CH 4 and CO columns in Golmud are affected by anthropogenic emissions transported from North India. This study provides an insight into the variations of the CO 2 , CH 4 , and CO columns in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.