Technical Specification for Carbon Source/Sink Accounting Based on Carbon Satellites

This specification applies to carbon source/sink accounting using carbon satellites. It uses municipal and district/county administrative areas as accounting units and calendar years as accounting periods, covering terrestrial ecosystem carbon sources/sinks and anthropogenic carbon emissions. Accounting shall define the scope; process satellite XCO₂ observations, errors, and carbon source/sink inventory data; conduct ensemble concentration simulations using a regional atmospheric transport model; and derive regional spatiotemporal carbon source/sink variations through inversion algorithms. The most recent municipal anthropogenic emission inventory and terrestrial ecosystem inventory should be used preferentially; where unavailable, larger-scale peer-reviewed inventories may be used. Annual carbon source/sink totals and associated uncertainties shall be calculated.