A new European plant-specific emission inventory of biogenic volatile organic compounds for use in atmospheric transport models

Abstract

Abstract. We present a new European plant-specific emission inventory for isoprene, monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes and other VOC (OVOC), with a spatial resolution of 10 km, for implementation in atmospheric transport models. The inventory incorporates new data on emission factors at standard conditions for tree and crop species that became available in the last years and more accurate data on foliar biomass densities coming from several new litterfall databases. In contrast to previous emission inventories, a bioclimatic correction factor was introduced to correct the foliar biomass densities for the different plant growth conditions that can be found in Pan-Europe. The 2004–2005 averaged annual total biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emissions for the Pan-European domain are estimated to be about 15 Tg with a large contribution from the OVOC class of about 6 Tg and from monoterpenes of about 5 Tg. Annual isoprene emissions are found to be about 3 Tg, insensitive to the chosen emission algorithm. For the first time crop-specific land use information and standard emission factors were employed. Contrary to former European inventories, emissions of monoterpenes and OVOC were found to originate to a large extent from agriculture. However, monoterpene standard emission factors for crops are highly uncertain and probably positively biased by measurement artifacts. Further experiments on crop emissions should be carried out to check the validity of the high emission factors for monoterpenes and OVOC. In view of future intensified use of agricultural crops as biofuels, emissions of OVOC and monoterpenes from agriculture need to be evaluated in the field.