Towards global carbon transparency: Spaceborne imaging spectroscopy enables precise CO2 emission quantification at facility scale

Towards global carbon transparency: Spaceborne imaging spectroscopy enables precise CO2 emission quantification at facility scale | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Towards global carbon transparency: Spaceborne imaging spectroscopy enables precise CO2 emission quantification at facility scale Ge Han, Huayi Wang, Zhipeng Pei, Huiqin Mao, Jiaying Ying, Siwei Li, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5913782/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The Paris Agreement requires countries to develop Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, with regular verification efforts. Establishing a transparent and accurate CO2 Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) system is a cornerstone for supporting the Paris Agreement. Facility-scale CO2 emissions account for more than half of anthropogenic carbon emissions, making them a key focus of MRV systems. Current verification methods rely heavily on accounting approaches, which face challenges in transparency, accuracy and cost. In recent years, satellite remote sensing has emerged as a promising approach for top-down emission monitoring. However, significant gaps remain in the availability and accuracy of remote sensing measurements for facility-scale CO2 emissions. This study proposes a novel hyperspectral satellite-based method for directly monitoring facility-scale CO2 emissions. Leveraging abundant data and high-resolution features, this method achieves unbiased measurements with a correlation (R) exceeding 0.82 compared to Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems (CEMS). Existing satellites, such as the GF and ZY series, can detect point sources with CO2 emission intensities above 350 t/h. According to emission inventories, over 1,000 global point sources exceed this threshold, collectively emitting more than 50 MT CO2 annually—greater than the total annual emissions of the United States. Benefiting from extensive hyperspectral satellite data (e.g., EMIT, PRISMA, EnMAP), this work offers a novel pathway for achieving transparent, accurate, and affordable facility-scale CO2 emission monitoring and verification on a global scale. Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Climate change/Climate-change mitigation Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences/Climate-change mitigation Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences/Environmental impact Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files USelectricity.xlsx Dataset 1 Togtoh.xlsx Dataset 2 Xinjiangmultisource.xlsx Dataset 3 20250116USplumes.zip Dataset 4 SupplementaryInformationV4.0.docx Supplementary Information CODE0127.zip Code Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5913782","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":408158945,"identity":"8a55332e-4f99-4a6b-b05b-2a723c659152","order_by":0,"name":"Ge 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