ICOS Talks: Constraining European fossil fuel emissions using atmospheric 14CO2 observations
Time: Wednesday 4th March 2026, 10:00-11:00 CET.
Agenda:
- Introduction by Sindu Raj Parampil (Science Integration Officer, ICOS ERIC)
- Samuel Hammer (ICOS Central Radiocarbon Laboratory & Heidelberg University): Constraining European fossil fuel emissions using atmospheric 14CO2 observations
- Discussion and wrap-up
About the speaker
Dr. rer. nat. Samuel Hammer is Head of the ICOS Central Radiocarbon Laboratory (CRL) at Heidelberg University. His research advances isotope-based methods to quantify fossil fuel CO₂ emissions from urban to continental scales.
Beyond Δ¹⁴CO₂, he develops and evaluates alternative fossil fuel CO₂ proxies, including CO, NOₓ, and APO. His work integrates high-precision laboratory measurements with inverse modelling to strengthen emission verification frameworks in Europe. He serves in advisory roles for the German ICOS observation network, the ICOS Research Infrastructure Committee (RICOM), and the Copernicus CO₂ Monitoring Task Force.
Abstract
Atmospheric Δ¹⁴CO₂ provides a direct tracer for fossil fuel CO₂ because fossil emissions contain no radiocarbon. Using the Regional Isotope Budget Approach (RIBA), we assess the information content of ICOS Δ¹⁴CO₂ observations for constraining European fossil fuel emissions. ICOS data independently constrain fossil emissions, with the strongest constraints emerging for Central Western Europe (CWE). The analysis shows that expanding spatial coverage is more important than increasing sampling frequency. In inversion experiments, ICOS observations reduce an artificial ±10% prior bias to approximately ±3–4%. Absolute emission estimates for the CWE domain are within a few per cent of Global Carbon Project bottom-up estimates, but remain sensitive to the assumed Δ¹⁴CO₂ background.
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