NDP-058.2009 presents a time series of annual fossil-fuel CO2 emissions gridded at 1° latitude by 1° longitude resolution from 1751 to 2006. The dataset was created by Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers, combining national emission estimates with gridded data on political units and 1984 human population distribution. Emissions are measured in million metric tons of carbon per year and are based on statistics for fossil-fuel burning, cement manufacturing, and gas flaring.
Use Cases
- Modeling atmospheric CO2 concentration response based on gridded historical emission sources.
- Analyzing long-term trends in national and regional fossil-fuel emissions over the 1751-2006 period.
- Studying the spatial distribution of anthropogenic carbon emissions using the 1-degree geographic grid.
- Validating climate and carbon cycle models with a historical emission inventory.
Strengths
- Provides a 256-year time series from 1751 to 2006.
- Offers high spatial resolution on a global 1° latitude by 1° longitude grid.
- Emissions are derived from documented national statistics and a consistent methodology (Marland and Rotty, 1984).
Limitations
- Spatial distribution within countries uses a static 1984 population map as a proxy, which may not reflect historical shifts.
- The methodology assumes uniform per capita energy use and fuel mix within political units, a first-order approximation.
- Column-level documentation and sample data are unavailable, requiring inference of data structure after download.
Provenance
- Source
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (R. J. Andres et al.)
- Collection Method
- National annual estimates based on fossil-fuel, cement, and gas flaring statistics were combined with gridded data on political units and a 1984 human population map.
- Time Range
- 1751-2006
- Geography
- Global