The National Institute for Environmental Studies in Japan, announced that the amount of CO₂ absorbed by winter wheat growing around Delhi, India exceeded the city’s emissions after it analyzed observations made by the CONTRAIL project*. The findings are published in the November 19, 2016 issue of the American Geophysical Union’s Geophysical Research Letters.

Japanese National Institute for Environmental Studies press release

 

*CONTRAIL observes the distribution and changes of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere over an extended period of time. By using a passenger aircraft operated by Japan Airlines, which is also equipped with a JAMCO Corporation Continuous CO₂ Measuring Equipment (CME) and Automatic Air Sampling Equipment (ASE), the changes can be observed at a high frequency and over a wide area. This project is currently the only one of its kind that observes atmospheric concentrations of CO₂ using fully automated continuous measuring equipment. CONTRAIL is a joint effort between JAMCO Corporation, the Japanese National Institute for Environmental Studies, the Japanese Meteorological Research Institute, Japan Airlines, and the JAL Foundation