Methane and carbon dioxide fluxes and source partitioning in urban areas: the case study of Florence, Italy

Long-term fluxes of CO2, and combined short-term fluxes of CH4 and CO2 were measured with the eddy covariance technique in the city centre of Florence. CO2 long-term weekly fluxes exhibit a high seasonality, ranging from 39 to 172% of the mean annual value in summer and winter respectively, while CH4 fluxes are relevant and don’t exhibit temporal variability. Contribution of road traffic and domestic heating has been estimated through multi-regression models combined with inventorial traffic and CH4 consumption data, revealing that heating accounts for more than 80% of observed CO2 fluxes. Those two components are instead responsible for only 14% of observed CH4 fluxes, while the major residual part is likely dominated by gas network leakages. CH4 fluxes expressed as CO2 equivalent represent about 8% of CO2 emissions, ranging from 16% in summer to 4% in winter, and cannot therefore be neglected when assessing greenhouse impact of cities.