Predicting CO2 Emissions Associated with Urban Development in the Western U.S.

The ultimate goal of the project is to incorporate a mechanistic understanding of carbon emissions into a land use/planning model that will help researchers, policymakers, and the general public evaluate the carbon implications of land use choices in Western U.S. This will be achieved through a coordinated set of observational and modeling approaches. Specific research objectives of this study include: �?� Model and understand current-day carbon emissions in multiple valleys at different stages of development in the Wasatch Range of Utah; �?� Critically test and calibrate a new NASA product of hi-res CO2 emissions (Hestia) with long-term, continuous CO2 and CO2 isotope data, combined with targeted mobile lab observations; �?� Transfer information from the calibrated Hestia product to a widely-applied urban planning model; �?� Infer CO2 emissions in the Salt Lake Valley (SLV) going back to 1950, using land use and urban form records and radiocarbon proxies of CO2 in tree rings; �?� Integrate stakeholder engagement efforts that have already yielded land use scenarios along Utah�??s Wasatch Range to examine resulting CO2 outcomes by use of an urban planning model; �?� Examine the long-term transition of carbon emissions associated with urban development in the SLV, from 1950 to 2040; �?� Extend the carbon emission projections, beyond Utah, to two additional cities in the Western U.S., based on scenarios that bracket likely developmental patterns; �?� Deliver to the research and policymaking community a planning tool that can project the carbon emissions as a result of different urban development patterns in the Western U.S.