High‐resolution atmospheric CO₂ concentration data simulated in WRF‐Chem over East Asia for 10 years

Abstract In this study, high‐resolution CO 2 concentration data were generated for East Asia to analyse long‐term changes in atmospheric CO 2 concentrations, as East Asia is an important region for understanding the global carbon cycle. Using the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF‐Chem), atmospheric CO 2 concentrations were simulated in East Asia at a resolution of 9 km for a period of 10 years (2009–2018). The generated CO 2 concentration data include CO 2 concentrations, biogenic CO 2 concentrations, anthropogenic CO 2 concentrations, oceanic CO 2 concentrations, biospheric CO 2 uptake, biospheric CO 2 release and meteorological variables at 3‐h intervals. The simulated high‐resolution CO 2 concentrations, biogenic CO 2 concentrations and anthropogenic CO 2 concentrations are stored in NetCDF‐4 (Network Common Data Form, version 4) format and are available for download at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/PJTBF3 . The simulated annual mean surface CO 2 concentrations in East Asia were 391.027 ppm in 2009 and 412.949 ppm in 2018, indicating an increase of 21.922 ppm over the 10‐year period with appropriate seasonal variabilities. The monthly mean CO 2 concentrations in East Asia were verified using surface CO 2 observations and satellite column‐averaged CO 2 mole fraction (XCO 2 ) from Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 (OCO‐2). Based on surface CO 2 observations and OCO‐2 XCO 2 concentrations, the average root‐mean‐square error (RMSE) of the simulated CO 2 concentrations in WRF‐Chem was 2.474 and 0.374 ppm, respectively, which is smaller than the average RMSE of the low‐resolution CarbonTracker 2019B (CT2019B) simulation. Therefore, the simulated high‐resolution atmospheric CO 2 concentrations in East Asia in WRF‐Chem over 10 years are reliable data that resemble the observed values and could be highly valuable in understanding the carbon cycle in East Asia.