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Aura OMI Observations of Global SO2 and NO2 Pollution from 2005 to 2013The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), a NASA partnership with the Netherlands and Finland, flies on the NASA Aura satellite and uses reflected sunlight to measure the two critical atmospheric trace gases: nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) characterizing daily air quality. Both gases and the secondary pollutants they produce (particulate matter, PM2.5, and tropospheric ozone) are USEPA designated criteria pollutants, posing serious threats to human health and the environment (e.g., acid rain, plant damage and reduced visibility). Our group at NASA GSFC has developed and maintained OMI standard SO2 and NO2 data products. We have recently released an updated version of the standard NO2 L2 and L3 products (SP v2.1) and continue improving the algorithm. We are currently in the process of releasing next generation pollution SO2 product, based on an innovative Principal Component Analysis (PCA) algorithm, which greatly reduces the noise and biases. These new standard products provide valuable datasets for studying anthropogenic pollution on local to global scales. Here we highlight some of the OMI observed changes in air quality over several regions. Over the US average NO2 and SO2 pollution levels had decreased dramatically as a result of both technological improvements (e.g., catalytic converters on cars) and stricter regulations of emissions. We see continued decline in pollution over Europe. Over China OMI observed an increase of about 60 percent in NO2 pollution between 2005 and 2013, despite a temporal reversal of the growing trend due to both 2008 Olympic Games and the economic recession in 2009. Chinese SO2 pollution seems to have stabilized since peaking in 2007, probably due to government efforts to curb SO2 emissions from the power sector. We have also observed large increases in both SO2 and NO2 pollution particularly in Eastern India where a number of large new coal power plants had been built in recent years. We expect that further improvements in the OMI NO2 and SO2 products will allow more robust quantification of long-term trends in global air quality.
Document ID
20150021046
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Presentation
Authors
Krotkov, Nickolay
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Li, Can
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Lamsal, Lok
(Universities Space Research Association Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Celarier, Edward
(Universities Space Research Association Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Marchenko, Sergey
(Science Systems and Applications, Inc. Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Swartz, William H.
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Laurel, MD, United States)
Bucsela, Eric
(SRI International Corp. Arlington, VA, United States)
Fioletov, Vitali
(Environment Canada Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
McLinden, Chris
(Environment Canada Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
Joiner, Joanna
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Bhartia, Pawan K.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Duncan, Bryan
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Dickerson, Russ
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
November 10, 2015
Publication Date
September 18, 2014
Subject Category
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Environment Pollution
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN18281
Meeting Information
Meeting: Aura Scuence Team Meeting
Location: College Park, MD
Country: United States
Start Date: September 15, 2014
End Date: September 18, 2014
Sponsors: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX14AP76G
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNG11HP16A
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX12AD03A
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
Keywords
SO2
NO2
aura
OMI
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