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Aura OMI Observations of Regional SO2 and NO2 Pollution Changes from 2005 to 2015The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) onboard NASA's Aura satellite has been providing global observations of the ozone layer and key atmospheric pollutant gases, such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2), since October 2004. The data products from the same instrument provide consistent spatial and temporal coverage and permit the study of anthropogenic and natural emissions on local-to-global scales. In this paper, we examine changes in SO2 and NO2 over some of the world's most polluted industrialized regions during the first decade of OMI observations. In terms of regional pollution changes, we see both upward and downward trends, sometimes in opposite directions for NO2 and SO2, for different study areas. The trends are, for the most part, associated with economic and/or technological changes in energy use, as well as regional regulatory policies. Over the eastern US, both NO2 and SO2 levels decreased dramatically from 2005 to 2015, by more than 40 and 80 percent, respectively, as a result of both technological improvements and stricter regulations of emissions. OMI confirmed large reductions in SO2 over eastern Europe's largest coal-fired power plants after installation of flue gas desulfurization devices. The North China Plain has the world's most severe SO2 pollution, but a decreasing trend has been observed since 2011, with about a 50 percent reduction in 2012-2015, due to an economic slowdown and government efforts to restrain emissions from the power and industrial sectors. In contrast, India's SO2 and NO2 levels from coal power plants and smelters are growing at a fast pace, increasing by more than 100 and 50 percent, respectively, from 2005 to 2015. Several SO2 hot spots observed over the Persian Gulf are probably related to oil and gas operations and indicate a possible underestimation of emissions from these sources in bottom-up emission inventories. Overall, OMI observations have proved valuable in documenting rapid changes in air quality over different parts of the world during last decade. The baseline established during the first 11 years of OMI is indispensable for the interpretation of air quality measurements from current and future satellite atmospheric composition missions.
Document ID
20160006714
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Krotkov, Nickolay A.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
McLinden, Chris A.
(Environment Canada Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
Li, Can
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Lamsal, Lok N.
(Universities Space Research Association Columbia, MD, United States)
Celarier, Edward A.
(Universities Space Research Association Columbia, MD, United States)
Marchenko, Sergey V.
(Science Systems and Applications, Inc. Lanham, MD, United States)
Swartz, William H.
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Laurel, MD, United States)
Bucsela, Eric J.
(SRI International Corp. Menlo Park, CA, United States)
Joiner, Joanna
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Duncan, Bryan N.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Boersma, K. Folkert
(Wageningen Univ. Wageningen, Netherlands)
Veefkind, J. Pepijn
(Royal Netherlands Meteorological Inst. De Bilt, Netherlands)
Levelt, Pieternel F.
(Royal Netherlands Meteorological Inst. De Bilt, Netherlands)
Fioletov, Vitali E.
(Environment Canada Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
Dickerson, Russell R.
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
He, Hao
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Lu, Zifeng
(Argonne National Lab. IL, United States)
Streets, David G.
(Argonne National Lab. IL, United States)
Date Acquired
May 31, 2016
Publication Date
April 13, 2016
Publication Information
Publication: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Volume: 16
Issue: 7
e-ISSN: 1680-7324
Subject Category
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Environment Pollution
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN32096
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNG11HP16A
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
SO2 and NO2
Pollution Trends
Aura OMI

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