Evaluating and improving air pollutant emissions with
satellite measurements: the GlobEmission project
K.F. Boersma, G.C.M. Vinken, P. Castellanos,
B. Mijling, and R.J. van der A
GlobEmission – KNMI/BIRA/FMI/TNO/VITO
Committed users
• European Environmental Agency (EEA)
• University of Edinburgh
• Satellite Environment Center (SEC, China MEP)
• Indian Inst. of Tropical Meteorology (IITM)
• South African Weather service (SAWS) &
Department of Water and Environmental Affairs (DWEA)
• National institute for Env. Studies Japan (NIES)
Specific user requirements:
• Species: NOx, CH4, CO, NMVOC, SO2, PM, O3
• Accuracy: better than 30% - 80 %
• Spatial resolution: 1 km - 50 km
• Time resolution: daily – annual
GlobEmission – Approach
• Based on satellite observations using inversion techniques
• Complementary to bottom-up inventories (not replacing)
• Focus on a limited number of species:
– NOx, CH4, CO, NMVOC, SO2, PM
• Validation with existing inventories and model results
• Goal: to demonstrate the validity of the concept
Example: regional emission estimates
Service provider: KNMI
Main users:
SAWS (S. Africa), IITM (India), MEP (China)
Main tasks:
- Derivation of NOx and SO2 emissions using
CHIMERE and UV-VIS satellite data
- On a 25×25 km2 resolution over China, India and
South Africa
OMI tropospheric NO2
CHIMERE tropospheric NO2
INTEX-B 2006
Inversion based on
• pre-calculated (CHIMERE) local sensitivities to NOx emissions
• Kalman filter approach
NOx emission estimates for eastern China
May – December 2008
NOx emission trend for the Beijing Area
75%
2008
-75%
GOME-2
2007
Mijling et al., Geophys. Res. Lett. (2009)
OMI GOME-2
Reductions in NOx over Europe (2005-2010)
Castellanos and Boersma, Sci. Rep., 2012
2005
2006/2005
2007/2005
Continuous reduction (2004-2010): -2% to -5%
OMI
Recession Change (2008-2009): -15% to -30%
2008/2005
2009/2005
2010/2005
Reductions in NOx over Europe driven by
environmental policy and economic recession
Castellanos and Boersma, Sci. Rep., 2012
Similar reductions over the eastern US
2006
2007
2009
2010
2008
OMI
Patricia Castellanos
2011
Emissions of NOx (AMVER-ICOADS database)
10
Observations of NO2 (from OMI)
OMI 13:30 hrs overpass
13 x 24 km2 pixel
11
First fix the model chemistry: here GEOS-Chem
GEOS-Chem plume-in-grid approach for ship emissions
Higher OH in early stages of the plume
Improved simulations
with plume-in-grid
show 50% lower NOx
concentrations than
instant dilution!
Vinken et al., ACP, 2011
GEOS-Chem with plume-in-grid (0.50° x
0.67°)
A
B
wind < 6 m/s
Vinken et al., in prep., 2012
C
Spain – France
ship lane
Eastern
Mediterranean
ship lane
Tropospheric NO2 [1015 molec./cm2]
Tropospheric NO2 [1015 molec./cm2]
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
-1
-1
0
0
GEOS-Chem
with 4x AMVERICOADS
GEOS-Chem with 4x
AMVER-ICOADS
DLatitude
1
1
Tropospheric NO2 [1015 molec./cm2]
-1
-1
0
0
DLatitude
1
1
2
2
SEE POSTER GEERT
VINKEN TODAY!
Δlon
Δlon
1.5
1.0
OMI
0.5
0.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
OMI
2
2
Tropospheric NO2 [1015 molec./cm2]
AMVERICOADS
ship NOx
emissions
16x lower
Conclusions
• ESA GlobEmission project underway to provide space-based
emissions of NOx, SO2, CO, CH4,…
• Promising hi-res (spatial and temporal) emission estimates
• Trends in European NOx emissions reflect a combination of
environmental policies and economic activity
• Emissions of individual sectors (shipping) can be observed
and estimated from space
• NO2 satellite data are very useful in evaluating NOx emissions
(trends, diurnal patterns, even location), but…
• …for proper interpretation, model processes need to be
evaluated carefully first (e.g. plume chemistry, diurnal cycle of
emissions)