High-resolution air-quality observations onboard commercial Zeppelin flights in Germany 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralf Tillmann ◽  
Franz Rohrer ◽  
Georgios I. Gkatzelis ◽  
Benjamin Winter ◽  
Christian Wesolek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Greenhouse Gases ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Electrochemical Sensors ◽  
Trace Gas ◽  
Source Attribution ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Gas Measurements ◽  
Air Speed

<p>A Zeppelin NT airship has been used as a platform for in-situ measurement of greenhouse gases and air pollutants in the planetary boundary layer (PBL). The Zeppelin especially with its long flight endurance, low air speed and potential high payload fills a gap between stationary ground based and remote sensing measurements, payload limited UAV based air monitoring, long range-high-altitude aircraft, and satellite observations. Its flight properties render unique applications for the observation of PBL dynamics and air quality monitoring. Highly resolved spatial and temporal trace gas measurements provide input required for modelling of air pollution and validation of emission inventories.</p><p>The core instrument deployed was a novel Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) based multi-compound gas analyzer (MIRO Analytical AG) to measure in-situ concentrations of 10 greenhouse gases and air pollutants simultaneously. The analyzer measured CO<sub>2</sub>, N<sub>2</sub>O, H<sub>2</sub>O and CH<sub>4</sub>, and the pollutants CO, NO, NO<sub>2</sub>, O<sub>3</sub>, SO<sub>2</sub> and NH<sub>3</sub> with high precision and a measurement rate of 1 Hz. The instrument was operated remotely without the need of on-site personnel. The instrument package was complemented by electrochemical sensors for NO, NO<sub>2</sub>, O<sub>x</sub> and CO (alphasense), an optical particle counter (alphasense), temperature, humidity, altitude and position monitoring. Three campaigns of two weeks each were conducted in 2020 comprising unattended operation during commercial passenger flights.</p><p>The acquired data set will be discussed in regard to (1) diurnal height profiles of trace gases such as NO<sub>2</sub>, (2) a detailed source attribution by fingerprinting, and (3) a comparison to observations from ground-based monitoring stations. The results demonstrate the QCL spectrometer as an all-in-one solution for air-borne trace gas monitoring. By measuring 10 compounds at once it helps to greatly reduce payload, space requirements and power consumption.</p>

scholarly journals Monitoring compliance with sulfur content regulations of shipping fuel by in situ measurements of ship emissions

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (17) ◽  
pp. 10087-10092 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Kattner ◽  
B. Mathieu-Üffing ◽  
J. P. Burrows ◽  
A. Richter ◽  
S. Schmolke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sulfur Content ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Monitoring Site ◽  
Data Set ◽  
The North ◽  
Position Data ◽  
Gas Measurements ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Co2

Abstract. In 1997 the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) adopted MARPOL Annex VI to prevent air pollution by shipping emissions. It regulates, among other issues, the sulfur content in shipping fuels, which is transformed into the air pollutant sulfur dioxide (SO2) during combustion. Within designated Sulfur Emission Control Areas (SECA), the sulfur content was limited to 1 %, and on 1 January 2015, this limit was further reduced to 0.1 %. Here we present the set-up and measurement results of a permanent ship emission monitoring site near Hamburg harbour in the North Sea SECA. Trace gas measurements are conducted with in situ instruments and a data set from September 2014 to January 2015 is presented. By combining measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) and SO2 with ship position data, it is possible to deduce the sulfur fuel content of individual ships passing the measurement station, thus facilitating the monitoring of compliance of ships with the IMO regulations. While compliance is almost 100 % for the 2014 data, it decreases only very little in 2015 to 95.4 % despite the much stricter limit. We analysed more than 1400 ship plumes in total and for months with favourable conditions, up to 40 % of all ships entering and leaving Hamburg harbour could be checked for their sulfur fuel content.

scholarly journals Uncertainties in emissions estimates of greenhouse gases and air pollutants in India and their impacts on regional air quality

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 065002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eri Saikawa ◽  
Marcus Trail ◽  
Min Zhong ◽  
Qianru Wu ◽  
Cindy L Young ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Greenhouse Gases ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Regional Air Quality

Changes of air pollutants’ concentrations in selected Romanian cities during the pandemic year 2020

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela Iorga ◽  
George-Bogdan Burghelea
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Meteorological Parameters ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variation ◽  
Pollution Level ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Air Mass

<p>Present research contributes to scientific knowledge concerning spatial and temporal variation of major air pollutants with high resolution at the country scale bringing statistical information on concentrations of NOx, O<sub>3</sub>, CO, SO<sub>2</sub> and particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter below 10 μm (PM<sub>10</sub>) and below 2.5 μm (PM<sub>2.5</sub>) during the pandemic year 2020 using an observational data set from the Romanian National Air Quality Network in seven selected cities spread out over the country. These cities have different level of development, play regional roles, might have potential influence at European scale and they are expected to be impacted by different pollution sources. Among them, three cities (Bucharest, Brașov, Iași) appear frequently on the list of the European Commission with reference to the infringement procedure that the European Commission launched against Romania in the period 2007-2020 regarding air quality.</p><p>Air pollutant data was complemented with local meteorological parameters at each site (atmospheric pressure, relative humidity, temperature, global solar radiation, wind speed and direction). Statistics of air pollutants provide us with an overview of air pollution in main Romanian cities.  Correlations between meteorological parameters and ambient pollutant levels were analyzed. Lowest air pollution levels were measured during the lockdown period in spring, as main traffic and non-essential activities were severely restricted. Among exceptions were the construction activities that were not interrupted. During 2020, some of selected cities experienced few pollution episodes which were due to dust transport from Sahara desert. However, in Bucharest metropolitan area, some cases with high pollution level were found correlated with local anthropogenic activity namely, waste incinerations. Air mass origins were investigated for 72 hours back by computing the air mass backward trajectories using the HYSPLIT model. Dust load and spatial distribution of the aerosol optical depth with BSC-DREAM8b v2.0 and NMBM/BSC-Dust models showed the area with dust particles transport during the dust events.</p><p>The obtained results are important for investigations of sources of air pollution and for modeling of air quality.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Acknowledgment:</strong></p><p>The research leading to these results has received funding from the NO Grants 2014-2021, under Project contract no. 31/2020, EEA-RO-NO-2019-0423 project. NOAA Air Resources Laboratory for HYSPLIT transport model, available at READY website https://www.ready.noaa.gov  and the Barcelona dust forecast center for BSC-DREAM8b and NMBM/BSC-Dust models, available at:  https://ess.bsc.es/bsc-dust-daily-forecast are also acknowledged. The data regarding ground-based air pollution and meteorology by site was extracted from the public available Romanian National Air Quality Database, www.calitateaer.ro.</p>

Atmospheric satellite-based and in situ surface observations on summertime trace gases (CO, CO2, CH4) over the metropolitan area of Bucharest

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marius-Paul Corbu ◽  
Andreea Calcan ◽  
Ioana Vizireanu ◽  
Denisa Elena Moaca ◽  
Robert-Valentin Chiritescu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Metropolitan Area ◽  
Financial Support ◽  
Trace Gases ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Air Mass ◽  
Synoptic Conditions

<p>Although anthropogenic emissions of trace gases have decreased over the last decades in Europe, strong additional reductions are required to reach the goals of the Paris climate agreements. In addition, air pollution is an issue of great concern for the inhabitants of the metropolitan area of Bucharest, as the local air quality is often poor. The rapid development of the city, increased traffic volume from a mixed vehicle fleet (different technologies and fuels), and other factors are strong contributors of emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants in Bucharest.</p><p>The goal of this research was the assessment of CO, CO<sub>2</sub> and CH<sub>4</sub> concentrations in Bucharest, identification of potential emissions hotspots and their causes (anthropogenic or natural/biogenic, local or distant) and determination of the background values.</p><p>Measurements were performed in summer 2019 in four districts of Bucharest covering about two thirds of the metropolitan area during the Romanian Methane Emissions from Oil&gas (ROMEO) campaign with high resolution (1 sec). These data sets were complemented with satellite observations of CO and CH<sub>4</sub> from Copernicus Sentinel-5P at a resolution of 7 km<sup>2</sup>.</p><p>Hourly meteorological data, temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, and atmospheric pressure were added to the air pollutant data set because synoptic conditions can strongly influence the levels of pollution. Air mass origins were investigated by computing backward air mass trajectories using the HYSPLIT (Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory) model for 72 hours back.</p><p>Points of high concentrations of CO, CO<sub>2</sub>, CH<sub>4</sub> near the surface were identified which are, most likely, linked to local anthropogenic activities in the nearby surroundings. We identified a variation of concentrations of CO from 0.01 to 101 ppm, of CO<sub>2</sub> from 388 to 6556 ppm, and of CH<sub>4</sub> from 1.89 to 246 ppm, while background levels are as follows: 0.071±0.042 ppm CO, 392.68±3.01 ppm CO<sub>2</sub>, and 1.93±0.016 ppm CH<sub>4</sub>.</p><p>Results of our study provide an up to date quantitative image of CO, CO<sub>2</sub>, CH<sub>4</sub> hotspots in the Bucharest area, which is important for modeling air quality and may also help to improve the relationships between column integrated air pollution data with in situ ground observations.</p><p><strong>Acknowledgement:</strong></p><p>This research is supported by ROMEO project, developed under UNEP’s financial support PCA/CCAC/UU/DTIE19-EN652. Partial financial support from UB198/Int project is also acknowledged.</p><p>The authors acknowledge the free use of tropospheric CO and CH<sub>4</sub> column data from TROPOMI (Sentinel-5P) sensor from https://s5phub.copernicus.eu and the NOAA Air Resources Laboratory for the provision of the HYSPLIT transport model available at READY website https://www.ready.noaa.gov</p><p>Special thanks to all INCAS technical staff for their support in performing the campaigns.</p>

scholarly journals Seasonality and extent of extratropical TST derived from in-situ CO measurements during SPURT

2004 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 1427-1442 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Hoor ◽  
C. Gurk ◽  
D. Brunner ◽  
M. I. Hegglin ◽  
H. Wernli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Potential Temperature ◽  
Mixing Layer ◽  
Trace Gas ◽  
Tropical Tropopause ◽  
Tropopause Region ◽  
Gas Measurements ◽  
Transport And Mixing ◽  
Extratropical Tropopause ◽  
Background Air

Abstract. We present airborne in-situ trace gas measurements which were performed on eight campaigns between November 2001 and July 2003 during the SPURT-project (SPURenstofftransport in der Tropopausenregion, trace gas transport in the tropopause region). The measurements on a quasi regular basis allowed an overview of the seasonal variations of the trace gas distribution in the tropopause region over Europe from 35°-75°N to investigate the influence of transport and mixing across the extratropical tropopause on the lowermost stratosphere. From the correlation of CO and O3 irreversible mixing of tropospheric air into the lowermost stratosphere is identified. The CO distribution indicates that transport and subsequent mixing of tropospheric air across the extratropical tropopause predominantly affects a layer, which closely follows the shape of the local tropopause. In addition, the seasonal cycle of CO2 illustrates the strong coupling of that layer to the extratropical troposphere. Both, horizontal gradients of CO on isentropes as well as the CO-O3-distribution in the lowermost stratosphere reveal that the influence of quasi-horizontal transport and subsequent mixing weakens with distance from the local tropopause. The mixing layer extends to about 25 K in potential temperature above the local tropopause exhibiting only a weak seasonality. However, at large distances from the tropopause a significant influence of tropospheric air is still evident. The relation between N2O and CO2 indicates that a significant contribution of air originating from the tropical tropopause contributes to the background air in the extratropical lowermost stratosphere.

scholarly journals DESIGN AND RESULTS OF AN AI-BASED FORECASTING OF AIR POLLUTANTS FOR SMART CITIES

2021 ◽  
Vol VIII-4/W1-2021 ◽  
pp. 89-96
Author(s):  
L. Petry ◽  
T. Meiers ◽  
D. Reuschenberg ◽  
S. Mirzavand Borujeni ◽  
J. Arndt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Weather Forecast ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Novel Approach

Abstract. This paper presents the design and the results of a novel approach to predict air pollutants in urban environments. The objective is to create an artificial intelligence (AI)-based system to support planning actors in taking effective and adequate short-term measures against unfavourable air quality situations. In general, air quality in European cities has improved over the past decades. Nevertheless, reductions of the air pollutants particulate matter (PM), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ground-level ozone (O3), in particular, are essential to ensure the quality of life and a healthy life in cities. To forecast these air pollutants for the next 48 hours, a sequence-to-sequence encoder-decoder model with a recurrent neural network (RNN) was implemented. The model was trained with historic in situ air pollutant measurements, traffic and meteorological data. An evaluation of the prediction results against historical data shows high accordance with in situ measurements and implicate the system’s applicability and its great potential for high quality forecasts of air pollutants in urban environments by including real time weather forecast data.

scholarly journals Nitrogen dioxide and formaldehyde measurements from the GEOstationary Coastal and Air Pollution Events (GEO-CAPE) Airborne Simulator over Houston, Texas

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 5941-5964 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline R. Nowlan ◽  
Xiong Liu ◽  
Scott J. Janz ◽  
Matthew G. Kowalewski ◽  
Kelly Chance ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Nitrogen Dioxide ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Scattered Light ◽  
Trace Gas ◽  
Satellite Mission ◽  
Tropospheric No2 ◽  
Pollution Events

Abstract. The GEOstationary Coastal and Air Pollution Events (GEO-CAPE) Airborne Simulator (GCAS) was developed in support of NASA's decadal survey GEO-CAPE geostationary satellite mission. GCAS is an airborne push-broom remote-sensing instrument, consisting of two channels which make hyperspectral measurements in the ultraviolet/visible (optimized for air quality observations) and the visible–near infrared (optimized for ocean color observations). The GCAS instrument participated in its first intensive field campaign during the Deriving Information on Surface Conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality (DISCOVER-AQ) campaign in Texas in September 2013. During this campaign, the instrument flew on a King Air B-200 aircraft during 21 flights on 11 days to make air quality observations over Houston, Texas. We present GCAS trace gas retrievals of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and formaldehyde (CH2O), and compare these results with trace gas columns derived from coincident in situ profile measurements of NO2 and CH2O made by instruments on a P-3B aircraft, and with NO2 observations from ground-based Pandora spectrometers operating in direct-sun and scattered light modes. GCAS tropospheric column measurements correlate well spatially and temporally with columns estimated from the P-3B measurements for both NO2 (r2=0.89) and CH2O (r2=0.54) and with Pandora direct-sun (r2=0.85) and scattered light (r2=0.94) observed NO2 columns. Coincident GCAS columns agree in magnitude with NO2 and CH2O P-3B-observed columns to within 10 % but are larger than scattered light Pandora tropospheric NO2 columns by 33 % and direct-sun Pandora NO2 columns by 50 %.

Satellite-based observations of ground-level fine particulate matter and comparison to a regional air quality model

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Handschuh ◽  
Frank Baier ◽  
Thilo Erbertseder ◽  
Martijn Schaap
Keyword(s):  
Particulate Matter ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Fine Particulate Matter ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
In Situ Measurements ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Optical Parameters ◽  
Fine Particulate

<p>Particulate matter and other air pollutants have become an increasing burden on the environment and human health. Especially in metropolitan and high-traffic areas, air quality is often remarkably reduced. For a better understanding of the air quality in specific areas, which is of great environment-political interest, data with high resolution in space and time is required. The combination of satellite observations and chemistry-transport-modelling has proven to give a good database for assessments and analyses of air pollution. In contrast to sample in-situ measurements, satellite observations provide area-wide coverage ​​of measurements and thus the possibility for an almost gapless mapping of actual air pollutants. For a high temporal resolution, chemistry-transport-models are needed, which calculate concentrations of specific pollutants in continuous time steps. Satellite observations can thus be used to improve model performances.</p><p>There are no direct satellite-measurements of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) but ground-level concentrations of PM2.5 can be derived from optical parameters such as aerosol optical depth (AOD). A wide range of methods for the determination of PM2.5 concentrations from AOD measurements has been developed so far, but it is still a big challenge. In this study a semi-empirical approach based on the physical relationships between meteorological and optical parameters was applied to determine a first-guess of ground-level PM2.5 concentrations for the year 2018 and the larger Germany region. Therefor AOD observations of MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) aboard the NASA Aqua satellite were used in a spatial resolution of 3km. First results showed an overestimation of ground-level aerosols and quiet low correlations with in-situ station measurements from the European Environmental Agency (EEA). To improve the results, correction factors were calculated using the coefficients of linear regression between satellite-based and in-situ measured particulate matter concentrations. Spatial and seasonal dependencies were taken into account with it. Correlations between satellite and in-situ measurements could be improved applying this method.</p><p>The MODIS 3km AOD product was found to be a good base for area-wide calculations of ground-level PM2.5 concentrations. First comparisons to the calculated PM2.5 concentrations from chemistry-transport-model POLYPHEMUS/DLR showed significant differences though. Satellite observations will now be used to improve the general model performance, first by helping to find and understand regional and temporal dependencies in the differences. As part of the German project S-VELD funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure BMVI, it will help for example to adjust the derivation of particle emissions within the model.</p>

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