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Tracking down anthropogenic point sources of VOCs from space

par Franco, Bruno ;Clarisse, Lieven ;Van Damme, Martin ;Coheur, Pierre
Référence ACK Vortrag (December 7, 2022: Institut für Energie- und Klimaforschung (IEK), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany)
Publication Non publié, 2022-12-07

Communication à un colloque

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Résumé :

Large releases of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) occur frequently in link with human activities, especially in the vicinity of industrial areas and megacities where the potential emitters are numerous. Identifying and monitoring such anthropogenic sources is therefore key to mitigate air pollution. However, these sources are still poorly represented in the current emission databases as they primarily lack constraints from global and consistent measurements. The multi-annual and spatially dense measurements from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) offer the opportunity to monitor the atmospheric abundance of VOCs at the global scale. We exploit the extensive IASI dataset in combination with an advanced oversampling technique that allows augmenting the spatial resolution of averaged satellite data beyond what the sounder can initially offers. As it resolves much finer spatial features, such techniques are effective in locating emitter sources of a target pollutant. We demonstrate that, applied to the IASI VOC measurements, this allows the detection from space of anthropogenic point sources of major VOCs, namely ethylene (C2H4), acetylene (C2H2) and methanol (CH3OH). We categorize these point-sources worldwide, which are found to be mainly associated with heavy industries such as petrochemical hubs, coal-related activities, and megacities. This work highlights the importance of spaceborne measurements and the key role that will be played by future satellite missions to tackle the problematic of industrial air pollution.