Application of scattered sunlight spectroscopy for quantification of gas emissions from anthropogenic and natural sources

Licentiate thesis, 2007

Monitoring of gas emissions from natural and anthropogenic sources is of importance due to their negative effects on human health, atmospheric quality and ecosystems. Concern over air pollution has increased the need to develop measurement techniques suitable for gas flux determination. Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) has been widely used during past decades, is capable of quantifying several molecules simultaneously, provides results in real time with good time resolution, is non invasive, as well as precise and flexible to use in different conditions and environments. In this thesis instruments based on scattered sunlight spectroscopy have been sucessfully used to quantify gas emissions from anthropogenic (refineries, power plants and chemical industries) and natural (volcanoes) sources during several field campaigns. The studied gas species were sulphur and nitrogen dioxides (SO2, NO2) mainly because of their negative effects on human health as well as oxidation capability, formation of sulphuric and nitric acids respectively and further dry or wet deposition. Results of emissions from anthropogenic sources have been compared with available databases. On the other hand the results of emissions from natural sources have been correlated to seismicity in order to improve geophysical understanding of the volcanic system.