Quantification of industrial emissions of VOCs, NO2 and SO2 by SOF and Mobile DOAS
Report, 2011

Quantification of industrial emissions of VOCs, NO2 and SO2 by SOF and mobile DOAS during DISCOVER AQ

Mobile remote sensing by SOF and mobile DOAS will be carried out in the Houston ship channel (HSC) area during September 2013. In this manner vertical columns will be obtained of VOCs (alkanes, alkenes), NH3, NO2, SO2, HCHO and particles as inferred from aerosol optical depth. The optical remote data will be complemented by wind profile measurements. The data collected will have great value of its own to be applied for future ozone modeling since a good understanding of the emission variability and changes in the total emissions in the HSC will be obtained by comparison to similar studies in 2006, 2009 and 2011 [Mellqvist 2007; 2009; 2010 and Rivera 2010]. The emission data will be compared to available emission inventories and categorized in various industrial types.

Equally important, the measurements will complement the NASA Discover AQ campaign which will run in the HSC area during the targeted month. NASA will then fly a high altitude aircraft (B200) equipped with optical sensors measuring columns of SO2, NO2, HCHO and aerosol profiles (LIDAR). They will utilize a low flying airplane (P-3) that will make spirals in the vicinity of two ground stations in the HSC, to validate the high altitude measurements.

The spatial column data of NO2, SO2, and HCHO from the mobile DOAS will be directly comparable to the column data measured by the high altitude NASA aircraft, hence providing a validation data set across the whole ship channel. Secondly, by carrying out emission measurements of VOCs, NO2, SO2 and HCHO around the HSC, especially upwind the two sites, it will be possible to interpret the spiral measurements by the NASA P-3 and the high altitude measurements by the B200 in a better way. The combined airborne and ground based data set will be rather comprehensive and has large potential to be used for modeling of the ozone in the HSC area. This project will support the AQRP priority research area: Improving the understanding of ozone and PM formation and emission characteristics in the Houston area through supplementary measurements to the NASA Discover-AQ campaign September 2013

Author

John Johansson

Geoscience and Remote Sensing

Johan Mellqvist

Geoscience and Remote Sensing

Jerker Samuelsson

B. Rappengluck

Darrell Anderson

University of Houston

B. Lefer

Sergio Alvarez

J. Flynn

Subject Categories

Aerospace Engineering

Other Environmental Engineering

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4/5/2024 4