Discover new sources of pollution with NASA satellites

The method of detecting new sources of emissions with NASA satellites allows to identify hidden sources of contamination.

Sulfur dioxide (SO ₂ ) is a health threat and it plays an important role in forming acid rain. SO ₂ is also one of six pollutants in the list of US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations.

Currently, monitoring of SO ₂ emission activity is often based on analysis of emission records. These data are taken from measurements of the ground as well as other factors including the use of fuel by factories .

A team of researchers from the University of Maryland, NASA in the United States and Dalhousie University and Climate Change Canada in Canada have discovered independent SO ₂ detection methods, not based on current monitoring techniques. New research is published in the journal Nature Geoscience on May 30.

Thanks to satellites, scientists can quantify the emission and SO2 emission sources that the old analysis method could not do - (Photo: Getty Images).

The team used raw data from the Dutch-Finnish Ozone Monitoring Instrument on NASA's Aura spacecraft and converted it into a sulfur dioxide concentration estimate. Through analysis of satellite data taken from 2005 to 2014, they found 39 new SO2 emission sources that have never been discovered and listed before.

These sources include coal-fired power plants, oil and gas operations in many regions such as Mexico, the Middle East, Russia . SO ₂ emissions have not been reported yet by new scientists. can account for up to 12% of total man-made SO ₂ emissions. Besides, the study also found 75 other sources of natural SO2 emissions.

"Quantifying sulfur dioxide black spots will not succeed without a combination of satellite data" , co-author and atmospheric scientist Nickolay Krotkov from NASA's Goddard Space Center said.

The main author of the project, atmospheric scientist Chris McLinden, said that the satellite image of the area with sulfur dioxide will appear as a "hot spot" on the map. The above method also makes it easier to estimate emissions. Sources from satellites combined with new data analysis methods allow scientists to identify pollution areas even when pollution levels are small.

This is also the first study to provide an annual measurement of inactive volcanoes that are slowly leaking toxic gas.