Two years of satellite-based carbon dioxide emission quantification at the world's largest coal-fired power plants
<p>Carbon dioxide (CO<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2</sub></span>) emissions from combustion sources are uncertain in many places across the globe. Satellites have the ability to detect and quantify emissions from large CO<span class="inline-formul...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| Online Access: | https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/23/14577/2023/acp-23-14577-2023.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797462025225371648 |
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| author | D. H. Cusworth D. H. Cusworth A. K. Thorpe C. E. Miller A. K. Ayasse R. Jiorle R. M. Duren R. M. Duren R. M. Duren R. Nassar J.-P. Mastrogiacomo R. R. Nelson |
| author_facet | D. H. Cusworth D. H. Cusworth A. K. Thorpe C. E. Miller A. K. Ayasse R. Jiorle R. M. Duren R. M. Duren R. M. Duren R. Nassar J.-P. Mastrogiacomo R. R. Nelson |
| author_sort | D. H. Cusworth |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Carbon dioxide (CO<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2</sub></span>) emissions from combustion sources are uncertain in many places across the globe. Satellites have the ability to detect and quantify emissions from large CO<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2</sub></span> point sources, including coal-fired power plants. In this study, we routinely made observations with the PRecursore IperSpettrale della Missione Applicativa (PRISMA) satellite imaging spectrometer and the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3 (OCO-3) instrument aboard the International Space Station at over 30 coal-fired power plants between 2021 and 2022. CO<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2</sub></span> plumes were detected in 50 % of the acquired PRISMA scenes, which is consistent with the combined influence of viewing parameters on detection (solar illumination and surface reflectance) and unknown factors (e.g., daily operational status). We compare satellite-derived emission rates to in situ stack emission observations and find average agreement to within 27 % for PRISMA and 30 % for OCO-3, although more observations are needed to robustly characterize the error. We highlight two examples of fusing PRISMA with OCO-2 and OCO-3 observations in South Africa and India. For India, we acquired PRISMA and OCO-3 observations on the same day and used the high-spatial-resolution capability of PRISMA (30 m spatial/pixel resolution) to partition relative contributions of two distinct emitting power plants to the net emission. Although an encouraging start, 2 years of observations from these satellites did not produce sufficient observations to estimate annual average emission rates within low (<span class="inline-formula"><15 <i>%</i></span>) uncertainties. However, as the constellation of CO<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2</sub></span>-observing satellites is poised to significantly improve in the coming decade, this study offers an approach to leverage multiple observation platforms to better quantify and characterize uncertainty for large anthropogenic emission sources.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:29:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1c631c0dee1e436ab3cc1f80f42c8d48 |
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| issn | 1680-7316 1680-7324 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:29:35Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
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| series | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-1c631c0dee1e436ab3cc1f80f42c8d482023-11-24T12:23:08ZengCopernicus PublicationsAtmospheric Chemistry and Physics1680-73161680-73242023-11-0123145771459110.5194/acp-23-14577-2023Two years of satellite-based carbon dioxide emission quantification at the world's largest coal-fired power plantsD. H. Cusworth0D. H. Cusworth1A. K. Thorpe2C. E. Miller3A. K. Ayasse4R. Jiorle5R. M. Duren6R. M. Duren7R. M. Duren8R. Nassar9J.-P. Mastrogiacomo10R. R. Nelson11Carbon Mapper, Pasadena, CA, USAArizona Institute for Resilience, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USAJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USAJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USACarbon Mapper, Pasadena, CA, USACarbon Mapper, Pasadena, CA, USACarbon Mapper, Pasadena, CA, USAArizona Institute for Resilience, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USAJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USAClimate Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, CanadaJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA<p>Carbon dioxide (CO<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2</sub></span>) emissions from combustion sources are uncertain in many places across the globe. Satellites have the ability to detect and quantify emissions from large CO<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2</sub></span> point sources, including coal-fired power plants. In this study, we routinely made observations with the PRecursore IperSpettrale della Missione Applicativa (PRISMA) satellite imaging spectrometer and the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3 (OCO-3) instrument aboard the International Space Station at over 30 coal-fired power plants between 2021 and 2022. CO<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2</sub></span> plumes were detected in 50 % of the acquired PRISMA scenes, which is consistent with the combined influence of viewing parameters on detection (solar illumination and surface reflectance) and unknown factors (e.g., daily operational status). We compare satellite-derived emission rates to in situ stack emission observations and find average agreement to within 27 % for PRISMA and 30 % for OCO-3, although more observations are needed to robustly characterize the error. We highlight two examples of fusing PRISMA with OCO-2 and OCO-3 observations in South Africa and India. For India, we acquired PRISMA and OCO-3 observations on the same day and used the high-spatial-resolution capability of PRISMA (30 m spatial/pixel resolution) to partition relative contributions of two distinct emitting power plants to the net emission. Although an encouraging start, 2 years of observations from these satellites did not produce sufficient observations to estimate annual average emission rates within low (<span class="inline-formula"><15 <i>%</i></span>) uncertainties. However, as the constellation of CO<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2</sub></span>-observing satellites is poised to significantly improve in the coming decade, this study offers an approach to leverage multiple observation platforms to better quantify and characterize uncertainty for large anthropogenic emission sources.</p>https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/23/14577/2023/acp-23-14577-2023.pdf |
| spellingShingle | D. H. Cusworth D. H. Cusworth A. K. Thorpe C. E. Miller A. K. Ayasse R. Jiorle R. M. Duren R. M. Duren R. M. Duren R. Nassar J.-P. Mastrogiacomo R. R. Nelson Two years of satellite-based carbon dioxide emission quantification at the world's largest coal-fired power plants Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| title | Two years of satellite-based carbon dioxide emission quantification at the world's largest coal-fired power plants |
| title_full | Two years of satellite-based carbon dioxide emission quantification at the world's largest coal-fired power plants |
| title_fullStr | Two years of satellite-based carbon dioxide emission quantification at the world's largest coal-fired power plants |
| title_full_unstemmed | Two years of satellite-based carbon dioxide emission quantification at the world's largest coal-fired power plants |
| title_short | Two years of satellite-based carbon dioxide emission quantification at the world's largest coal-fired power plants |
| title_sort | two years of satellite based carbon dioxide emission quantification at the world s largest coal fired power plants |
| url | https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/23/14577/2023/acp-23-14577-2023.pdf |
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