A Novel Approach To Integrated Time Series Analysis of Anthropogenic Gas Emissions

Abstract:

Monitoring the activity of anthropogenic gas emissions hotspots, especially greenhouse gasses (GhGs) and pollutants such as SO2, is becoming increasingly important in efforts to reduce the alarming rate of global warming. Governments often rely on individual ground reports on gas emissions levels at industry locations such as metal mining/refiners, power plants, and factories that are major contributors to global warming. However, these reports are infrequent and expensive to produce, especially for locations that are remote or located in countries where gas emissions reporting is not heavily regulated. Therefore, we have developed a new remote sensing based methodology for providing fast and temporally frequent monitoring of anthropogenic gas emissions from individual industry locations.

In this study, we develop a new integrated approach to industry gas emissions monitoring. Specifically, we utilize 3 different satellite-based instruments: 1) The Sentinel-5 Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) is used to analyze atmospheric SO2 and NO2 concentrations, 2) the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3 instrument (OCO-3) onboard the international space station is used to track atmospheric CO2 concentrations, and 3) the Landsat Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) is used to monitor thermal emissions signals through brightness temperature. Through these 3 major data sets, we apply time series analyses for monthly monitoring of the thermal, SO2, NO2, and CO2 signals of major industry gas emissions hotspots on a global scale.

Initial results showcase the successful monthly monitoring of increased SO2 concentrations and thermal activity at major Cu, Ni, Zn, and Co mining and smelting facilities around the world compared to uninhabited or sparsely populated reference locations. This is expected as SO2 is a major byproduct of the high-temperature thermal decomposition of sulfide ores to extract metals. Future work will examine the possibility of monitoring the CO2 signals of these smelting/mining facilities in addition to power plants on a monthly basis. This novel approach to integrated gas emissions time series analysis on a small spatial scale covering industrial assets provides a much needed platform for continued monitoring and regulation of GhGs and pollutants in a temporally frequent and globally accessible manner.