Date of Award
2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Atmospheric and Earth Science
Committee Chair
Shanhu Lee
Committee Member
Can Li
Committee Member
Leiqiu Hu
Research Advisor
Shanhu Lee
Subject(s)
Sulfur dioxide--China--Remote sensing, Sulfur dioxide mitigation
Abstract
Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is a key air pollutant as it contributes to negative health effects, acid rain, and aerosol formation. Using satellite data to monitor surface SO2 concentrations can fill in the gaps of ground-based air quality networks in less populated areas. In this study, SO2 retrievals from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) were employed to estimate annual and seasonal average surface SO2 concentrations over eastern China, a major anthropogenic source region, from 2015 to 2018. The OMI-derived surface SO2 concentrations had a similar spatial distribution and temporal trends as ground-based measurements from an air quality monitoring network, but they were underestimated by 75-80%. As the SO2 concentrations decreased over the study period, the consistency between the OMI-derived concentrations and in-situ measurements also worsened. As global SO2 emissions decrease, higher resolution satellites and models, or new methods such as machine learning, may be more useful for this application.
Recommended Citation
Watson, Zachary, "Estimating surface sulfur dioxide concentrations over eastern China using OMI satellite data" (2025). Theses. 735.
https://louis.uah.edu/uah-theses/735
