Satellite-observed U.S. power plant NOx emission reductions and their impact on air quality

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Editor's Highlight Read Full Article (file size: 911201 bytes) Cited by GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 33, L22812, doi:10.1029/2006GL027749, 2006 Satellite-observed U.S. power plant NO_x emission reductions and their impact on air quality S.-W. Kim Chemical Sciences Division, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USA A. Heckel Institute of Environmental Physics and Institute of Remote Sensing, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany S. A. McKeen Chemical Sciences Division, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USA G. J. Frost Chemical Sciences Division, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USA E.-Y. Hsie Chemical Sciences Division, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USA M. K. Trainer Chemical Sciences Division, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USA A. Richter Institute of Environmental Physics and Institute of Remote Sensing, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany J. P. Burrows Institute of Environmental Physics and Institute of Remote Sensing, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany S. E. Peckham Global Systems Division, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USA G. A. Grell Global Systems Division, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USA Abstract Nitrogen oxide (NO_x) emissions resulting from fossil fuel combustion lead to unhealthy levels of near-surface ozone (O₃). One of the largest U.S. sources, electric power generation, represented about 25% of the U.S. anthropogenic NO_x emissions in 1999. Here we show that space-based instruments observed declining regional NO_x levels between 1999 and 2005 in response to the recent implementation of pollution controls by utility companies in the eastern U.S. Satellite-retrieved summertime nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) columns and bottom-up emission estimates show larger decreases in the Ohio River Valley, where power plants dominate NO_x emissions, than in the northeast U.S. urban corridor. Model simulations predict lower O₃ across much of the eastern U.S. in response to these emission reductions. Received 1 August 2006; accepted 24 October 2006; published 29 November 2006. Keywords: SCIAMACHY; satellite; power plant; NO_x emission. Index Terms: 0345 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Pollution: urban and regional (0305, 0478, 4251); 0368 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Troposphere: constituent transport and chemistry; 0365 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Troposphere: composition and chemistry. Read Full Article (file size: 911201 bytes) Cited by Citation: Kim, S.-W., A. Heckel, S. A. McKeen, G. J. Frost, E.-Y. Hsie, M. K. Trainer, A. Richter, J. P. Burrows, S. E. Peckham, and G. A. Grell (2006), Satellite-observed U.S. power plant NO_x emission reductions and their impact on air quality, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L22812, doi:10.1029/2006GL027749. Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union.

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