Abstract
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 33,
L22812,
5 PP., 2006
doi:10.1029/2006GL027749
Satellite-observed U.S. power plant NOx emission reductions and their impact on air quality
Chemical Sciences Division, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USA
Institute of Environmental Physics and Institute of Remote Sensing, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Chemical Sciences Division, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USA
Chemical Sciences Division, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USA
Chemical Sciences Division, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USA
Chemical Sciences Division, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USA
Institute of Environmental Physics and Institute of Remote Sensing, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Institute of Environmental Physics and Institute of Remote Sensing, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Global Systems Division, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USA
Global Systems Division, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USA
Nitrogen oxide (NOx) 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 NOx emissions in 1999. Here we show that space-based instruments observed declining regional NOx 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 NOx 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.
Citation: (2006), Satellite-observed U.S. power plant NOx emission reductions and their impact on air quality, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L22812, doi:10.1029/2006GL027749.
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