Context and objectives
Elevated concentrations of NO2 in the air pose a threat on people’s health. Hence, NO2 is one of the
substances for which WHO recommends continuous monitoring across territories. Acceptable
concentration thresholds have recently been further lowered by WHO, and the new EU regulations
were issued in October 2024 (EU 2024/2881). After transport, energy production and industry is the
second contributing sector to the global nitrogen oxide anthropogenic emissions. Nations are
requested to report NO2 emissions per sector, which, for large point sources, means collecting
figures provided by the emitters themselves, or use indirect pieces of information (like the annual
volume of fuel purchased). In all cases, large uncertainties remain on these bottom-up processes.
The PANACHE project primarily aims at reducing the uncertainties of an emerging top-down
estimation method: the determination of NO2 emission fluxes from air quality satellite instruments
such as TROPOMI. A secondary objective is to establish a new approach for the accurate
determination of NO2 emission fluxes from large chimneys: the combination of an innovative
hyperspectral imaging instrument, the NO2 camera, direct stack emission measurements and droneborne
lightweight low-cost air quality sensors flown inside the plume.
To achieve these objectives, two measurement campaigns will be organized at the Neurath power
plant, in Germany, one of the biggest point sources of NO2 in Western Europe, whose emissions can
easily reach the Belgian territory. This strong emitter is also well captured in the NO2 tropospheric
columns measured by TROPOMI. The estimation of emission fluxes from satellite data is subject to
large uncertainties which need to be reduced. In order to better constrain these uncertainties, the
measurements from an NO2 camera, and low-cost air quality sensors transported by drone into the
plume will be assimilated and extrapolated by a plume dispersion model. The model will bridge the
gap with the satellite coarser resolution.
Project outcome
Expected scientific results
- A revision of the assumptions made in the current state-of-the-art method for the top-down
assessment of point source NO2 emissions.
- A reduced total uncertainty on the top-down estimation of the NO2 emissions from the
Neurath-Niederaussem power plant complex.
- A global improvement (reduced uncertainties) of the top-down catalog of NO2 emissions
worldwide thanks to the lessons learned on the Neurath-Niederaussem test site.
- The establishment of a coupled multi instrument-model approach for the validation of
satellite estimates of NO2 emissions which will be presented to the scientific community for
potential application to other sites.
Expected products and services
- Improved top-down, satellite-based point source NO2 emissions catalogue
- A new multi-instrument and model method for point source emissions quantification
| Project leader(s): | BIRA - IASB - Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy | |||
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