In recent years a steady trend of increasing concentrations of major air pollutants is observed. The nature and dynamics of this trend vary according to the type of pollutant, source of emissions, and location. Because of these differences, it is important to comprehensively analyze the spatial and temporal behavior of the most important air pollutants using satellite and ground-based measurement data. An important step in this process is locating, tracking, and quantifying the emissions. This paper presents the results of air pollution monitoring based on the analysis of data obtained from 32 Ground-based Automatic Measuring Stations (GAMS) located throughout Bulgaria. The spatial and temporal behavior of major air pollutants such as NO, NO2, SO2, CO, and benzene for the period 2015 - 2022 was investigated. However, not all GAMS have data for all types of pollutants. The largest amount of information is available for SO2 and NO2, while small numbers of GAMS provide data for CO. For pollutants such as NO2, SO2, and CO an analysis with satellite data from the European Sentinel-5P satellite was performed. Due to the uneven distribution of the available information from ground measurements, the spatial behavior of the pollutants studied is presented using a unified methodology for selected regions. Monthly and annual average data were also analyzed in our study.
The increase in concentrations of major atmospheric pollutants such as NO2, CO, CH4 as result of human activities is one of the main causes of the dynamic climate changes observed in recent years. These rapid changes have a strong influence on air quality at local and global levels and directly affect human health. This is one of the main reasons for faster global warming. The concentration of methane in the atmosphere is increasing at an accelerating rate. Three sectors are responsible for most anthropogenic CH4 emissions: fossil fuels, waste and agriculture. Locating, tracking and quantifying all these emissions is an important step towards a more accurate inventory. The use of satellite observations rises at a new label the monitoring process and improves the accuracy of emissions reporting. Medium-resolution satellite data, such as that provided by the TROPOMI sensor on the European Sentinel-5P satellite, is a powerful tool for detecting and tracking large emissions of air pollutants. The methodology presented here enables us to determine background concentrations of CH4, NO2, CO relatively quickly and efficiently. It improves our ability to quickly detect periodic or occasional emissions from unregulated sources, track seasonal and annual variations in concentrations of these air pollutants, etc. Hundreds of cases of high methane, NO2 and CO emissions in coal mining areas have been registered using this methodology. The method is also applicable to lower-intensity emission sources, such as landfills, agriculture or recording methane emissions from wetlands.
Increased emissions and thus higher concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere as a result of human activities are one of the main reasons for the observed rise in temperatures in recent years. Methane is the second most abundant greenhouse gas and plays a significant role in global warming. With the oil and gas industry and coal mining accounting for the majority of anthropogenic emissions, atmospheric methane concentrations are increasing at an accelerating rate. In this paper, using satellite data from the Sentinel-5P for the period of May 2018 to December 2022, we present an efficient and fast method to calculate background atmospheric CH4 concentrations. The emission source in the study area is homogeneous, allowing the proposed method to be used as a benchmark for building models to estimate and track emissions in heterogeneous regions. The knowledge of background concentrations allows the tracking of seasonal and annual variations and trends, as well as the rapid detection of regular or accidental emissions from unregulated sources.
Air pollution is one of the most significant environmental problems in the world nowadays. A considerable part of anthropogenic emissions is produced by industry and Bulgaria is no exception. The most important air pollutants that have a significant impact on the air quality and have a direct or indirect influence on climate change are nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH4) and sulphur dioxide (SO2). This paper reports on pollution monitoring results in Bulgaria's largest industrial area, located in the triangle between the cities of Stara Zagora, Haskovo and Plovdiv. Daily satellite data from the Sentinel 5P - TROPOMI instrument were used to study high levels of nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane and sulphur dioxide emissions from October 2018 to December 2022. Validation of the results was carried out using ground data from the nearest Automatic Identification System (AIS) station. The monitoring results show that the study area has the highest levels of NO2 pollution. However, many cases of SO2 pollution have also been recorded.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.