Satellite observation of pollutant emissions from gas flaring activities near the Arctic. (May 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Li, Can; Hsu, N. Christina; Sayer, Andrew M.; Krotkov, Nickolay A.; Fu, Joshua S.; Lamsal, Lok N.; Lee, Jaehwa; Tsay, Si-Chee
• Is Part Of: Atmospheric environment. Volume 133(2016)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 11
• Publication Date: 2016-05
• Subjects: Gas flaring -- Oil -- OMI NO2 -- MODIS AOD -- Arctic; Air -- Pollution -- Periodicals; Air -- Pollution -- Meteorological aspects -- Periodicals; 551.51
• DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2016.03.019
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1352-2310

Abstract

Abstract: Gas flaring is a common practice in the oil industry that can have significant environmental impacts, but has until recently been largely overlooked in terms of relevance to climate change. We utilize data from various satellite sensors to examine pollutant emissions from oil exploitation activities in four areas near the Arctic. Despite the remoteness of these sparsely populated areas, tropospheric NO2 retrieved from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) is substantial at ∼1 × 10 15 molecules cm −2, suggesting sizeable emissions from these industrial activities. Statistically significant (at the 95% confidence level, corresponding uncertainties in parentheses) increasing trends of 0.017 (±0.01) × 10 15 and 0.015 (±0.006) × 10 15 molecules cm −2 year −1 over 2004–2015 were found for Bakken (USA) and Athabasca (Canada), two areas having recently experienced fast expansion in the oil industry. This rapid change has implications for emission inventories, which are updated less frequently. No significant trend was found for the North Sea (Europe), where oil production has been declining since the 1990s. For northern Russia, the trend was just under the 95% significance threshold at 0.0057 (±0.006) × 10 15 molecules cm −2 year −1 . This raises an interesting inconsistency as prior studies have suggested that, in contrast to the continued, albeit slow, expansion of Russian oil/gas production, gas flaring in Russia has decreased in recent years. However, only a fraction of oil fields in Russia were covered in our analysis. Satellite aerosol optical depth (AOD) data revealed similar tendencies, albeit at a weaker level of statistical significance, due to the longer lifetime of aerosols and contributions from other sources. This study demonstrates that synergetic use of data from multiple satellite sensors can provide valuable information on pollutant emission sources that is otherwise difficult to acquire. Highlights: Gas flaring emissions from oil/gas fields near the Arctic studied with satellite data. OMI NO2 data show evidence of enhanced NOx emissions due to gas flaring. Growth of NO2 over two North American regions associated with boom in oil industry. Lack of significant AOD trend highlights need for longer, high-quality measurements.