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| Titel |
Solar Fourier Transform Spectrometry in mid-near infrared and visible-ultraviolet to monitor greenhouse gas and co-emitted pollutant emissions from Four Corners, NM power plants |
| VerfasserIn |
Manvendra Dubey |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2011
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 13 (2011) |
| Datensatznummer |
250045909
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Agreements to limit greenhouse gas emissions require scientifically valid methods for
monitoring and validating anthropogenic emissions. However, the task of monitoring
CO2emissions is difficult because relatively small increases need to be detected against
CO2’s variable and large background concentrations. To ensure fair compliance, remotely
sensed measurements and an understanding of the atmospheric transport of CO2 from the
sources are required. We hypothesize that CO2 from various natural and anthropogenic
sources can be distinguished and tracked by monitoring co-emitted gases (e.g. NO2, SO2,
and CO) and isotopomers (e.g.13CO2). The ratio of a co-emitted species to CO2
depends on fuel composition and combustion process and thus varies by energy sector.
These ratios provide an independent method to quantify CO2 emissions. Their low
backgrounds, their large perturbations from energy activities, and our ability to
measure them precisely make them sensitive probes to attribute sources, especially
when emission ratios of multiple species are used concurrently. This strategy of
observing emission ratios of co-emitted species to derive regional and source-specific
baselines and CO2 fluxes is being tested in the Four Corners region of northwestern
New Mexico. The semi-arid ecology in the region has a weak natural carbon cycle,
facilitating our goal of dissection of anthropogenic sector-specific sources. The net Four
Corners and San Juan power plant emissions are the largest point source of CO2 and
NOX in North America. The Four Corners plant produces much more NOX than
the San Juan power plant, while their energy and CO2 outputs, and coal used, are
similar. This difference offers us a unique opportunity to test discrimination methods.
While their CO2 signals remain elusive for current satellites, their NO2plumes
have recently been resolved from space. All of this makes the site an ideal test
bed.
Los Alamos National Laboratory has deployed a solar tracking Fourier Transform
Spectrometer in San Juan County, NM to monitor regional scale greenhouse gas and pollution
from two power plants. Our system, deployed 12/2010, is part of the Total Column
Carbon Observing Network (https://tccon-wiki.caltech.edu/Sites/Four_Corners ). It
has Aluminum optics, InSb, InGaAs and Si detectors and CaF2 and quartz beam
splitters allowing it to cover the mid-near ir and uv-vis regions. There are also in-situ
instruments measuring CO2 and CH4 (Picarro Cavity Ringdown), CO, NOX, SO2, O3
and aerosols in the boundary layer, as well as CIMEL monitoring aerosols in the
column. We are executing a systematic and coordinated observational, satellite
validation and modeling program. We will present analysis of new observations
and develop signature relations between air pollutants and CO2 for attributions.
Satellite measurements are also analyzed over Four Corners and have revealed that
recent environmental upgrades have reduced NOX emissions, verifying bottom up
inventories. A coordinated field campaign is planned, which will interrogate the
power plant plume and regional dynamics and chemistry. Modeling using the plants’
reported emissions will be compared with observations to test the veracity of our
approach. Early modeling, satellite analyses and measurements will be presented. |
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