Mobile DOAS Observations of Tropospheric NO2 Using an UltraLight Trike and Flux Calculation

Abstract

Abstract:In this study, we report on airborne Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) observations of tropospheric NO 2 using an Ultralight Trike (ULT) and associated flux calculations. The instrument onboard the ULT was developed for measuring the tropospheric NO 2 Vertical Column Density (VCD) and it was operated for several days between 2011 and 2014, in the South-East of Romania. Collocated measurements were performed using a car-DOAS instrument. Most of the airborne and mobile ground-based measurements were performed close to an industrial platform located nearby Galati city (45.43 • N, 28.03 • E). We found a correlation of R = 0.71 between tropospheric NO 2 VCDs deduced from airborne DOAS observations and mobile ground-based DOAS observations. We also present a comparison between stratospheric NO 2 Slant Column Density (SCD) derived from the Dutch OMI NO 2 (DOMINO) satellite data product and stratospheric SCDs obtained from ground and airborne measurements. The airborne DOAS observations performed on 13 August 2014 were used to quantify the NO 2 flux originating from an industrial platform located nearby Galati city. Measurements during a flight above the industrial plume showed a maximum tropospheric NO 2 VCD of (1.41 ± 0.27) × 10 16 molecules/cm 2 and an associated NO 2 flux of (3.45 ± 0.89) × 10 −3 kg/s.

Observations of Atmospheric NO2 Using a New Low-Cost MAX-DOAS System

“…The MAX-DOAS observations can be performed using static or mobile observations from cars, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), ships, airplanes, etc. [21][22][23][24].…”

Supplementary material to "The Airborne ROmanian Measurements of Aerosols and Trace gases (AROMAT) campaigns"

“…The ULM-DOAS payload Constantin et al (2017) is based on an ULS-2048XL Avantes spectrometer with a focal length of 75 mm, which covers the spectral range of 280-550 nm. A piece of wood under the aircraft wing holds the telescope, which has a 1.2 • field-of-view in the nadir direction.…”

The Small Whiskbroom Imager for atmospheric compositioN monitorinG (SWING) and its operations from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) during the AROMAT campaign

“…General et al (2014) also quantified NO 2 in the vicinity of the Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska. Constantin et al (2017) used a compact nadir-only set-up to sample the exhaust plume of a steel factory from an ultralight trike in Galati, Romania. These airborne measurements typically yield a spatial resolution of around 100 m, i.e.…”