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- Author or Editor: Chang-Keun Song x
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Abstract
Cold-season air quality in Seoul, South Korea, has been improved noticeably between 2001 and 2015 with a near-50% decrease in the mean concentration of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters ≤10 μm (PM10). Like the change in mean concentration, the occurrence frequency and intensity of the extreme-high-PM10 episodes exceeding 100 μg m−3 has significantly decreased as well. In addition to the multilateral efforts of the South Korean government to reduce air pollutant emissions, this study proposes that large-scale circulation changes also could have contributed to the air quality improvements. Specifically, the recent weakening of the Aleutian low may have intensified the tropospheric westerlies around the Korean Peninsula, resulting in a shorter residence time of particulate matter over South Korea. Thus, despite constant governmental effort to reduce pollutant emissions, the improvement in air quality over South Korea may be delayed if the Aleutian low recovers its past strength in the future. This study emphasizes the importance of the meteorological field in determining the air quality over South Korea.
Abstract
Cold-season air quality in Seoul, South Korea, has been improved noticeably between 2001 and 2015 with a near-50% decrease in the mean concentration of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters ≤10 μm (PM10). Like the change in mean concentration, the occurrence frequency and intensity of the extreme-high-PM10 episodes exceeding 100 μg m−3 has significantly decreased as well. In addition to the multilateral efforts of the South Korean government to reduce air pollutant emissions, this study proposes that large-scale circulation changes also could have contributed to the air quality improvements. Specifically, the recent weakening of the Aleutian low may have intensified the tropospheric westerlies around the Korean Peninsula, resulting in a shorter residence time of particulate matter over South Korea. Thus, despite constant governmental effort to reduce pollutant emissions, the improvement in air quality over South Korea may be delayed if the Aleutian low recovers its past strength in the future. This study emphasizes the importance of the meteorological field in determining the air quality over South Korea.
Abstract
The Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) is scheduled for launch in February 2020 to monitor air quality (AQ) at an unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution from a geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) for the first time. With the development of UV–visible spectrometers at sub-nm spectral resolution and sophisticated retrieval algorithms, estimates of the column amounts of atmospheric pollutants (O3, NO2, SO2, HCHO, CHOCHO, and aerosols) can be obtained. To date, all the UV–visible satellite missions monitoring air quality have been in low Earth orbit (LEO), allowing one to two observations per day. With UV–visible instruments on GEO platforms, the diurnal variations of these pollutants can now be determined. Details of the GEMS mission are presented, including instrumentation, scientific algorithms, predicted performance, and applications for air quality forecasts through data assimilation. GEMS will be on board the Geostationary Korea Multi-Purpose Satellite 2 (GEO-KOMPSAT-2) satellite series, which also hosts the Advanced Meteorological Imager (AMI) and Geostationary Ocean Color Imager 2 (GOCI-2). These three instruments will provide synergistic science products to better understand air quality, meteorology, the long-range transport of air pollutants, emission source distributions, and chemical processes. Faster sampling rates at higher spatial resolution will increase the probability of finding cloud-free pixels, leading to more observations of aerosols and trace gases than is possible from LEO. GEMS will be joined by NASA’s Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) and ESA’s Sentinel-4 to form a GEO AQ satellite constellation in early 2020s, coordinated by the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS).
Abstract
The Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) is scheduled for launch in February 2020 to monitor air quality (AQ) at an unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution from a geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) for the first time. With the development of UV–visible spectrometers at sub-nm spectral resolution and sophisticated retrieval algorithms, estimates of the column amounts of atmospheric pollutants (O3, NO2, SO2, HCHO, CHOCHO, and aerosols) can be obtained. To date, all the UV–visible satellite missions monitoring air quality have been in low Earth orbit (LEO), allowing one to two observations per day. With UV–visible instruments on GEO platforms, the diurnal variations of these pollutants can now be determined. Details of the GEMS mission are presented, including instrumentation, scientific algorithms, predicted performance, and applications for air quality forecasts through data assimilation. GEMS will be on board the Geostationary Korea Multi-Purpose Satellite 2 (GEO-KOMPSAT-2) satellite series, which also hosts the Advanced Meteorological Imager (AMI) and Geostationary Ocean Color Imager 2 (GOCI-2). These three instruments will provide synergistic science products to better understand air quality, meteorology, the long-range transport of air pollutants, emission source distributions, and chemical processes. Faster sampling rates at higher spatial resolution will increase the probability of finding cloud-free pixels, leading to more observations of aerosols and trace gases than is possible from LEO. GEMS will be joined by NASA’s Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) and ESA’s Sentinel-4 to form a GEO AQ satellite constellation in early 2020s, coordinated by the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS).
