Monitoring of the Canadian Oil Sands from the Aura Satellite

Chris A McLinden1, Mark W Shephard2, Vitali Fioletov3, Karen Elena Cady-Pereira4, Dr. Nickolay Anatoly Krotkov5, Klaas Folkert Boersma6, Can Li5, Ming Luo7, Joanna Joiner8 and Pawan K Bhartia9, (1)Air Quality Research Division, Toronto, ON, Canada, (2)AC Apps Inc., East Gwillimbury, ON, Canada, (3)Environment and Climate Change Canada, Air Quality Research Division, Downsview, ON, Canada, (4)Atmospheric and Environmental Research (AER), Lexington, United States, (5)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, United States, (6)Wageningen University, Wageningen, Netherlands, (7)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (8)NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, United States, (9)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States
Abstract:
Two instruments on-board the NASA Aura satellite, the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES), have been used to monitor air pollution over the Canadian oil sands region. Between them they provide a unique perspective on the distributions, evolution, and sources of several key pollutants. This presentation will detail some highlights from these Aura-based oil sands studies: (i) the evolution of OMI-measured nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide enhancements over the past decade, including comparisons with other nearby sources, (ii) two years of ammonia, carbon monoxide, methanol, and formic acid observations from TES special-observation transects, and (iii) preliminary insights into emissions derived from these observations. 
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