%0 Journal Article
%T Assessing the Sensitivity of the OMI-NO2 Product to Emission Changes across Europe
%A Martijn Schaap
%A Richard Kranenburg
%A Lyana Curier
%A Magdalena Jozwicka
%A Enrico Dammers
%A Renske Timmermans
%J Remote Sensing
%D 2013
%I MDPI AG
%R 10.3390/rs5094187
%X The advent of satellite data has provided a source of independent information to monitor trends in tropospheric nitrogen dioxide levels. To interpret these trends, one needs to know the sensitivity of the satellite retrieved NO 2 column to anthropogenic emissions. We have applied a chemistry transport model to investigate the sensitivity of the modeled NO 2 column, sampled at the OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) overpass time and location and weighted by the OMI averaging kernel, to emission sources across Europe. The most important contribution (~35%) in Western Europe is made by road transport. Off-road transport and industrial combustion each contribute 10%¨C15% across continental Europe. In Eastern Europe, power plant contributions are of comparable magnitude as those of road transport. To answer the question if the OMI-NO 2 trends can be translated directly into emission changes, we assessed the anticipated changes in OMI-NO 2 between 2005 and 2020. Although the results indicated that for many countries, it is indeed possible, for medium- and small-sized coastal countries, the contribution of the increasing shipping emissions in adjacent sea areas may mask a significant part of national emission reductions. This study highlights the need for a combined use of models, a priori emission estimates and satellite data to verify emission trends.
%K nitrogen dioxide
%K OMI
%K source attribution
%K chemistry transport model
%U http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/5/9/4187