Author(s)

E. Firatli, B. Kaynak-Tezel

Abstract

In this study, the spatiotemporal variation of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) pollution over Turkey is observed via an Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI). The power plants having a working capacity higher than 48 MWe are selected as large scale power plants and their SO₂ emissions are evaluated using OMI Planetary Boundary Layer SO₂ columns. OMI SO₂ columns are processed for 2005–2014. An SO₂ emission inventory available from EMEP for the selected power plants is also obtained for comparison. The SO₂ columns within a selected distance to the power plant locations are used to calculate the annual SO₂ column averages and temporal change over the years is also investigated. The SO₂ columns for EMEP grids are also calculated and compared with EMEP SO₂ emissions. The results from this study indicate the commonalities and discrepancies in SO₂ emissions and SO₂ columns for selected power plants. The SO₂ columns are also compared with available ground-based SO₂ measurements around the selected power plants.

Keywords

OMI, remote sensing, SO₂, EMEP, power plants