Author(s)

S. Beirle, J. Hollwedel, S. Kraus, T. Wagner, M. Wenig, W. Wilms-Grabe & U. Platt

Abstract

Estimation of NO2 emissions from lightning and biomass burning: A case study using tropospheric NO2-data derived from GOME S. Beirle, J. Hollwedel, S. Kraus, T. Wagner, M. Wenig, W. Wilms-Grabe, U. Platt Institut fur Urnweltphysik, Universitat Heidelberg Abstract Nitric oxides play a key role among the anthropogenic trace gases. They affect human health and have an impact on ozone chemistry and climate change. So the knowledge of the NO2 sources and their strength is of great interest. The main sources of NO2 are industrial emissions, traffic, biomass burning, lightning and soil emissions. There are several approaches to quantify the different source strengths, and the estimated values vary widely (especially for lightning). In this study, NO2 data was taken from image sequences of the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) spectrometer on board the ERS-2 satellite. In contrast to measurements using ground-based, balloon- or aircraft-borne sensors, this instrument provides, for the first time, the possibility of mapping global NO2 column densities. By applying image processing techniques, maps of tropospheric NO2 are obtained. It is possible to distinguish between the different sources in case studies. Though there are some uncertainties concerning ground albedo, snow cover, cloud fraction and height, yet quantitative estimations are possible. Here, regional NO2 production by lightning and, biomass burning is estimated. For this purpose a region was chosen, where a) industrial emissions can be neglected and b) lightning and fires do not coincide in place and time. 1 Satellite measurements of NO2 In 1995 the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment GOME onboard the ERS-2- satellite was launched [1]. Applying Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) the column densities of several trace gases can be

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