New Era of Air Quality Monitoring from Space: Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS)

GEMS will monitor air quality over Asia at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution from GEO for the first time, providing column measurements of aerosol, ozone and their precursors (nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and formaldehyde). Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) is scheduled for launch in late 2019 - early 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 onboard the GEO-KOMPSAT-2 satellite series, which also hosts the Advanced Meteorological Imager (AMI) and Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (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 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)

Long-Term Variation in the Tropospheric Nitrogen Dioxide Vertical Column Density over Korea and Japan from the MAX-DOAS Network, 2007–2017

We investigated long-term observations of the tropospheric nitrogen dioxide vertical column density (NO2 TropVCD) from the Multi-Axis Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) network in Russia and ASia (MADRAS) from 2007 to 2017 at urban (Yokosuka and Gwangju) and remote (Fukue and Cape Hedo) sites in East Asia. The monthly mean in the NO2 TropVCD from MAX-DOAS measured at ~13:30 local time, which is the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) overpass time, shows good agreement with OMI data during summer, but differences between the two datasets increase in winter. The Theil-Sen slope of the long-term trend indicate a relatively rapid and gradual reduction in NO2 at Yokosuka and two remote sites (Fukue and Cape Hedo), respectively, regardless of the season except for fall at Fukue, but significant changes in NO2 are not observed at Gwangju, Korea. In contrast, OMI satellite data reveal an increase in the NO2 TropVCD at all sites except for Yokosuka, where a decreasing trend common to MAX-DOAS is found, suggesting that the results from satellites need to be cautiously used for investigating long-term trends in less polluted or remote areas. Using backward trajectories, potential source regions are identified for the two urban sites. The spatial distribution from OMI data shows good agreement with the potential source regions at Yokosuka. The potential source regions in Gwangju are identified as the National Industrial Complex in Yeosu and Gwangyang, while the transport route is not clearly visible with OMI data because of their low sensitivity in less polluted areas. The proposed approach is suitable for identifying potential source areas that might not be recognized by satellite observations

Atmospheric aerosol characterization combining multi-wavelength Raman Lidar and MAX-DOAS measurements in Gwanjgu

Integrated approach has been adopted at the ADvanced Environmental Research Center (ADEMRC), Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Korea for effective monitoring of atmospheric aerosol. Various active and passive optical remote sensing techniques such as multi-wavelength (3 beta+2 alpha+1 delta) Raman LIDAR, sun-photometry, MAX-DOAS, and satellite retrieval have been utilized. This integrated monitoring system approach combined with in-situ surface measurement is to allow better characterization of physical and optical properties of atmospheric aerosol. Information on the vertical distribution and microphysical properties of atmospheric aerosol is important for understanding its transport characteristics as well as radiative effect. The GIST multi-wavelength (3 beta+2 alpha+1 delta) Raman lidar system can measure vertical profiles of optical properties of atmospheric aerosols such as extinction coefficients at 355 and 532nm, particle backscatter coefficients at 355, 532 and 1064 nm, and depolarization ratio at 532nm. The incomplete overlap between the telescope field-of-view and beam divergence of the transmitting laser significantly affects lidar measurement, resulting in higher uncertainty near the surface where atmospheric aerosols of interest are concentrated. Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) technique is applied as a complementary tool for the detection of atmospheric aerosols near the surface. The passive Multi-Axis DOAS (MAX-DOAS) technique uses scattered sunlight as a light source from several viewing directions. Recently developed aerosol retrieval algorithm based on O4 slant column densities (SCDs) measured at UV and visible wavelengths has been utilized to derive aerosol information (e. g., aerosol optical depth (AOD) and aerosol extinction coefficients (AECs)) in the lower troposphere. The aerosol extinction coefficient at 356 nm was retrieved for the 0-1 and 1-2 km layers based on the MAX-DOAS measurements using the retrieval algorithm. Ground-based measurements of tropospheric aerosol using multi-wavelength Raman lidar system and a mobile MAX-DOAS system had been carried out at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST). To evaluate the performance of the integrated measurement system (Lidar + MAX-DOAS), an aerosol retrieval method called STAR (satellite aerosol retrieval) has been applied to compare the satellite AOD products with those based on the Raman lidar and MAX-DOAS measurements. It allows complete monitoring of atmospheric aerosols' vertical profiles for better estimation of their radiative effects on atmospheric environment and climate change

Simultaneous Measurements of Chemical Compositions of Fine Particles during Winter Haze Period in Urban Sites in China and Korea

We performed simultaneous measurements of chemical compositions of fine particles in Beijing, China and Gwangju, Korea to better understand their sources during winter haze period. We identified PM2.5 events in Beijing, possibly caused by a combination of multiple primary combustion sources (biomass burning, coal burning, and vehicle emissions) and secondary aerosol formation under stagnant conditions and/or dust sources under high wind speeds. During the PM2.5 events in Gwangju, the contribution of biomass burning and secondary formation of nitrate and organics to the fine particles content significantly increased under stagnant conditions. We commonly observed the increases of nitrogen-containing organic compounds and biomass burning inorganic (K+) and organic (levoglucosan) markers, suggesting the importance of biomass burning sources during the winter haze events (except dust event cases) at both sites. Pb isotope ratios indicated that the fraction of Pb originated from possibly industry and coal combustion sources increased during the PM2.5 events in Gwangju, relative to nonevent days