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Estimation of the rate of increase in nitrogen dioxide concentrations from power plant stacks using an imaging-DOAS

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Abstract

The emission of nitrogen compounds from power plants accounts for a significant proportion of the total emissions of nitrogen to the atmosphere. This study seeks to understand the nature of chemical reactions in the atmosphere involving nitrogen, which is important in undertaking quantitative assessments of the contribution of such reactions to local and regional air pollution. The slant column density (SCD) of power-plant-generated NO2 was derived using imaging differential optical absorption spectroscopy (I-DOAS) with scattered sunlight as a light source. The vertical structure of NO2 SCD from power plant stacks was simultaneously probed using a pushbroom sensor. Measured SCDs were converted to mixing ratios in calculating the rate of NO2 increase at the center of the plume. This study presents quantitative measurements of the rate of NO2 increase in a rising plume. An understanding of the rate of NO2 increase is important because SO2 and NOx compete for the same oxidizing radicals, and the amount of NOx is related to the rates of SO2 oxidation and sulfate formation. This study is the first to directly obtain the rate of NO2 increase in power plant plumes using the I-DOAS technique. NO2 increase rates of 60 and 70 ppb s−1 were observed at distances of about 45 m from the two stacks of the Pyeongtaek Power Plant, northwest South Korea.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Environmental Monitoring Research Center (ADEMRC), Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), 1 Oryong-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju, 500-712, South Korea

    Hanlim Lee & Young J. Kim

  2. Institute of Environmental Physics and Remote Sensing, University of Bremen, P.O. Box 33 04 40, 28334, Bremen, Germany

    Chulkyu Lee

Authors
  1. Hanlim Lee
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  2. Young J. Kim
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  3. Chulkyu Lee
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Correspondence to Young J. Kim.

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Lee, H., Kim, Y.J. & Lee, C. Estimation of the rate of increase in nitrogen dioxide concentrations from power plant stacks using an imaging-DOAS. Environ Monit Assess 152, 61–70 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-008-0296-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-008-0296-4

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