89th American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting

Monday, 12 January 2009: 11:15 AM
Mapping small scale air pollution distribution using satellite observations in a large Canadian city
Room 127A (Phoenix Convention Center)
Natividad Urquizo, City of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada; and D. Sptizer and W. Pugsley
Poster PDF (687.1 kB)
Air quality management and control require the identification of pockets of air pollution in Canada's national capital region with more than a million inhabitants in an area of over 5,000 km2. To cover this large area, new satellite AURA/OMI earth observation technologies, supported by local air quality sampling and modelling, were applied to provide comprehensive information about spatial distribution and dispersion of the air pollutants. A combination of information coming from ground level fixed, mobile and portable air quality monitoring stations and AURA/OMI instrument was seen as the most effective approach for mapping local air quality. Hourly mapping of six pollutants was complemented by information on transportation and stationary emission sources, land use, commuting patterns and meteorology. The results are hourly maps displayed in a Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure of the following parameters: NO2, NO, NOx, PM2.5, O3, and CO. This paper includes an analysis of the local geographic conditions and their impact on air quality. Selected emission episodes of NO2 and PM2.5 are analyzed and presented. The method of presentation of these maps to the general public has become an issue of concern to the municipal authorities. To deal with this concern, a communication plan has been developed and will be presented in the paper.

Supplementary URL: