Improving SO2 emissions over the Middle East.
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia (alexander.ukhov@kaust.edu.sa)
The Middle East is one of the most polluted regions on Earth. Besides strong natural air pollution caused by frequent dust storms, anthropogenic emissions of SO2 from power and desalination plants significantly deteriorate air quality and, as a consequence, reduce life expectancy. Additionally, sulfate aerosol formed through the chemical oxidation of SO2 has an effect on climate and cloud formation. Therefore, accurate modeling of SO2 emissions is crucial, especially in such harsh conditions as the Middle East.
In this work, we attempt to improve existing SO2 emissions using inversion modeling, a high-resolution regional WRF-Chem model, and satellite observations of SO2 columns available from OMI and TOMS instruments. Obtained SO2 emission dataset is planned to be open to the community.
How to cite: Ukhov, A. and Stenchikov, G.: Improving SO2 emissions over the Middle East., EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-12034, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-12034, 2023.
