A novel method of identifying and analysing oil smoke plumes based on MODIS and CALIPSO satellite data

Mereuţă, Alexandru; Ajtai, Nicolae; Radovici, Andrei T.; Papagiannopoulos, Nikolaos; Deaconu, Lucia T.; Botezan, Camelia S.; Ştefănie, Horaţiu I.; Nicolae, Doina; Ozunu, Alexandru

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5071-2022

Articles | Volume 22, issue 7

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5071-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5071-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 22, issue 7

Research article

|

14 Apr 2022

Research article |

| 14 Apr 2022

A novel method of identifying and analysing oil smoke plumes based on MODIS and CALIPSO satellite data

Alexandru Mereuţă, Nicolae Ajtai, Andrei T. Radovici, Nikolaos Papagiannopoulos, Lucia T. Deaconu, Camelia S. Botezan, Horaţiu I. Ştefănie, Doina Nicolae, and Alexandru Ozunu

Data sets

MODIS/Terra Aerosol 5-Min L2 Swath 10 km MODIS Atmosphere Science Team https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD04_L2.061

MYD04\_L2 MODIS/Aqua Aerosol 5-Min L2 Swath 10 km MODIS Atmosphere Science Team https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MYD04_L2.061

CALIPSO LID L1 Standard HDF File -- Version 4.10 David Winker https://doi.org/10.5067/CALIOP/CALIPSO/LID_L1-STANDARD-V4-10

CALIPSO Lidar Level 2 5\,km Aerosol Layer Data V4-20 David Winker https://doi.org/10.5067/CALIOP/CALIPSO/LID_L2_05KMALAY-STANDARD-V4-20

CALIPSO Lidar Level 2 Aerosol Profile Data V4-20 David Winker https://doi.org/10.5067/CALIOP/CALIPSO/LID_L2_05KMAPRO-STANDARD-V4-20

CALIPSO Lidar Level 2 Vertical Feature Mask Data V4-20 David Winker https://doi.org/10.5067/CALIOP/CALIPSO/LID_L2_VFM-STANDARD-V4-20

Short summary

In this study we analysed oil smoke plumes from 30 major industrial events within a 12-year timeframe. To our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind that uses a synergetic approach based on satellite remote sensing techniques. Satellite data offer access to these events, which are mainly located in war-prone or hazardous areas. Our study highlights the need for improved aerosol models and algorithms for these types of aerosols with implications on air quality and climate change.