Articles | Volume 25, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6093-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6093-2025
Research article
 | 
20 Jun 2025
Research article |  | 20 Jun 2025

Monitoring of total and off-road NOx emissions from Canadian oil sands surface mining using the Ozone Monitoring Instrument

Chris A. McLinden, Debora Griffin, Vitali Fioletov, Junhua Zhang, Enrico Dammers, Cristen Adams, Mallory Loria, Nickolay Krotkov, and Lok N. Lamsal

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This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (AMT).
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Cited articles

Adams, C., McLinden, C. A., Shephard, M. W., Dickson, N., Dammers, E., Chen, J., Makar, P., Cady-Pereira, K. E., Tam, N., Kharol, S. K., Lamsal, L. N., and Krotkov, N. A.: Satellite-derived emissions of carbon monoxide, ammonia, and nitrogen dioxide from the 2016 Horse River wildfire in the Fort McMurray area, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 2577–2599, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2577-2019, 2019. a, b
Alberta Energy Regulator: ST39: Alberta Mineable Oil Sands Plant Statistics Monthly Supplement, Alberta Energy Regulator, https://www.aer.ca/providing-information/data-and-reports/statistical-reports/st39 (last access: 20 August 2024), 2023a. a, b, c
Alberta Energy Regulator: ST98: Alberta Energy Outlook, Alberta Energy Regulator, https://www.aer.ca/providing-information/data-and-reports/statistical-reports/st98 (last access: 20 August 2024), 2023b. a, b
Alberta Environment and Parks: Compilation of 2010–2023 oil sands mine fleet NOx emissions data from submitted industrial EPEA Approval Annual Air Reports, provided to Environment and Climate Change Canada, Alberta Environment and Parks, https://open.alberta.ca/opendata/aeirairemissionrates#summary (last access: 22 February 2025), 2025. a
Alberta Government: Continuous Emission Monitoring System (CEMS) Code, Alberta Government, https://open.alberta.ca/publications/0773250387 (last access: 22 December 2024), 1998. a
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Short summary
The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) was used to understand the evolution of NOx emissions from the Canadian oil sands. OMI NO2 combined with winds and reported stack emissions found emissions from the heavy-hauler mine fleet have remained flat since 2005, whereas the total oil sands mined have more than doubled. This difference is a result of emissions standards that limit NOx emissions becoming more stringent over this period, confirming the efficacy of the policy enacting these standards.
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