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

Abstract

Abstract. Black carbon aerosols are the second largest contributor to global warming while also being linked to respiratory and cardiovascular disease. These particles are generally found in smoke plumes originating from biomass burning and fossil fuel combustion. They are also heavily concentrated in smoke plumes originating from oil fires, exhibiting the largest ratio of black carbon to organic carbon. In this study, we identified and analysed oil smoke plumes derived from 30 major industrial events within a 12-year timeframe. To our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind that utilized a synergetic approach based on satellite remote sensing techniques. Satellite data offer access to these events, which, as seen in this study, are mainly located in war-prone or hazardous areas. This study focuses on the use of MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) and CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations) products regarding these types of aerosol while also highlighting their intrinsic limitations. By using data from both MODIS instruments on board Terra and Aqua satellites, we addressed the temporal evolution of the smoke plume while assessing lidar-specific properties and plume elevation using CALIPSO data. The analysis method in this study was developed to better differentiate between oil smoke aerosols and the local atmospheric scene. We present several aerosol properties in the form of plume-specific averaged values. We believe that MODIS values are a conservative estimation of plume aerosol optical depth (AOD) since MODIS algorithms rely on general aerosol models and various atmospheric conditions within the look-up tables, which do not reflect the highly absorbing nature of these smoke plumes. Based on this study we conclude that the MODIS land algorithms are not yet suited for retrieving aerosol properties for these types of smoke plumes due to the strong absorbing properties of these aerosols. CALIPSO retrievals rely heavily on the type of lidar solutions showing discrepancy between constrained and unconstrained retrievals. Smoke plumes identified within a larger aerosol layer were treated as unconstrained retrievals and resulted in conservative AOD estimates. Conversely, smoke plumes surrounded by clear air were identified as opaque aerosol layers and resulted in higher lidar ratios and AOD values. Measured lidar ratios and particulate depolarization ratios showed values similar to the upper ranges of biomass burning smoke. Results agree with studies that utilized ground-based retrievals, in particular for Ångström exponent (AE) and effective radius (Reff) values. MODIS and CALIPSO retrieval algorithms disagree on AOD ranges, for the most part, due to the extreme light-absorbing nature of these types of aerosols. We believe that these types of studies are a strong indicator for the need of improved aerosol models and retrieval algorithms.