Abstract. Ships are an important source of SO2 and NOx, which are key parameters of air quality. Monitoring of ship emissions is usually carried out using in situ instruments on land, which depend on favourable wind conditions to transport the emitted substances to the measurement site. Remote sensing techniques such as long-path differential optical absorption spectroscopy (LP-DOAS) measurements can supplement those measurements, especially in unfavourable meteorological conditions. In this study 1 year of LP-DOAS measurements made across the river Elbe close to Hamburg (Germany) have been evaluated. Peaks (i.e. elevated concentrations) in the NO2 and SO2 time series were assigned to passing ships, and a method to derive emission rates of SO2, NO2 and NOx from those measurements using a Gaussian plume model is presented. A total of 7402 individual ship passages have been monitored, and their respective NOx, SO2 and NO2 emission rates have been derived. The emission rates, coupled with the knowledge of the ship type, ship size and ship speed, have been analysed. Emission rates are compared to emission factors from previous studies and show good agreement. In contrast to emission factors (in grams per kilogram fuel), the derived emission rates (in grams per second) do not need further knowledge about the fuel consumption of the ship. To our knowledge this is the first time emission rates of air pollutants from individual ships have been derived from LP-DOAS measurements.

Abstract. Inland ships are an important source of NOx, especially for cities along busy waterways. The amount and effect of such emissions depend on the traffic density and NOx emission rates of individual vessels. Ship emission rates are typically derived using in situ land measurements in relation to NOx emission factors (e.g. the number of pollutants emitted by ships per unit of burnt fuel). In this study, a different approach is taken, and NOx emission rates are obtained (in g s−1). Within the EU LIFE project, CLean INland SHipping (CLINSH), a new approach to calculating the NOx emission rates from data of in situ measurement stations has been developed and is presented in this study. Peaks (i.e. elevated concentrations) of NOx were assigned to the corresponding source ships, using the AIS (automated identification system) signals they transmit. Each ship passage was simulated, using a Gaussian puff model, in order to derive the emission rate of the respective source ship. In total, over 32 900 ship passages have been monitored over the course of 4 years. The emission rates of NOx were investigated with respect to ship speed, ship size, and direction of travel. Comparisons of the onshore-derived emission rates and those on board for selected CLINSH ships show good agreement. The derived emission rates are of a similar magnitude to emission factors from previous studies. Most ships comply with existing limits due to grandfathering. The emission rates (in g s−1) can be directly used to investigate the effect of ship traffic on air quality, as the absolute emitted number of pollutants per unit of time is known. In contrast, for relative emission factors (in g kg−1 fuel), further knowledge about the fuel consumption of the individual ships is needed to calculate the number of pollutants emitted per unit of time.

Abstract. Inland ships are an important source of NOx, especially for cities along busy waterways. The amount and effect of these emissions depends on the traffic density and the NOx emission rates of the individual vessels. Monitoring of ship emissions is usually carried out using in situ instruments on land and often relative NOx emission factors, e.g. the amount of emitted pollutants per amount of burnt fuel is reported, but in this study, NOx emission rates in g s-1 are investigated. Within the EU Life project Clean Inland Shipping (CLINSH), a new approach to calculate NOx emission rates from data of in situ measurement stations has been developed and is presented in this study. Peaks (i.e. elevated concentrations) of NOx were assigned to the corresponding source ships and each ship passage was simulated using a Gaussian-puff-model in order to derive the emission rate. In total over 32900 ship passages have been monitored over the course of 4 years. The emission rates of NOx were investigated with respect to ship speed, ship size and direction of travel. Individual comparisons of the on-shore emission rates and those made on-board of selected CLINSH ships show good agreement. Also the emission rates are of similar magnitude as emission factors from previous studies. In contrast to relative emission factors (in grams per kilogram fuel), the emission rates (in grams per second) do not need further knowledge about the fuel consumption of the ship and can therefore be used directly to investigate the effect of ship traffic on air quality.

<p>As part of the German project MeSMarT (Measurements of shipping emissions in the marine troposphere, a cooperation between the University of Bremen and the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency) and the EU LIFE project CLINSH (Clean Inland Shipping,) numerous mobile measurements of atmospheric trace gases and aerosols have been carried out.</p><p>For both projects one main objective is to investigate the general impact of shipping emissions on the air quality in regions with high marine traffic. In order to do this in areas where no permanent monitoring systems are available, in 2015 a mobile lab has been set up, which includes among other instrumentation for air pollution and meteorological parameters a scientific-grade MAX-DOAS system as well as in situ instruments for nitrogen oxides, ozone, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide (trace level).</p><p>In this study we present intercomparison results between the different instruments onboard the mobile lab as well as the interpretation of the results using complementary data sets at different locations including the Lower Rhine and Waal area and several regions in Northern Germany. For some places close to the banks of the Rhine more than 70% of the nitrogen oxides are related to shipping emissions. Emission factors for different ship types have been calculated and compared to recent studies and emission inventories.</p>

No abstract