Stack Plume Aerosol Retrieval from Prisma Hyperspectral Images

Abstract

In this paper, the physical and optical properties of aerosol plumes emitted by industrial stacks are analyzed using hyperspectral PRISMA satellite images. The plume aerosol optical thickness (AOT) and aerosol modal radius are retrieved with an algorithm using the statistical formalism of the optimal estimation method. SENTINEL-2/MSI data are also used to constrain the surface reflectances. The algorithm is applied to fine particle emissions from three industrial sites: a flaring emission from a gas flaring at an oil extraction site in Hassi Messaoud, Algeria (07/09/2021), a steel plant in Wuhan, China (03/24/2021) and a coal plant in Kendal, South Africa (09/25/2021). The mean fine mode radii vary between 0.10 to 0.39 µm, 0.30 to 0.70 µm and 0.40 to 1.25 µm for the flaring site, the steel site and the coal plant, respectively. These radii are associated with AOTs varying between 0.2 to 1.0 for the flare emission, 0.5 to 3.4 for the steel plant and 0.6 to 2.4 for the coal plant.