Air Quality Measurements From Satellites During the 2008 Beijing Olympics

In preparation for the Olympic games in August 2008, Beijing, China imposed strict controls in industrial emissions and motor vehicle traffic around the region before and during the event to improve the air quality for the competitors. We focus on several key industrial and urban pollutants: ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and sulfur dioxide (SO2) to analyze changes in pollution concentrations over Beijing, as well as other industrialized regions around the world for comparison. We use remote sensing data from NASA's Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and Terra/Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT). Preliminary analysis show a reduction in NO2 concentrations compared to previous years in August. However, changes in the longer lived trace pollutants such as tropospheric ozone, CO and SO2 are less apparent and highly variable due the influence of the regional meteorology. In particular, pollution levels in Beijing depend on whether the prevailing winds are blowing in from the sparsely populated north or from the heavily industrialized provinces to the south, i.e. the nearby Tianjin area and the more southeastern Shanghai region. Preliminary back-trajectory analysis reveal air parcels coming from the south correlate well with high pollution days over Beijing.