Satellite Data Utilisation

Greenhouse gases & air quality monitoring

TNO develops space-based atmospheric monitoring solutions that provide policymakers and industry stakeholders with actionable information for emission reductions. Satellite data have a high added value because they provide global, independent measurements at frequent intervals (typically daily). Moreover, they provide data in areas where in situ measurements are not available. We do this for all relevant greenhouse gases (e.g. CO₂ and CH₄) and air pollution species (e.g. NO₂, aerosols). TNO takes a multi-level approach to atmospheric monitoring by combining:

• Satellite data that provides large spatial coverage (e.g. TROPOMI, MODIS, IASI)
• The LOTOS EUROS atmospheric transport and chemistry model, which predicts pollution ahead of time in locations where data is not available
• In situ measurements used for emission inventories of known pollution sources.

We do this on the basis of more than 40 years of experience in advising the Dutch government and the European Commission (such as the ECCO2 Monitoring Task Force and EU standardisation work on particulate matter).

Applications

TNO’s capabilities allow for the monitoring for all relevant greenhouse gases (e.g. CH₄ and CO₂) and air pollution (e.g. NO₂, NH₃ and aerosols). We develop solutions which can be transferred to our partners in governments and industry for operational or commercial use.

Examples of TNO applications include:

• Air quality monitoring for urban areas using LOTOS-EUROS and data from the TROPOMI satellite instrument (S&T, Airbus Netherlands Defence & Space)
• Monitoring methane emissions from the oil and gas and coal mining industries using TROPOMI data with partners (SRON, VU, EDF, Shell, Airbus Netherlands Defence & Space) within the GALES consortium
• Source apportionment system TOPAS, which allows for the attribution of pollution to sectors (e.g. transport, agriculture, industry) and geographical locations (e.g. city, state, country)
• Monitoring ammonia (NH₃) emissions at a federal level for a large EU country
• Dust storm predictions as part of a Sand and Dust Storm Warning Advisory and Assessment System (SDS-WAS) for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
• TNO develops national scale greenhouses gas emission inventories for CoCO2, the pan-European effort to build a prototype system for the global monitoring and verification of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in order to support the Paris agreement

Other markets

Earth observation data is a valuable asset for many social challenges and in the realisation of businesses and economic growth. As a multi-disciplinary organisation, TNO is in a unique position to develop earth observation solutions by leveraging domain knowledge in many different areas, such as buildings, infrastructure, maritime, defence, energy, health and traffic and transport.

Some examples include:

• The use of Earth Observation radar (InSAR) data for monitoring geothermal energy, gas storage or hydrocarbon production
• Combining large Earth Observation datasets in order to optimise the location and operation of microgrids.