Satellite data from across California's landscapes reveal an increase in nitrogen dioxide levels in remote forest areas, and wildfire and soil emissions are likely the reasons why, according to a paper from University of California, Davis, published today in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
Map of the MODIS land cover types across California. June–September average TROPOMI NOhotspots are outlined in red rectangles. The borders within the maps represent the boundaries of the 15 air basins designated by CARB for regional management.
The researchers looked at summertime surface and satellite concentrations of nitrogen dioxide between 2009 and 2020 and found that levels decreased by 2%–4.5% per year in urban areas across California, while rural concentrations remained relatively constant, and remote forests experienced an increase of roughly 4.2% per year.
"Forested areas show a steady, rapid rate of increase in summer," said bio-micrometeorologist Ian Faloona, who is senior author on the paper and a professor in the Department of Land, Air and Water Resources."The trend is alarming." To do the research, scientists examined surface nitrogen dioxide levels collected by the state and NASA's Aura satellite. They sorted areas of nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere by surface temperature and soil moisture levels. A California database of fire incidents was also consulted to help place lands into one of five categories: urban, forests, croplands, scrublands and barren .
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