Detection of Increasing of Tropospheric NO2 over some Iraqi Cities by using Satellite Data

Abstract

This paper focus on study the variations of monthly tropospheric NO₂ concentrations over three Iraqi cities Baghdad (33.3° N, 44.4° E), Basrah (30.56° N, 47.8° E) and Erbil (36.3° N, 44.06° E). Monthly NO₂ retrievals from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) onboard Aura satellite during the period from October 2004 to March 2013 have been used.  The results show a high monthly and annual NO₂ concentrations at Baghdad than Basra and Erbil may be attribute to high densely populations and a high economic activity. During the whole period, Baghdad, Basrah and Erbil were exhibited an average of NO₂ (8.1±2.5), (3.7±1.3) and (3.3±1.7) in unit 10¹⁵ molecules/cm² respectively. The maximum concentration of NO₂ is found in winter season in all year due to enhancement of atmospheric photochemistry. An elevated trend of NO₂ concentration is found in study sites where maximum annual increase in NO₂ is found at Erbil (11.53 % per year), Basrah (8.59 % per year) and Baghdad (7.42 % per year). A statistical study is needed to evaluate the economic activity in Iraqi cities to understand the reason of growing the air pollution over Iraqi cities.