Observations of atmospheric carbon monoxide and formaldehyde in Thailand using satellites

Abstract

© 2020, Thai Society of Higher Eduation Institutes on Environment. All rights reserved. Carbon monoxide (CO) and formaldehyde (CH2O) are air pollutants playing an important role in the formation of tropospheric ozone (O3), which in turn have an influence on climate change. This study investigated the levels of CO and CH2O in Thailand during the periods of 2007 to 2017 (11 years). The observed data of CO were collected from the MOPITT satellite. For CH2O, the observed data were collected from the OMI satellite. Overall, during the study period, CO were detected at high levels from October to April and at low levels from May to September. For CH2O, the higher levels were detected from February to May while the lower levels were detected from June to September. Moreover, ground monitoring data of CO and CH2O were also obtained from the Pollution Control Department (PCD) from all over Thailand to compare with the satellite observed data. The results showed well correlated between satellite and ground CO levels in term of monthly pattern. However, the correlation between satellite and ground CH2O was relatively low. The results in this study showed that satellite observations of CO are useful to support ground measurements, particularly when ground monitoring stations are limited.