Calendar Event Details
AEROCENTER: Aman Majid
Affiliation: University of Sheffield
Event Date: Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Location: G133
Time: 11:00 AM
Aerosol impacts of the “fracking” industry: A study of MISR and MODIS AOD observations
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has the potential to revolutionise the energy industry and provide significant economic growth in many regions of the world, such as the United States, UK and China. However, it is also a highly controversial practice as it releases large amount of gases and aerosols to the atmosphere that can affect human health and impair visibility as well as exacerbate the effects of climate change.
Studies on hydraulic fracking so far have been primarily focused on geological disturbances, impacts on local water resources and hydrocarbon emissions. However, aerosol and gas emissions from the fracking industry are relatively unknown. The objective of this work is to observationally assess the impact of the fracking industry on aerosol loading and air quality across the world, and evaluate the contribution of fracking activities to regional air quality. For this purpose, we use satellite aerosol optical depth (AOD) observations from MODIS and MISR in combination with surface PM2.5 measurements, when available. Here, we will first present an overview of the current state of the shale gas and tight oil industries at a global scale, and second, an early analysis of AOD observations over Vaca Muerta (Argentina), Pennsylvania and North Dakota (U.S.), and Sichuan (China).