Monitoring of Carbon Monoxide (CO) changes in the atmosphere and urban environmental indices extracted from remote sensing images for 932 Iran cities from 2019 to 2021

• Published in: International journal of digital earth Vol. 16; no. 1; pp. 1205 - 1223
• Main Authors: Mansourmoghaddam, Mohammad, Rousta, Iman, Olafsson, Haraldur, Tkaczyk, Przemysław, Chmiel, Stanisław, Baranowski, Piotr, Krzyszczak, Jaromir
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Taylor & Francis 31-12-2023; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: absorbing aerosol index; aerosol optical depth; Aerosols; Carbon monoxide; Cities; Correlation; Emission analysis; enhanced vegetation index; Landsat; Optical analysis; Optical thickness; Remote sensing; Satellite imagery; Spectroradiometers; Spring; Spring (season); Transition economies; urban index; Urban pollutants; Vegetation index; Winter
• ISSN: 1753-8947; 1753-8955
• DOI: 10.1080/17538947.2023.2196445

Carbon Monoxide (CO) is an important urban pollutant with a relation to transition economies based on emission intensities. In this study, Sentinel-5, MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and Landsat-8 images were used to investigate the variations of CO and urban environmental indices and the correlations between them. From the assessed correlations for 932 Iranian cities, it occurred that the assessed indices were all correlated. The highest CO levels were 0.031 in the spring of 2019 and 2020, whereas in 2021 it was equal to 0.030 in both the spring and winter, respectively. In 2019 and 2020 the maximum values of the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) in the spring were 0.181 and 0.183. Exceptionally high Absorbing Aerosol Index (AAI) values of - 0.834 and - 1.0, along with Urban Index (UI) of 0.102 and 0.092, were correlated with recorded spikes in CO level, despite that these seasons' EVI values were not so abnormal. It was forecasted that in 2030 rises in the CO level by 13.2% in the winter and by 17.5% in the fall are expected, with the simultaneous increase of AAI by 204.5% and 980.2%, and Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) by 27% and 5% in the winter and spring, respectively.