Mapping ammonia emission plumes using shortwave infrared imaging spectroscopy
- 1Carbon Mapper
- 2Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- 3Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Abstract
Atmospheric ammonia emissions are harmful to ecosystems and human health. These emissions have traditionally been monitored using thermal infrared spectrometers, though such techniques are limited by thermal contrast requirements, the coarse spatial resolution of existing satellite sensors, and low measurement frequency of higher-resolution aerial surveys. Here, we show that ammonia emissions can be quantified using shortwave infrared imaging spectroscopy, circumventing these challenges by using reflected sunlight instead of thermal emission for signal and by enabling a large class of existing and future imaging spectrometers to enter the ammonia observing system. As a proof of concept for this capability, we use Tanager-1 satellite data to quantify emissions from industrial point sources of ammonia in Pakistan and Uzbekistan.
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BibTeX
@article{balasus2026mapping,
title = {{Mapping ammonia emission plumes using shortwave infrared imaging spectroscopy}},
author = {Nicholas Balasus and Daniel Cusworth and Jinsol Kim and Daniel J. Varon and Charles E. Miller and Riley Duren},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
doi = {10.1073/pnas.2605694123},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2605694123},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Mapping ammonia emission plumes using shortwave infrared imaging spectroscopy
AU - Nicholas Balasus
AU - Daniel Cusworth
AU - Jinsol Kim
AU - Daniel J. Varon
AU - Charles E. Miller
AU - Riley Duren
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/12
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
DO - 10.1073/pnas.2605694123
UR - https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2605694123
AB - Atmospheric ammonia emissions are harmful to ecosystems and human health. These emissions have traditionally been monitored using thermal infrared spectrometers, though such techniques are limited by thermal contrast requirements, the coarse spatial resolution of existing satellite sensors, and low measurement frequency of higher-resolution aerial surveys. Here, we show that ammonia emissions can be quantified using shortwave infrared imaging spectroscopy, circumventing these challenges by using reflected sunlight instead of thermal emission for signal and by enabling a large class of existing and future imaging spectrometers to enter the ammonia observing system. As a proof of concept for this capability, we use Tanager-1 satellite data to quantify emissions from industrial point sources of ammonia in Pakistan and Uzbekistan.
SN - 0027-8424
SN - 1091-6490
ER -