Sentinel-5P TROPOMI satellite application for NO2 and CO studies aiming at environmental valuation

Abstract

The European Space Agency (ESA) provides opportunities for researchers on a global scale to identify gaseous pollutants using the most modern techniques of analysis by satellite images from the Sentinel-5P satellite, in the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI), for the formation of current scenarios, applied to valuation environment aimed at possible improvements attributed to air quality and human health. The general objective of this manuscript is to analyze the amounts of NO2 and CO gases with Sentinel-5P TROPOMI satellite images, collected during the year 2019, and apply the environmental valuation focused on air quality pollution, in the northern region of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in the host city, Passo Fundo (southern Brazil) from 2020 to early 2021. The air quality valuation study applied the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). The results showed that NO2 had the highest concentration with a value of 7.88e +15 Column mol/cm2. CO presented a value of 9.43e +33 Column mol/cm2. The creation of scenarios aimed at valuation for the application of improvements in atmospheric air quality the understanding of the Willingness to Pay (WTP) of the interviewees. 514 residents of the City of Passo Fundo were queried as to their WTP for clean air quality in the city. The resulting WTP values, when applied to all households in the city as a whole, yielded an average WTP value of R$1,517,478.24 and the median WTP is R$599,390.00. It is suggested that pubic policies be written to enable these, or similar, amounts to be collected annually in order to mitigate harmful pollutants, such as NO2 and CO, currently found in the air of the City of Passo Fundo.