Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) anthropogenic emissions distributions over Iraq (2000-2009) using MERRA-2 data

The Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is a colorless air pollutant cannot been seen with unaided eye. The fossil fuels burning, including coal, oil and gas, are the largest source of SO2. Often the SO2 Pollution reaches hazardous levels near the coal-fired plants, oil refineries, and in industrialized areas. This study analyzed the trend, spatial and temporal distributions of anthropogenic SO2 emissions in Iraq from January 2000 to December 2009, and series and trend analyses over six stations (Baghdad, Mosul, Basra, Muthanna, Babylon , and Kirkuk) using MERRA-2 data. The monthly SO2 are analyzed for the study period. The SO2 fluctuations were checked, depending on the background of each SO2 sources. The results shows clear reductions of SO2 values from 2002 till 2006, and the SO2 values increases during 2006 to 2009 over all stations. The annual trend analyses shows positive results over Baghdad, Al-Muthanna, and Babylon, and negative results over Basra, Mosul and Kirkuk. A large differences of SO2 values were over Basra, Kirkuk and Babylon, and slight difference over Baghdad, Mosul and Al-muthana. The monthly SO2 anthropogenic emissions values shows relatively stable over most stations, and the only fluctuation over Babylon and Kirkuk during study period. Observed higher SO2 values in the winter and spring than its values in the summer. This research pretends the satellites observation efficiently shows the spatial and temporal variations of SO2 for the considered study area