Comparison of weekly cycle of NO2 satellite retrievals and NOx emission inventories for the continental United States

[1] Spatially resolved weekly NO2 variations are obtained from 2003 to 2005 Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Cartography (SCIAMACHY) tropospheric NO2 columns for three different types of regions: urban, rural, and rural-point (rural with significant electricity generation unit (EGU) emissions). Regions are compared for magnitudes and weekly profiles. Rural regions do not show any weekly pattern, whereas urban areas show a distinct decrease on the weekends. Rural regions with EGUs show a slight decrease on Sundays. When compared with estimated mobile and stationary nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions from the year 2004 for seven cities, the satellite data have greater variation during weekdays (Monday–Friday). Overall comparisons show that SCIAMACHY-derived NO2 correlate well with estimated NOx emissions for urban and rural but less for rural-point regions.