Barker Connor R, Marais Eloise A, McDowell Jonathan C
Department of Geography, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
Sci Data. 2024 Oct 3;11(1):1079. doi: 10.1038/s41597-024-03910-z.
Satellite megaconstellation (SMC) missions are spurring rapid growth in rocket launches and anthropogenic re-entries. These events inject pollutants and carbon dioxide (CO) in all atmospheric layers, affecting climate and stratospheric ozone. Quantification of these and other environmental impacts requires reliable inventories of emissions. We present a global, hourly, 3D, multi-year inventory of air pollutant emissions and CO from rocket launches and object re-entries spanning the inception and growth of SMCs (2020-2022). We use multiple reliable sources to compile information needed to build the inventory and conduct rigorous and innovative cross-checks and validations against launch livestreams and past studies. Our inventory accounts for rocket plume afterburning effects, applies object-specific ablation profiles to re-entering objects, and quantifies unablated mass of objects returning to Earth. We also identify all launches and objects associated with SMC missions, accounting for 37-41% of emissions of black carbon particles, carbon monoxide, and CO by 2022. The data are provided in formats for ease-of-use in atmospheric chemistry and climate models to inform regulation and space sustainability policies.
卫星巨型星座（SMC）任务正在推动火箭发射和人为再入大气层活动的快速增长。这些活动会在所有大气层中注入污染物和二氧化碳（CO），影响气候和平流层臭氧。对这些以及其他环境影响进行量化需要可靠的排放清单。我们提供了一份全球范围的、每小时更新的三维多年空气污染物排放和火箭发射及物体再入大气层产生的CO排放清单，涵盖了SMC的起始和发展阶段（2020 - 2022年）。我们利用多个可靠来源来收集构建清单所需的信息，并针对发射直播和过往研究进行严格且创新的交叉核对与验证。我们的清单考虑了火箭羽流的后燃效应，对再入物体应用特定物体的烧蚀剖面，并对返回地球的物体未烧蚀质量进行量化。我们还识别了与SMC任务相关的所有发射和物体，到2022年，这些占黑碳颗粒、一氧化碳和CO排放量的37% - 41%。数据以便于在大气化学和气候模型中使用的格式提供，为监管和空间可持续性政策提供参考。
