Total Deposition (TDep) Science Committee

2026 Webinar Series Presents:

Source and Sink Attributions from Satellites Using Deep Learning Models

Thursday, August 27, 2026: 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM CT (Zoom Meeting)

AGENDA

Presentation:
Source and Sink Attributions from Satellites Using Deep Learning Models

Summary: Generations of satellites have revolutionized the observations manmade and natural emission sources. A unified framework quantifying emission fluxes from satellite-observed column amounts is derived from mass conservation. The flux information originates from the inner product of the horizontal wind and the gradient of column amount. Additionally, the topographical and chemical effects are accounted for through observation-based scale height and chemical reactivity. This framework derives emissions of multiple key atmospheric species observed by the new generation satellite instruments. Empowered by abundant measurement data, deep learning models disentangle chemical loss and topographical effects from explicit point- and area-sources, leading to spatiotemporally continuous source and sink attributions. Soil NOx unveiled from TROPOMI observations will be presented as an example of separating weak signals from intertwining interferences.

Presented by:
Dr. Kang Sun – University of Buffalo

Dr. Kang Sun is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering and the RENEW Institute at the University at Buffalo. His research focuses on atmospheric chemistry, satellite remote sensing, emission quantification, and instrument development, with the goal of improving our understanding of air pollution and its impacts on climate and public health. His group integrates satellite observations and deep learning to quantify emissions and atmospheric processes across a range of spatial scales. Dr. Sun serves on the science teams of several major atmospheric observation missions, including TEMPO and MethaneSAT. He received his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Princeton University and his B.S. in Environmental Sciences from Peking University. 

Past webinars:

Questions?

For further information contact Kristen Foley at Foley.Kristen@epa.gov