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ABSTRACT IZVLEČEK 
KLJUČNE BESEDE KEY WORDS
air pollutants, remote sensing, coal mine, Sentinel 5P TROPOMI, 
Quang Ninh province, Vietnam 
onesnaževala zraka, daljinsko zaznavanje, premogovnik, 
Sentinel 5P TROPOMI, provinca Quang Ninh, Vietnam
UDK: 528.8:552.574(597) 
Klasifikacija prispevka po COBISS.SI: 1.01
Prispelo: 15. 2. 2024
Sprejeto: 7. 8. 2024
DOI: 10.15292/geodetski-vestnik.2024.03.313-326
SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE
Received: 15. 2. 2024
Accepted: 7. 8. 2024
Le Hung Trinh, Van Phu Le, Thi Hanh Tong, Sinh Dinh Mai
KARTIRANJE PROSTORSKE 
PORAZDELITVE ONESNAŽEVAL 
ZRAKA V PROVINCI QUANG 
NINH (VIETNAM) NA PODLAGI 
PODATKOV SENTINEL 5P
MAPPING THE SPATIAL 
DISTRIBUTION OF AIR 
POLLUTANTS IN QUANG 
NINH PROVINCE (VIETNAM) 
USING SENTINEL 5P DATA
Vietnam is a country with rich mineral resources, of which 
coal reserves are about 8.6 billion tons, concentrated mainly in 
the coal basin of Quang Ninh province. Besides the economic 
and social benefits, coal mining has negative impacts on the 
environment, such as air and water pollution. Air pollution 
in coal mining areas seriously affects human health and the 
environment. This study presents the results of mapping the 
quarterly spatial distribution maps of air pollutants in Quang 
Ninh province, including CO, NO2, O3 and SO2 from 
Sentinel 5P TROPOMI data. Sentinel 5P TROPOMI data 
on four air pollutant concentrations in the entire year 2023 
was collected using the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud 
computing platform and then averaged over the quarters. 
The results of air pollution assessment from remote sensing 
data are compared with the limit values of basic parameters 
in the air in QCVN 05:2013/BTNMT National technical 
regulation on air quality. Analysis of the achieved results show 
that the concentrations of CO, NO2, O3 and SO2 in Quang 
Ninh province in 2023 are all high compared to regulations 
in QCVN, especially in the southern region where large coal 
mines are concentrated. The results received in this study provide 
timely information to help managers monitor air quality in 
coal mining areas.
Vietnam je država z bogatim rudnim bogastvom, pri čemer 
so zaloge premoga, ki znašajo približno 8,6 milijarde ton, 
skoncentrirane predvsem v premogovnem bazenu province 
Quang Ninh. Poleg gospodarskih in družbenih koristi 
ima premogovništvo tudi negativne vplive na okolje, kot 
sta onesnaževanje zraka in vode. Onesnaženost zraka na 
območjih premogovništva resno vpliva na zdravje ljudi 
in okolje. V študiji so predstavljeni rezultati kartiranja 
četrtletnih kart prostorske porazdelitve onesnaževal zraka v 
provinci Quang Ninh, vključno s CO, NO2, O3 in SO2, na 
podlagi podatkov Sentinel 5P TROPOMI. Podatki Sentinel 
5P TROPOMI o četrtletnih koncentracijah onesnaževal 
zraka v celotnem letu 2023 so bili zbrani s platformo za 
računalništvo v oblaku Google Earth Engine (GEE) in 
nato povprečeni po četrtletjih. Rezultati ocene onesnaženosti 
zraka iz podatkov daljinskega zaznavanja so primerjani 
z mejnimi vrednostmi osnovnih parametrov v zraku v 
predpisu QCVN 05:2013/BTNMT (Državni tehnični 
predpis o kakovosti zraka). Analiza rezultatov kaže, da vse 
koncentracije CO, NO2, O3 in SO2 v provinci Quang 
Ninh leta 2023 presegajo predpisane v QCVN, zlasti v 
južni regiji, kjer so skoncentrirani veliki premogovniki. 
Rezultati študije zagotavljajo pravočasne informacije, 
ki upravljavcem pomagajo spremljati kakovost zraka na 
območjih premogovništva,
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Le Hung Trinh, Van Phu Le, Thi Hanh  Tong, Sinh Dinh Mai | KARTIRANJE PROSTORSKE PORAZDELITVE ONESNAŽEVAL ZRAKA V PROVINCI QUANG NINH (VIETNAM) NA PODLAGI PODATKOV SENTINEL 5P | MAPPING 
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1 INTRODUCTION 
Vietnam has big reserves of fossil energy with 10 billion tons of anthracite coal, more than 200 billion 
tons of brown coal in the northern delta area (Luu & Nguyen, 2009). Coal has served as a fundamental 
pillar in energy production in Vietnam for decades, providing energy for industries and human activi-
ties. Despite its important role in socio-economic development, coal exploitation and use has caused 
negative impacts on the environment and public health (Gopinathan et al., 2023). The environmental 
consequences of coal extraction and transportation are extensive, changing land cover and polluting the 
air and water. Air quality in many coal mining areas around the world has seriously degraded, greatly 
affecting the health of surrounding people (Krishnan et al., 2022; Li et al., 2023; Trinh, 2016; Xia et 
al., 2022). Air pollution from coal mines is mainly due to the emission of particulate matter and gases, 
in which the major air pollutants are methane (CH4), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO) 
(Trenchev et al., 2023) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) (Chen et al., 2018). Estimating and monitoring 
the concentration of air pollutants in coal mining areas is an urgent issue, providing timely information 
to help managers respond to environmental pollution.
Traditional research methods have used in situ data at measuring stations to evaluate air pollution. 
However, this method has major limitations because the number of observation stations is not large 
enough, leading to incomplete information on the distribution of air pollutants. Since the beginning 
of the 21st century, many studies have used remote sensing data such as Landsat and MODIS mul-
tispectral images to monitor air pollution in big cities (Ozelkan et al., 2015; Jivani, 2017; Saraswat 
et al., 2017; Liang, Gong, 2020) as well as mineral exploitation areas (Huertas et al., 2012; Saini et 
al., 2016; Oparin et al., 2017; Xia et al., 2022). Most of these studies evaluate dust pollution (mainly 
PM10 parameter) in coal mining areas based on the relationship between atmospheric reflectance 
determined from remote sensing images and dust content in the air. However, multispectral remote 
sensing data such as Landsat and MODIS images are not effective in estimating the concentration of 
other air pollutants, including CH4, CO, NOx, and SOx..., because these parameters do not have a 
close relationship with atmospheric reflection.
Sentinel-5 Precursor (Sentinel-5P) is the first Copernicus mission dedicated to monitoring the atmos-
phere. Sentinel-5P carries a single instrument TROPOMI (TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument) 
to map a multitude of trace gases such as nitrogen dioxide, ozone, formaldehyde, sulphur dioxide, 
methane, carbon monoxide and aerosols (ESA, 2024). These characteristics of Sentinel 5P satellite data 
allow us to overcome the limitations of other optical remote sensing data in air pollution monitoring. 
With high temporal resolution and wide coverage area, Sentinel 5P data has been widely and effectively 
used in monitoring the concentration of air pollution parameters in many different regions of the world 
(Amiri et al., 2023; Hassaan et al., 2023; Halder et al., 2023; Mehrabi et al., 2023). Many studies 
also use Sentinel 5P data to monitor the changes in air quality under the influence of the Coronavirus 
Pandemic, which shows that the air quality in many largest cities has improved significantly under 
conditions of pandemic lockdown (Mejia et al., 2023; Morozova et al., 2022; Pham & Phan, 2024; 
Virghileanu et al., 2020). 
Sentinel 5P data is also used in mapping the spatial and temporal distribution of air pollutants 
such as CH4, CO, NO2, SO2, HCHO in coal mining areas. Trenchev et al. used Sentinel 5P data 
Le Hung Trinh, Van Phu Le, Thi Hanh  Tong, Sinh Dinh Mai | KARTIRANJE PROSTORSKE PORAZDELITVE ONESNAŽEVAL ZRAKA V PROVINCI QUANG NINH (VIETNAM) NA PODLAGI PODATKOV SENTINEL 5P | MAPPING 
THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF AIR POLLUTANTS IN QUANG NINH PROVINCE (VIETNAM) USING SENTINEL 5P DATA  | 313-326 |
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Sfor 2018-2022 to detect large-scale CH4, NO2 and CO emissions from coal mines in the Kuznetsk 
basin (Kemerovo region), the largest coal mining region in Russia. The results showed that methane 
(CH4) emissions from coal mines worldwide were higher than those from the oil and gas industry 
(Trenchev et al., 2023). The study (Peng et al., 2023) also used Sentinel 5P data in monitoring 
methane emissions in the coal mining area in Shanxi (China). Analysis of data from more than a 
thousand individual coal mines in Shanxi province shows that the estimated emission factor increases 
significantly with coal mining depth and that ongoing deeper coal mining increases emissions in-
tensity of coal mine methane in the future (Peng et al., 2023). In Europe, Sentinel-5P satellite data 
has been used to detect methane plumes over some largest methane-emitting coal mines. According 
to the European Commission and the European Environment Agency, the 10 largest coal mines in 
Europe (all in Poland) emitted about 282,300 tons of methane into the atmosphere in 2020 (ESA, 
2022). In Vietnam, up to now there have been a number of studies using Sentinel 5P satellite data 
to monitor the concentration of air pollutants in some large cities such as Hanoi capital (Do et al., 
2022), Thai Nguyen city (Luu et al., 2023) construction material exploitation area in Mong Cai 
city, Quang Ninh province (Luong et al., 2023). The above studies show the advantages of Sentinel 
5P TROPOMI data in monitoring the changes in air quality and mapping the spatial-temporal 
distribution of air pollutants.
This article presents the results of mapping the concentration distribution of air pollutants in the Quang 
Ninh coal mining area, the largest coal basin in Vietnam, from Sentinel 5P satellite data. Sentinel 5P 
TROPOMI data in the study area in 2023 was collected to build quarterly and annual average concen-
tration maps for 4 air pollutants, including CO, NO2, O3 and SO2. Methane (CH4) and formaldehyde 
(HCHO) data in the study area are not enough for quarterly analysis, so they will not be presented in 
this article. The results received in the study are objective and timely information, helping managers 
monitor and respond to air pollution in coal mining areas. In addition, the concentration distribution 
maps of air pollutants can also be used as input data for environmental models.
2 MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY 
2.1 Study area and Materials 
Study area. Quang Ninh is a province located in northeastern Vietnam, at geographical coordinates 
from 20o40’ to 21o39’49.8’’ north latitude and from 106o26’ to 108o31’ east longitude (Figure 1). Quang 
Ninh has a natural area of 6,120,79 km2 and a population of nearly 1,400,000 people in 2022. The 
province has a border of more than 118 km with China and has a coastline of 250 km. Quang Ninh 
has rich mineral resources, most notably coal reserves accounting for 95% of the country’s coal reserves 
(coal reserves of about 8.8 billion tons).
With huge coal resources, Quang Ninh has become the largest coal mining and power production center 
in Vietnam (Quang Ninh Portal, 2024). In the period 2016 - 2021, on average each year, Vietnam exploits 
and consumes about 39 - 42 million tons of raw coal, of which the majority is in the Quang Ninh coal 
basin. Besides the benefits it brings to local socio-economic development, coal mining also negatively 
affects the environment in Quang Ninh. Open-pit mining sites generate large amounts of dust and toxic 
Le Hung Trinh, Van Phu Le, Thi Hanh  Tong, Sinh Dinh Mai | KARTIRANJE PROSTORSKE PORAZDELITVE ONESNAŽEVAL ZRAKA V PROVINCI QUANG NINH (VIETNAM) NA PODLAGI PODATKOV SENTINEL 5P | MAPPING 
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gases from the mining sites. In addition, increasing the area and scale of waste dumps also causes loss 
of vegetation, causing significant dust. Coal transportation activities from mines to consumption are 
also the cause of air pollution along traffic routes. In addition, Quang Ninh province is also one of the 
localities with the largest number of coal-fired power plants in Vietnam. Currently, the province has 7 
coal-fired power plants, with a total capacity of 4,150 MW, accounting for 16% of the country’s total 
electricity output. Every year, coal-fired power plants release millions of tons of ash and slag into the 
environment, increasing dust pollution in Quang Ninh province.
Currently, there are more than 10 air quality monitoring stations in Quang Ninh province, mainly 
distributed in coal mines and urban areas. These monitoring stations provide information about 
air quality through the AQI (Air Quality Index) index. The number of air quality monitoring 
stations in the study area is not much and accessing data is difficult. Therefore, using Sentinel 
5P TROPOMI satellite data to evaluate the air quality in Quang Ninh province is a feasible and 
appropriate solution. 
Figure 1: Geographic location of Quang Ninh province (northern Vietnam)
Materials. In this study, Sentinel 5P TROPOMI data collected continuously in 2023 in Quang Ninh 
province are used to build content distribution maps of 4 air pollution parameters, including CO, NO2, 
O3 and SO2. Sentinel 5P TROPOMI data characteristics are shown in Table 1 (ESA, 2023). The Google 
Earth Engine (GEE) platform was used to collect and process Sentinel 5P data using the harpconver-
bin_spatial tool. Post-processed data at the L3 level, which removed pixels with QA values less than 80% 
for AER_AI, 75% for the tropospheric_NO2_column_number_density band of NO2 and 50% for all 
other datasets except for O3 and SO2 (Gopikrishnan et al., 2022).
Le Hung Trinh, Van Phu Le, Thi Hanh  Tong, Sinh Dinh Mai | KARTIRANJE PROSTORSKE PORAZDELITVE ONESNAŽEVAL ZRAKA V PROVINCI QUANG NINH (VIETNAM) NA PODLAGI PODATKOV SENTINEL 5P | MAPPING 
THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF AIR POLLUTANTS IN QUANG NINH PROVINCE (VIETNAM) USING SENTINEL 5P DATA  | 313-326 |
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Table 1: Sentinel 5P TROPOMI bands characteristics (ESA, 2023)
Bands Spectrometer
Spectral range 
(nm)
Temporal 
resolution 
Spatial resolution 
(km)
Swath (km)
1
Ultraviolet - UV
270 - 300 Daily 7 × 28
∼ 2600
2 300 - 320 Daily 7 × 3.5
3
Ultraviolet-visble UVIS
320 - 405 Daily 7 × 3.5
∼ 2600
4 405 - 500 Daily 7 × 3.5
5
Near Infrared - NIR
625 - 725 Daily 7 × 3.5
∼ 2600
6 725 - 775 Daily 7 × 3.5
7
Shortwave Infrared - SWIR
2305 - 2345 Daily 7 × 7
∼ 2600
8 2345 - 2385 Daily 7 × 7
2.2 Methodology 
Sentinel 5P TROPOMI data in NetCDF format (L2 level) collected from the Copernicus database, 
then processed on the GEE platform to achieve L3 level and converted to TIFF format based on the 
harpconverbin_spatial tool. 
Google Earth Engine is a cloud-based geospatial analysis platform that allows users to visualize and ana-
lyze satellite image data. GEE operates through an online JavaScript application interface (API) - Code 
Editor. In the Code Editor interface, users can write and run scripts to process and analyze spatial data. 
GEE archives remote sensing data from satellite systems over the past 40 years, including data from the 
Sentinel system as well as the computational tools needed to analyze the data without downloading to a 
computer. GEE is an efficient and powerful tool when processing multi-temporal remote sensing data, 
such as with Sentinel 5P images.
The CO, NO2, O3 and SO2 concentration calculated from Sentinel 5P data has the unit of mol/m
2, 
while the unit according to Vietnamese standards is μg/m3, so after processing it is necessary to convert 
the measurement unit according to the formula (Savenets, 2021):
 
.colCC M A
H
= × ×  (1)
Where: C - the air pollutants concentration in unit μg/m3;
             Ccol. - the pollutant column content in unit mol/m
2;
             H - tropospheric height in mid latitude (10000 m);
             A - constant for conversion from (g/m3) to (μg/m3) (equals to 1000000).
             M - the molar mass of air pollutants (g/mol).
Formula (1) is also used in many different studies in Vietnam to convert the Sentinel 5P data 
unit from mol/m2 to μg/m3 (Do et al., 2022; Luu et al., 2023; Luong et al., 2023). In many 
scientific projects of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Vietnam (Nghiem, 
2022; Pham, 2023), the authors also used formula (1) to evaluate air pollution in Bac Ninh 
province, Northern Vietnam. In addition, Savenets’ formula was also used in the study of Nagy et 
Le Hung Trinh, Van Phu Le, Thi Hanh  Tong, Sinh Dinh Mai | KARTIRANJE PROSTORSKE PORAZDELITVE ONESNAŽEVAL ZRAKA V PROVINCI QUANG NINH (VIETNAM) NA PODLAGI PODATKOV SENTINEL 5P | MAPPING 
THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF AIR POLLUTANTS IN QUANG NINH PROVINCE (VIETNAM) USING SENTINEL 5P DATA  | 313-326 |
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al. to build a concentration distribution map of air pollution parameters in Sharkia Governorate 
(Egypt’s Eastern Nile Delta) (Nagy et al., 2024). The most common air pollutants in the tropo-
sphere (Nakhjiri and Kakroodi, 2024) at altitudes of 8 to 12 km, therefore, the average altitude 
of 10 km is used in the studies of the concentration distribution of CO, NO2, O3 and SO2 from 
Sentinel 5P satellite data.
Finally, the content of air pollution parameters determined from Sentinel 5P data was compared with 
Regulations QCVN 05:2013/BTNMT National technical regulation on ambient air quality to evaluate 
air quality in the study area (Table 2).
Table 2:  The limit values (μg/m3) of air pollutants in QCVN 05:2013/BTNMT (MONRE, 2023)
No. Air pollutant Average 1 hour Average 8 hour Average 24 hour Annual average
1 CO 30000 10000 - -
2 NO2 200 - 100 40
3 O3 300 120 - -
4 SO2 350 - 125 50
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 
Sentinel 5P TROPOMI data for the whole year of 2023, after collection and processing, is used to 
build the average concentration distribution maps of CO, NO2, O3 and SO2 by quarter and year using 
ArcGIS 10 software. The concentration unit of air pollutant gases is also converted from mol/m2 to μg/
m3 according to formula (1) (Savenets, 2021).
a) The spatio-temporal distribution maps of CO concentration
Figure 2 shows the quarterly spatial distribution maps of CO concentration for 2023 in Quang Ninh 
province from Sentinel 5P data. It can be seen that the CO concentration in Quang Ninh has a big 
difference between quarters of the 2023 year, in which the CO concentration is highest in the first 
quarter (shown in yellow and dark brown in Figure 2) with values ranging from 12242.9 μg/m3 to 
17091.8 μg/m3. The areas with the highest CO concentrations are located in the southwest of Quang 
Ninh province, where there are large coal mines in Dong Trieu, Uong Bi, and Cam Pha districts. In 
the second quarter, the CO concentration in the air of Quang Ninh province was the second highest 
(from 11385.7 μg/m3 to 18406.5 μg/m3), in which the areas with the highest CO concentrations are 
distributed in coastal areas and some near-shore islands. During the third quarter, the concentration 
of CO in the air reached its lowest (from 7975.8 μg/m3 to 10150.6 μg/m3), shown by the purple color 
in Figure 2. In general, the CO concentration in the air in Quang Ninh province in the third quarter 
of 2023 is mostly below 10000 μg/m3. The carbon oxide concentration increased in the 4th quarter 
of 2023 (from 9830.1 μg/m3 to 12891.3 μg/m3), but remained lower than the CO concentration in 
the 2nd and 1st quarters. 
Although QCVN 05:2013/BTTMT does not stipulate quarterly and annual average CO concentration 
limit values, through comparison with Table 2 shows that the CO concentration in Quang Ninh is very 
high, the lowest from about 8000 μg/m3 (nearly equal to the limit value according to the 8-hour average 
in QCVN 05:2013/BTTMT).
Le Hung Trinh, Van Phu Le, Thi Hanh  Tong, Sinh Dinh Mai | KARTIRANJE PROSTORSKE PORAZDELITVE ONESNAŽEVAL ZRAKA V PROVINCI QUANG NINH (VIETNAM) NA PODLAGI PODATKOV SENTINEL 5P | MAPPING 
THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF AIR POLLUTANTS IN QUANG NINH PROVINCE (VIETNAM) USING SENTINEL 5P DATA  | 313-326 |
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NFigure 2: The quarterly 2023 spatial distribution map of CO in Quang Ninh province
In addition, this study also built the map of annual average carbon oxide concentrations (CO) for 2023 in 
Quang Ninh province (Figure 3). Figure 3 shows that the annual average CO concentration for 2023 in 
Quang Ninh province ranges from 10716.5 μg/m3 to 13485.6 μg/m3, even higher than the limit value of 
average CO concentration in 8 hours according to QCVN 05:2013/BTTMT. It can be seen throughout 
the year 2023, the CO concentration is highest in the southern region, where large coal mines are located.
Figure 3: Map of annual average carbon oxide concentrations (CO) for 2023 in Quang Ninh province
Le Hung Trinh, Van Phu Le, Thi Hanh  Tong, Sinh Dinh Mai | KARTIRANJE PROSTORSKE PORAZDELITVE ONESNAŽEVAL ZRAKA V PROVINCI QUANG NINH (VIETNAM) NA PODLAGI PODATKOV SENTINEL 5P | MAPPING 
THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF AIR POLLUTANTS IN QUANG NINH PROVINCE (VIETNAM) USING SENTINEL 5P DATA  | 313-326 |
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b) The spatio-temporal distribution maps of NO2 concentration
Figure 4 shows the quarterly spatial distribution maps of nitrit (NO2) concentration for 2023 in 
Quang Ninh province. The results showed that similar to the CO pollutant, the NO2 concentra-
tion was highest in the areas of Dong Trieu, Uong Bi, Quang Yen and Cam Pha districts - where 
there are large coal mines (shown by yellow and dark brown in Figure 4). The average NO2 con-
centrations in the first quarter of 2023 ranged from 31.31 μg/m3 to 75.70 μg/m3, while in the 
second quarter they ranged from 34.90 μg/m3 to 75.12 μg/m3. In the third quarter of 2023, the 
average NO2 concentrations decreased (similar to CO concentrations), with values ranging from 
26.56 μg/m3 to 59.71 μg/m3, in which the highest quarterly average NO2 concentration is still 
distributed in the area of  large coal mines in Quang Ninh province (southwest region). The aver-
age NO2 concentrations increased again in the fourth quarter of 2023, with values ranging from 
25.06 μg/m3 to 72.77 μg/m3.
The map of the annual average NO2 concentration for 2023 in Quang Ninh province is presented in 
Figure 5, in which the annual average NO2 concentration range from 30.46 μg/m
3 to 69.11 μg/m3. The 
areas with the highest annual average NO2 concentrations are located in the west and southwest of Quang 
Ninh province (where there are large coal mines). The annual average NO2 concentration for 2023 in 
large coal mine areas is also significantly higher than the limit value for the NO2 parameter according 
to QCVN 05:2023/BTNMT (50 μg/m3).
Figure 4: The quarterly 2023 spatial distribution map of NO2 in Quang Ninh province
Le Hung Trinh, Van Phu Le, Thi Hanh  Tong, Sinh Dinh Mai | KARTIRANJE PROSTORSKE PORAZDELITVE ONESNAŽEVAL ZRAKA V PROVINCI QUANG NINH (VIETNAM) NA PODLAGI PODATKOV SENTINEL 5P | MAPPING 
THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF AIR POLLUTANTS IN QUANG NINH PROVINCE (VIETNAM) USING SENTINEL 5P DATA  | 313-326 |
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Figure 5: Map of annual average nitrite concentrations (NO2) for 2023 in Quang Ninh province
c) The spatio-temporal distribution maps of O3 concentration
Figure 6: The quarterly 2023 spatial distribution map of O3 in Quang Ninh province
Le Hung Trinh, Van Phu Le, Thi Hanh  Tong, Sinh Dinh Mai | KARTIRANJE PROSTORSKE PORAZDELITVE ONESNAŽEVAL ZRAKA V PROVINCI QUANG NINH (VIETNAM) NA PODLAGI PODATKOV SENTINEL 5P | MAPPING 
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The maps of quarterly and annual average ozone (O3) concentrations for 2023 in Quang Ninh province 
are presented in Figures 6 and 7. It can be seen that ozone concentrations in Quang Ninh province do 
not have significant differences between different areas in all 4 quarters as well as the whole year 2023. 
The quarterly average O3 concentration in for 2023 ranges from 53.43 μg/m
3 to 54.00 μg/m3 (1st quar-
ter), 60.24 μg/m3 to 60.88 μg/m3 (2nd quarter), 59.63 μg/m3 to 60.30 μg/m3 (3rd quarter) and 57.05 
μg/m3 to 57.76 μg/m3 (4th quarter). The annual average O3 concentration for 2023 ranges from 57.74 
μg/m3 to 58.13 μg/m3. In general, the average O3 concentration in the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2023 is 
higher than in the 1st and 4th quarters.
The standard QCVN 05:2023/BTNMT does not stipulate the limit value of annual and quarterly O3 
concentration (Table 2), however, compared to the limit value of O3 concentration in 1 hour (300 μg/
m3) and 8 hours (120 μg/m3), the O3 concentration in Quang Ninh province in 2023 is basically within 
the allowable level.
Figure 7: Map of annual average ozone concentrations (O3) for 2023 in Quang Ninh province
d) The spatio-temporal distribution maps of SO2 concentration
The map of quarterly average SO2 concentration for 2023 in Quang Ninh province is presented in 
Figure 8. The obtained results showed that the SO2 concentration in the study area reached its lowest in 
the third quarter of 2023 (from 0 to 282.02 μg/m3). The average SO2 concentration in the first (from 0 
to 291.55 μg/m3), second (from 0 to 154.27 μg/m3), and fourth quarters (from 0 to 292.06 μg/m3) of 
2023 is quite similar and significantly higher than the third quarter. It can be said that the sulfur dioxide 
concentration in the air in Quang Ninh province is high when compared to QCVN 05:2013/BTNMT, 
higher than the limit value of average SO2 concentration in 24 hours (125 μg/m
3).
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Figure 8: The quarterly 2023 spatial distribution map of SO2 in Quang Ninh province
In addition, this study also built a map of the annual average SO2 concentration from Sentinel 5P 
TROPOMI data (Figure 9), in which the annual average SO2 concentration for 2023 in Quang Ninh 
province ranges from 0 to 180.12 μg/m3. Comparison with Vietnam standards on air quality (QCVN 
05:2013/BTNMT) shows that the annual concentration of SO2 for 2023 in Quang Ninh is much 
higher than the limit value in the standard (50 μg/m3). Most of the study area has an annual average 
SO2 concentration in 2023 that exceeds the allowable standard in QCVN 05:2023. Areas with average 
SO2 concentrations in 2023 within the allowable value in QCVN 05:2013/BTNMT are negligible, as 
shown by the purple colour in Figure 9. Analyzing the distribution of average SO2 concentration in 2023 
in Quang Ninh province also shows that SO2 concentration is higher in the western and southwestern 
regions. This is also consistent with the concentration distribution of other air pollutants in Quang 
Ninh province such as CO, O3 and NO2. Thus, it can be said that the coal mining process in Quang 
Ninh has a great influence on the concentration distribution of air pollutants, including carbon oxide, 
nitrite, ozone and sulfur dioxide.
To evaluate the accuracy of the results of calculating CO, NO2, O3 and SO2 concentration from 
Sentinel 5P data, in the study using air quality data in 2023 at 4 ground monitoring stations: 03 
stations in Cam Pha city (the largest coal basin in Quang Ninh province) and 01 station in Ha 
Long city (the administrative, economic, socio-cultural center of Quang Ninh province). The results 
show that the concentrations of air pollution parameters determined from Sentinel 5P TROPOMI 
data have high similarities with data at monitoring stations. However, the concentration values  of 
CO, NO2, O3 and SO2 calculated from remote sensing data are generally lower than the actual 
values  measured at the stations. This is because the CO, NO2, O3 and SO2 concentrations calcu-
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lated on the image is the average value of an image pixel, much larger than the monitoring range 
of a measuring station.
Figure 9: Map of annual average sulfur dioxide concentrations (SO2) for 2023 in Quang Ninh province
4 CONCLUSION 
This study presents the results of applying Sentinel-5P TROPOMI satellite data for mapping the spatio-
temporal distribution of 04 air pollutants concentration (CO, NO2, O3 and SO2) in the Quang Ninh 
province - a key area for coal exploitation and use in Vietnam. From Sentinel 5P data, this study built 
the quarterly and annual average maps of air pollutants concentration for 2023, including CO, NO2, O3 
and SO2, then compared with the limit values in Vietnamese standard on air quality (QCVN 05:2013/
BTNMT). The results show that the concentrations of CO, NO2, O3 and SO2 in Quang Ninh province 
in 2023 are all high compared to regulations in QCVN, of which the highest concentration is in the 
first quarter.
In addition, the concentration distribution maps of air pollutants obtained in this study are objective 
and timely information, allowing managers to assess the level of air pollution as well as identify sources 
of air emissions in the study area. With a wide coverage area, Sentinel-5P TROPOMI data can be used 
effectively in air pollution monitoring and assessment, saving time and costs compared to traditional 
research methods.
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Le Hung Trinh, Van Phu Le, Thi Hanh  Tong, Sinh Dinh Mai | KARTIRANJE PROSTORSKE PORAZDELITVE ONESNAŽEVAL ZRAKA V PROVINCI QUANG NINH (VIETNAM) NA PODLAGI PODATKOV SENTINEL 5P | MAPPING 
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Associate Prof., Dr. Le Hung TRINH
Institute of Technical for Special Engineering, Le Quy Don 
Technical University
236 Hoang Quoc Viet Str., Bac Tu Liem district, Hanoi, Vietnam;
e-mail: trinhlehung@lqdtu.edu.vn 
Van Phu LE, Master of Technical Sciences
Le Quy Don Technical University
236 Hoang Quoc Viet Str., Bac Tu Liem district, Hanoi, Vietnam
e-mail: phule.ktqs.53@gmail.com 
Thi Hanh TONG, Master of Technical Sciences
Institute of Technical for Special Engineering, Le Quy Don 
Technical University
236 Hoang Quoc Viet Str., Bac Tu Liem district, Hanoi, Vietnam
e-mail: hanhkhuenam@gmail.com 
Sinh Dinh MAI, Dr.
Institute of Technical for Special Engineering, Le Quy Don 
Technical University
236 Hoang Quoc Viet Str., Bac Tu Liem district, Hanoi, Vietnam
e-mail: maidinhsinh@lqdtu.edu.vn.
Trinh L. H., Le V. P., Tong T. H., Mai S. D. (2024). Mapping the spatial distribution of air pollutants in Quang Ninh province (Vietnam) using 
Sentinel 5P data. Geodetski vestnik, 68 (3), 313-326. 
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15292/geodetski-vestnik.2024.03.313-326
Le Hung Trinh, Van Phu Le, Thi Hanh  Tong, Sinh Dinh Mai | KARTIRANJE PROSTORSKE PORAZDELITVE ONESNAŽEVAL ZRAKA V PROVINCI QUANG NINH (VIETNAM) NA PODLAGI PODATKOV SENTINEL 5P | MAPPING 
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