Zhu, LeiJacob, Daniel J.Mickley, Loretta J.Marais, Eloïse A.Cohan, Daniel S.Yoshida, YasukoDuncan, Bryan N.Abad, Gonzalo GonzálezChance, Kelly V.2016-02-022016-02-022014Zhu, Lei, Jacob, Daniel J., Mickley, Loretta J., et al.. "Anthropogenic emissions of highly reactive volatile organic compounds in eastern Texas inferred from oversampling of satellite (OMI) measurements of HCHO columns." <i>Environmental Research Letters,</i> 9, (2014) IOP Publishing: 114004. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/11/114004.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/88311Satellite observations of formaldehyde (HCHO) columns provide top-down constraints on emissions of highly reactive volatile organic compounds (HRVOCs). This approach has been used previously in the US to estimate isoprene emissions from vegetation, but application to anthropogenic emissions has been stymied by lack of a discernable HCHO signal. Here we show that temporal oversampling of HCHO data from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) for 2005–2008 enables detection of urban and industrial plumes in eastern Texas including Houston, Port Arthur, and Dallas/Fort Worth. By spatially integrating the HCHO enhancement in the Houston plume observed by OMI we estimate an anthropogenic HCHO source of 250 ± 140 kmol h−1. This implies that anthropogenic HRVOC emissions in Houston are 4.8 ± 2.7 times higher than reported by the US Environmental Protection Agency inventory, and is consistent with field studies identifying large ethene and propene emissions from petrochemical industrial sources.engContent from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.Journal articleHCHOozone monitoring instrumentanthropogenichighly reactive VOCoversamplinghttp://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/11/114004