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ISSN 2070-7401 (Print), ISSN 2411-0280 (Online)
Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa
CURRENT PROBLEMS IN REMOTE SENSING OF THE EARTH FROM SPACE

  

Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2026, V. 23, No. 5, pp. 88-100

Assessing the characteristics of smoke plumes from thermal power plant stacks using satellite images

V.F. Raputa 1 , A.A. Lezhenin 1 , R.A. Kuzminykh 1 
1 Institute of Computational Mathematics and Mathematical Geophysics SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia
Accepted: 30.07.2026
DOI: 10.21046/2070-7401-2026-23-5-88-100
The level of pollution of the ground layer of the atmosphere depends significantly on the height of the smoke plume that is determined by the dynamic and thermal characteristics of the mixtures emanating from the pipes and meteorological conditions. Satellite images allow for a fairly comprehensive observation of smoke plume propagation in the atmosphere and their shadow images on the Earth’s surface. The paper uses satellite data and mathematical modeling methods to study smoke plume propagation from thermal power plant stacks. The problems of estimating their trajectories, maximum rise heights, and dynamic characteristics of smoke mixtures emanating from the stacks are considered. Dependencies derived from dimensionality and similarity analysis are used as the underlying relationships. Using winter satellite images and aerological data, the proposed models and methods were tested on smoke plumes from Novo-Irkutsk Thermal Power Plant and Barnaul Thermal Power Plant-3. The trajectories and ascent heights of smoke mixtures were numerically reconstructed, and their initial exit velocities from the high-rise stacks of the thermal power plants under consideration were estimated. The results of these studies, based on satellite data, allow for external monitoring of key characteristics of smoke emissions from thermal power plants and can be used for numerical modeling of harmful pollutant propagation processes and decision-making to ensure atmospheric air quality.
Keywords: atmosphere, thermal power station, satellite images, smoke plume, rise height, smoke mixture exit velocity, trajectory, model, aerological data
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