Master thesis | Statistical Science for the Life and Behavioural Sciences (MSc)
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A stricter global sulfur regulation by International Maritime Organization MARPOL Annex IV is effective as of the beginning of 2020, but there is no monitoring system on whether the ships actually...Show moreA stricter global sulfur regulation by International Maritime Organization MARPOL Annex IV is effective as of the beginning of 2020, but there is no monitoring system on whether the ships actually comply with the sulfur cap. The thesis devises a systematic approach to a prototype of a sulfur compliance monitoring system using the state-of-the-art TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument(TROPOMI) which measures the atmospheric presence of trace gases. Oceanic geographical coordinates are classified by the similarity in the concentration level of trace gas with the k-means clustering method and adequate averaging techniques. The choice of hyperparameters and the final results are statistically formulated and verified. The subsequent longitudinal analysis on the temporal trends of trace gas emission suggests that the sulfur dioxide measurements of TROPOMI are dominated by measurement noise. The thesis concludes with the outcome that the nitrogen dioxide measurements of TROPOMI can be well-utilized to backtrack the maritime anthropogenic activities such as the regional shipping route, which indicates a possibility to be further developed as a global monitoring system for both land and maritime emission.Show less
