Multi-year remote-sensing measurements of gasoline light-duty vehicle emissions on a freeway ramp

On-road optical remote-sensing measurements of gasoline light-duty vehicle (LDV) emissions – CO, HC, NO – were conducted on a freeway ramp in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1991, 1995 and 1998. Based on almost 30,000 emission measurements, the results show that both catalyst cars and non-catalyst cars emissions deteriorate over time, but also that the emission performance of new TWC-cars has improved significantly in recent years. Furthermore, it was found that fleet age rather than model year determines the rate of emission deterioration for TWC-cars for both CO and NO. The study demonstrates that remote sensing may constitute a powerful tool to evaluate real-world LDV emissions; however, daily field calibration procedures need to be developed in order to assure that the evolution in fleet average emissions can be accurately measured.