Based on the airborne measurement results over a coal fired power plant and steel work in Dangjin city, SO2 emission amounts of each site are estimated (top-down emission). Airborne measurements were carried out on May-June and October-November 2019. The estimated SO2 emission in 2019 for the power plant was 1502.1 kg/hr and that for the steel work was 2850.5 kg/hr, higher as much as a factor of 2.5 and 2.0, respectively, than the emission amounts provided by both facilities (bottom-up emission). The outcomes strongly illustrates that well designed airborne observations can serve a quantitative diagnostic tool for bottom-up emission estimates. Further research direction to improve the reliability of the top-down emission estimates is suggested.