The TRacking Aerosol Convection ExpeRiment – Air Quality (TRACER-AQ) studied how emissions and weather impact air quality. TRACER-AQ had one deployment in Houston, Texas, in September 2021. Airborne measurements of aerosols were taken aboard the Gulfstream V aircraft. These data were complemented by ground measurements from the Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet) and ozonesondes. TRACER-AQ supported the Department of Energy’s TRacking Aerosol Convection ExpeRiment (TRACER) campaign and NASA’s Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) mission.
2021-09-01 — 2021-09-27
Galveston Bay, Gulf of Mexico, Houston metropolitan area
Ozonesondes are in situ balloon-borne instruments that measure ozone concentration profiles. An ozonesonde consists of an electrochemical ozone sensor connected to a meteorological radiosonde, which collects ozone, temperature, pressure, and humidity measurements as it ascends through the atmosphere. It provides ozone profile measurements at a resolution of 100 to 150 m. Ozonesondes typically operate at a measurement rate of 0.1 Hz and can collect profiles up to around 35 km.
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor > Water Vapor Profiles
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Upper Air Temperature > Vertical Profiles
Ceilometers are ground-based remote-sensing instruments that measure cloud ceilings and vertical visibility. They use a laser or another light source to detect backscatter from clouds, precipitation, and aerosols. Ceilometers provide detailed, precise measurements in all weather conditions and are cost-effective to operate. They are commonly used in boundary-layer and cloud research.
The NASA Goddard Tropospheric Ozone Lidar (TROPOZ) is a mobile, ground-based lidar that is part of the Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet). It uses the differential absorption lidar (DIAL) technique to measure ozone at 289 nm and 299 nm. TROPOZ has a range resolution of 15 meters, a repetition rate of 50 Hz, and can produce ozone profiles from 0.35 to 16 km above ground level.
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Air Quality > Tropospheric Ozone
The Tunable Optical Profiler for Aerosol and oZone (TOPAZ) is a lidar system developed by the NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory. Originally designed for airborne use, it has been reconfigured for deployment in a trailer for ground-based operations. It uses the differential absorption lidar (DIAL) technique to measure ozone concentrations and aerosol backscatter profiles from the surface up to 6 to 8 km above ground level (AGL). It operates in the 285 to 310 nm wavelength range and provides a vertical resolution of 5 m near the surface and 1000 m at 8 km AGL. TOPAZ is part of the NASA Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet).
The Langley Mobile Ozone Lidar (LMOL) is a mobile, ground-based lidar developed at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC). It is a differential absorption lidar that measures ozone, aerosols, and clouds. It operates at 287 nm and 292 nm for ozone retrievals and at 527 nm for aerosol detection. It has a pulse width of 70 ns and a range resolution of 7.5 m. LMOL is part of the Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet), which is operated by NASA.
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Air Quality > Tropospheric Ozone
The High Spectral Resolution Lidar 2 (HSRL-2) is an airborne lidar developed by NASA's Langley Research Center. HSRL-2 measures aerosol backscatter at 355, 532, and 1064 nm and aerosol extinction at 355 and 532 nm. It has a horizontal resolution of 1-2 km and a vertical resolution of 15 m, with measurements taken approximately every 0.5 seconds. It replaced the original High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL).
Earth Science > Spectral/engineering > Lidar > Lidar Depolarization Ratio
The GEOstationary Coastal and Air Pollution Events (GEO-CAPE) Airborne Simulator (GCAS) is a push-broom airborne instrument with two spectrometers. Developed by the Radiometric Calibration and Flight Development Laboratory at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) as a simulator for the GEO-CAPE mission, GCAS measures atmospheric trace gases and ocean color. The first spectrometer operates in the ultraviolet to visible (300-490 nm) range for air quality observations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), formaldehyde (HCHO), and other trace gases. The second spectrometer operates in the visible to near-infrared (480-900 nm) range to measure ocean color. GCAS has a typical spatial resolution of 250m across track and 500m along track at an altitude of 9 km, with a frame rate of 12 Hz.
The Pandora Spectrometer System is a ground-based UV-VIS spectrometer that measures column amounts of trace gases in the atmosphere. It uses total optical absorption spectroscopy to retrieve ozone, nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, and other trace gases. Pandora operates in the 280-525 nm spectral range at a resolution of 0.6 nm. It can perform both direct-sun and all-sky radiance measurements, with an overall measurement time of 80 seconds. Pandora is part of the Pandonia Global Network, a network of identical instruments.
