Nitrogen Dioxide over the Continental US and Los Angeles

  • Released Monday, December 9, 2024
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This visualization uses proxy and model data of NO2 tropospheric vertical columns over the continental US and southern California to show how the GeoXO ACX instrument will monitor the region. This version has a clock, text and color bar overlay.


NOAA’s Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) satellite system will expand observations of Earth that the GOES-R Series currently provides from geostationary orbit. GeoXO will watch over the Western Hemisphere as part of NOAA’s observing system that supports short-term forecasts and warnings of extreme weather and environmental hazards.

The Atmospheric Composition instrument (ACX) will be a hyperspectral spectrometer that measures a wide spectrum of light from ultraviolet (UV) to visible. ACX will provide hourly observations of air pollutants emitted by transportation, power generation, industry, oil and gas extraction, volcanoes, and wildfires, as well as secondary pollutants generated from these emissions once they are in the atmosphere. By providing continuous observations and measurements of atmospheric composition, ACX data will improve air quality monitoring and forecasting as well as enable mitigation of health impacts from severe pollution and smoke events. ACX will contribute to improved operational air quality, hazard, and wildfire observation and prediction efforts.

Using proxy data for the tropospheric vertical columns of nitrogen dioxide, NO2, from the TEMPO mission and a numerical air quality model, this visualization shows how the geosynchronous GEO Center satellite will continually monitor pollution hourly over the US during the daylight hours. Upon zooming into Southern California, finer details of pollution gradients are clearly visible over the Los Angeles/San Diego region. Here the concentration of NO2 is shown in shades of light blue to dark pink/purple indicating values ranging from low to high

This visualization uses proxy and model data of NO2 tropospheric vertical columns over the continental US and southern California to show how the GeoXO ACX instrument will monitor the region. This version does not have the clock, text or color bar overlay.


Media for group #34965 left side Media for group #34965 right side

Compare the difference in the tropospheric vertical columns of NO2 over Los Angeles and San Diego between Sunday, June 27, 2021 at 9:00 AM and the same time on Monday, June 28, 2021.

This is the overlay for the above NO2 visualization over the continental US and southern California with transparency.

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

This page was originally published on Monday, December 9, 2024.
This page was last updated on Tuesday, December 10, 2024 at 11:47 AM EST.

Datasets used

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