You are here:
Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) mission and Level 2 Data Product Validation Plans
Citation:
Szykman, Jim, L. Valin, E. Baumann, AND D. Williams. Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) mission and Level 2 Data Product Validation Plans. 2022 MARAMA Air Monitoring Committee Training Workshop, Swarthmore, PA, December 06 - 08, 2022.
Impact/Purpose:
This talk presents a strategic approach to help EPA and state and local agencies on the incorporation of satellite and remote sensing data products to better meet additional air quality data information needs, by focusing on improved validation of satellite products, including at key locations within the national air quality monitoring network. This talk will discuss the TEMPO mission, including Level 2 data product validation plans, and the key role of the pandora spectrometer. This work is in part supported at EPA through the ORD Air, Climate, and Energy research program.
Description:
The TEMPO satellite mission, scheduled to launch in early 2023, will provide hourly to sub-hourly observations of air quality relevant pollutants (NO2, HCHO, O3, SO2, and aerosols) during daylight hours at neighborhood scales, 2 km × -4 km. These observations will provide an unprecedented view of air pollution across the U.S.. Similar to how the GOES weather satellites inform weather research and application, the uptake of these new observations can greatly enhance air quality data needs over the TEMPO mission, spanning areas such as regional/global transport, hot spot identification/network design, emission development and model develop/evaluation, and finally, exposure assessment. To aid in more routine and systematic validation and interpretation of TEMPO observations, EPA is assisting in establishing a network of ground-based remote sensing instruments (Pandora spectrometers) across the TEMPO field-of-view in collaboration with NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), and State and Local agencies. Pandora spectrometer current data products include atmospheric column trace gas amounts of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), formaldehyde (CH2O), and ozone (O3), along profiles in the boundary layer for NO2 and HCHO. When operated at the surface in a direct-sun observing mode, Pandora retrievals have much lower uncertainties than those from satellites, making the instrument a good candidate for data validation measurements. The PGN and pandora spectrometer helps fill a critical gap on satellite data product validation and serves as key measurement for on-going routine and systematic validation for TEMPO Level 2 geophysical data products