Spatial and temporal variability of ozone and nitrogen dioxide over a major urban estuarine ecosystem

Spatial and temporal dynamics in trace gas pollutants were examined over a major urban estuarine ecosystem, using a new network of ground-based Pandora spectrometers deployed at strategic locations along the Washington-Baltimore corridor and the Chesapeake Bay. Total column ozone (TCO3) and nitrogen dioxide (TCNO2) were measured during NASA's DISCOVER-AQ and GeoCAPE-CBODAQ campaigns in July 2011. The Pandora network provided high-resolution information on air-quality variability, local pollution conditions, large-scale meteorological influences, and interdependencies of ozone and its major precursor, NO2. Measurements were used to compare with air-quality model simulations (CMAQ), evaluate Aura-OMI satellite retrievals, and assess advantages and limitations of space-based observations under a range of conditions. During the campaign, TCNO2 varied by an order of magnitude, both spatially and temporally. Although fairly constant in rural regions, TCNO2 showed clear diurnal and weekly patterns in polluted urban areas caused by changes in near-surface emissions. With a coarse resolution and an overpass at around 13:30 local time, OMI cannot detect this strong variability in NO2, missing pollution peaks from industrial and rush hour activities. Not as highly variable as NO2, TCO3 was mostly affected by large-scale meteorological patterns as observed by OMI. A clear weekly cycle in TCO3, with minima over the weekend, was due to a combination of weekly weather patterns and changes in near-surface NOx emissions. A Pandora instrument intercomparison under the same conditions at GSFC showed excellent agreement, within +/- 4.8DU for TCO3 and +/- 0.07DU for TCNO2 with no air-mass-factor dependence, suggesting that observed variability during the campaign was real.