NASA’s Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of POllution (TEMPO) mission launched in April 2023 to provide geostationary observations of air quality over North America. With this addition of high-resolution satellite measurements, the Synergistic TEMPO Air Quality Science (STAQS) mission sought to integrate TEMPO satellite observations with traditional air quality monitoring to improve understanding of air quality science and increase societal benefit of the mission.

The colored blocks on the map represent of locations mapped by NASA aircraft during STAQS with noted flight dates. White circles show ground locations for measurements (PGN and TOLNet) supported by STAQS. Dates in yellow are those that coincide with TEMPO observations.

Between June-August 2023, STAQS operated two aircraft on 17 flight days totaling to ~270 flight hours in four domains: Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Toronto. Measurements include column NO2, HCHO, and methane, ozone and aerosol profiling, and methane/CO2 emission rate estimates.
The framework for STAQS stemmed from measurements strategies and collaborations developed during airborne air quality studies from the last decade. For STAQS, NASA collaborated with partners conducting complementary air quality studies in 2023 (full list summarized on the AGES+ website) building a synergistic observing system more robust than any singular entity could provide alone.

To date, measurements from STAQS and AGES+ have been heavily used in TEMPO validation, which contributed to the TEMPO team achieving provisional validation status for their NO2, HCHO, and ozone products in December 2024. Ongoing work includes, but is not limited to continued evaluation of TEMPO level 2 products geo-physically, spatially, and temporally, interpreting the temporal and spatial evolution of air quality events tracked by TEMPO, and improving temporal estimates of anthropogenic, biogenic, and greenhouse gas emissions.

The airborne air quality TEMPO-proxy payload was installed on Johnson Space Centers G-V. Over the course of summer 2023, this payload operated over 13 flight days (last flight August 15th) collecting data with the GeoCAPE Airborne Simulator (GCAS) combined with the High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL)-2 + Ozone Differential Absorption lidar (DIAL). This payload was first demonstrated on this platform during the TRACER-AQ mission in September 2021 and provided repeated high-resolution mapping of NO2, HCHO, ozone, and aerosols up to 3x per day over targeted cities to capture the spatiotemporal evolution of air quality due to emissions, meteorology, and chemistry. After August 15th, GCAS was placed on the NASA LaRC G-III in place of AVIRIS to finish the mission in Los Angeles.

To compliment the air quality measurements from the G-V, a greenhouse gas focused payload flew on the LaRC G-III to measure city-scale emissions up to 2x day over targeted cities. The combined active/passive remote sensing payload includes the High Altitude Lidar Observatory (HALO) and Airborne Visible InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer - Next Generation (AVIRIS-NG). HALO provides city-scale view of column methane using the DIAL technique and profiles of aerosol/cloud optical properties employing the HSRL technique. AVIRIS-NG provided methane and carbon dioxide emissions estimates over large sources.

Continuous tropospheric ozone profiles add a critical component needed to understand processes relevant to air quality and pollution transport with TEMPO. The NASA Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet) contributed to STAQS most heavily in the New York City domain (four systems operated by NASA, NOAA, and CCNY), the UAH system north of Chicago, and included the first deployment of the Small Mobile Ozone Lidar (SMOL) in the Los Angeles.

STAQS analysis is leveraging the existing monitoring networks operated by the EPA and state air quality agencies within the domains sampled during STAQS. Relevant parameters include, but are not limited to, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, and meteorology.

The collaborative activities associated with STAQS (AEROMMA, CUPiDS) included other airborne payloads with in situ and remote sensing measurements relevant to TEMPO air quality science on board the NASA DC-8, NOAA Twin Otter, and UAH SeaRey.

Looking to get involved or learn more about STAQS? Contact us: laura.m.judd@nasa.gov and/or john.t.sullivan@nasa.gov