A unique feature of this chronic ozone problem is the pollution transported in a northeast direction out of NYC over Long Island Sound. The relatively cool waters of Long Island Sound confine the pollutants in a shallow and stable marine boundary layer. Afternoon heating over coastal land creates a sea breeze that carries the air pollution inland from the confined marine layer, resulting in high ozone concentrations in Connecticut and, at times, farther east into Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
To investigate the evolving nature of ozone formation and transport in the NYC region and downwind, Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) launched the Long Island Sound Tropospheric Ozone Study (LISTOS). LISTOS was a multi-agency collaborative study focusing on Long Island Sound and the surrounding coastlines that continually suffer from poor air quality exacerbated by land/water circulation.
The primary measurement observations took place between June-September 2018 and include in-situ and remote sensing instrumentation that were integrated aboard three aircraft, a network of ground sites, mobile vehicles, boat measurements, and ozonesondes. The goal of LISTOS was to improve the understanding of ozone chemistry and sea breeze transported pollution over Long Island Sound and its coastlines.
LISTOS also provided NASA the opportunity to test air quality remote sensing retrievals with the use of its airborne simulators (GEOstationary Coastal and Air Pollution Events (GEO-CAPE) Airborne Simulator (GCAS), and Geostationary Trace gas and Aerosol Sensory Optimization (GeoTASO)) for the preparation of the Tropospheric Emissions; Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) observations for monitoring air quality from space. LISTOS also helped collaborators in the validation of Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) science products, with use of airborne- and ground-based measurements of ozone, NO2, and HCHO.
Project DOI: 10.5067/SUBORBITAL/LISTOS/DATA001