Ozone Water-Land Environmental Transition Study (OWLETS) Data Release Announcement

Feb. 8, 2021, 7 a.m.

Project: OWLETS

The Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) at NASA Langley Research Center has released data for the Ozone Water-Land Environmental Transition Study (OWLETS). OWLETS was a two-part field campaign: OWLETS-1 was conducted from July 5, 2017 – August 3, 2017, and OWLETS-2 was conducted June 6, 2018 – July 6, 2018. The focus of OWLETS-1 was the measurement of ozone concentrations and land-water gradients around the lower Chesapeake Bay. The few studies of ozone concentrations around the lower Chesapeake Bay conducted prior to OWLETS suggested higher ozone concentrations over water than land. The first phase of OWLETS investigated these ozone concentrations by using a combination of aircraft, TOLNet ozone lidars (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Tropospheric Ozone Differential Absorption Lidar and NASA Langley Research Center Mobile Ozone Lidar), UAV/drones, ozonesondes, AERONET sun photometers, Pandora spectrometers, and mobile and ship-based measurements. Research was based from two sites during OWLETS-1 with an over-land site at NASA Langley Research Center and an over-water site at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.

Scientists moved their geographic focus in OWLETS-2 to the upper Chesapeake Bay, a coastal boundary also known for significant land-water gradients, which had also undergone little prior study (particularly with respect to over-water measurements of ozone). OWLETS-2 used similar instrumentation to OWLETS-1 to collect measurements of ozone. Research for OWLETS-2 was based from two over-land sites at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Howard University Beltsville and an over-water site at Hart Miller Island.

The information generated as a result of OWLETS provides a clearer picture of ozone monitoring in the Chesapeake Bay. This information will improve forecast models as well as satellite retrievals of ozone measurements, particularly for the upcoming launch of NASA’s Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) satellite, which will monitor ozone and other key air pollutants across North America.


Related URLS: https://doi.org/10.5067/SUBORBITAL/OWLETS/DATA001