Observing the Diurnal Variations of Ozone‐NOx‐VOC Chemistry Over the U.S. From the Geostationary TEMPO Instrument

Abstract Ground‐level ozone (O3) is an air pollutant formed by the photochemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). A key challenge in mitigating O3 pollution is to determine whether the O3 production is NOx‐limited or NOx‐saturated. Using the hourly ob...

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Main Authors: Xiaomeng Jin, Yohan Yang, Gonzalo Gonzalez Abad, Caroline Nowlan, Xiong Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-07-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL116394
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author Xiaomeng Jin
Yohan Yang
Gonzalo Gonzalez Abad
Caroline Nowlan
Xiong Liu
author_facet Xiaomeng Jin
Yohan Yang
Gonzalo Gonzalez Abad
Caroline Nowlan
Xiong Liu
author_sort Xiaomeng Jin
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Ground‐level ozone (O3) is an air pollutant formed by the photochemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). A key challenge in mitigating O3 pollution is to determine whether the O3 production is NOx‐limited or NOx‐saturated. Using the hourly observations of O3 precursors, formaldehyde (HCHO) and NO2, from the newly launched geostationary Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO), we present the first space‐based observations of diurnal variations of O3‐NOx‐VOC chemistry over the CONUS during 2024 warm season. We integrate a steady‐state model with global simulations to derive the regime thresholds of the HCHO to NO2 ratio (HCHO/NO2), and identify the O3 production regimes using the provisional TEMPO products, which have been validated with limited measurements. We find that O3 production is dominated by NOx‐saturated regime in the morning but NOx‐limited regime in the afternoon over major U.S. O3 nonattainment metropolitan areas.
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series Geophysical Research Letters
spelling doaj-art-e72085fe01a04a7fb0ffa16c0a7696152025-08-20T02:46:20ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072025-07-015214n/an/a10.1029/2025GL116394Observing the Diurnal Variations of Ozone‐NOx‐VOC Chemistry Over the U.S. From the Geostationary TEMPO InstrumentXiaomeng Jin0Yohan Yang1Gonzalo Gonzalez Abad2Caroline Nowlan3Xiong Liu4Department of Environmental Sciences Rutgers The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick NJ USADepartment of Environmental Sciences Rutgers The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick NJ USAAtomic and Molecular Physics Division Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian Cambridge MA USAAtomic and Molecular Physics Division Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian Cambridge MA USAAtomic and Molecular Physics Division Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian Cambridge MA USAAbstract Ground‐level ozone (O3) is an air pollutant formed by the photochemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). A key challenge in mitigating O3 pollution is to determine whether the O3 production is NOx‐limited or NOx‐saturated. Using the hourly observations of O3 precursors, formaldehyde (HCHO) and NO2, from the newly launched geostationary Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO), we present the first space‐based observations of diurnal variations of O3‐NOx‐VOC chemistry over the CONUS during 2024 warm season. We integrate a steady‐state model with global simulations to derive the regime thresholds of the HCHO to NO2 ratio (HCHO/NO2), and identify the O3 production regimes using the provisional TEMPO products, which have been validated with limited measurements. We find that O3 production is dominated by NOx‐saturated regime in the morning but NOx‐limited regime in the afternoon over major U.S. O3 nonattainment metropolitan areas.https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL116394TEMPOgeostationary satelliteozone‐NOx‐VOC chemistrydiurnal variationsnitrogen dioxideformaldehyde
spellingShingle Xiaomeng Jin
Yohan Yang
Gonzalo Gonzalez Abad
Caroline Nowlan
Xiong Liu
Observing the Diurnal Variations of Ozone‐NOx‐VOC Chemistry Over the U.S. From the Geostationary TEMPO Instrument
Geophysical Research Letters
TEMPO
geostationary satellite
ozone‐NOx‐VOC chemistry
diurnal variations
nitrogen dioxide
formaldehyde
title Observing the Diurnal Variations of Ozone‐NOx‐VOC Chemistry Over the U.S. From the Geostationary TEMPO Instrument
title_full Observing the Diurnal Variations of Ozone‐NOx‐VOC Chemistry Over the U.S. From the Geostationary TEMPO Instrument
title_fullStr Observing the Diurnal Variations of Ozone‐NOx‐VOC Chemistry Over the U.S. From the Geostationary TEMPO Instrument
title_full_unstemmed Observing the Diurnal Variations of Ozone‐NOx‐VOC Chemistry Over the U.S. From the Geostationary TEMPO Instrument
title_short Observing the Diurnal Variations of Ozone‐NOx‐VOC Chemistry Over the U.S. From the Geostationary TEMPO Instrument
title_sort observing the diurnal variations of ozone nox voc chemistry over the u s from the geostationary tempo instrument
topic TEMPO
geostationary satellite
ozone‐NOx‐VOC chemistry
diurnal variations
nitrogen dioxide
formaldehyde
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL116394
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