Nitrogen dioxide and ozone air pollution (PACE)
What it measures. Regional amounts of two air pollutants, nitrogen dioxide and ozone, given as total vertical columns, along with quality and processing flags for each.
How it's made. Derived from the OCI instrument on NASA's PACE satellite as a Level-2 retrieval for specific regions.
How & where you'd use it. Supports air-quality and atmospheric chemistry research and helps correct PACE ocean-color data. Quality flags should be applied to screen out unreliable readings.
What's measured
Coverage & cadence
- Time span2024-03-05 → ongoing
- Measured byPACE (OCI)
- Processing levelLevel 2
- Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
- FormatsnetCDF-4
- StatusACTIVE
What you can do with it
- Map air pollutants — NO₂, aerosols, ozone
- Track greenhouse gases and Earth's energy budget
- Feed weather and air-quality analysis
Official description
The Trace Gas Concentrations (TRGAS) suite provides key atmospheric column constituents. These trace-gas fields support both atmospheric science (e.g., air-quality and chemistry studies) and ocean-color atmospheric correction. Users should apply the quality and L2 flags to screen cloud effects, high solar-zenith conditions, and other retrieval issues before analysis. Geophysical variables in this suite include: - total_column_no2 – total vertical column nitrogen dioxide (molecules cm⁻²) - total_column_o3– total vertical column ozone (Dobson units) - l2_flags – processing flags (dimensionless) - no2_bit_flags – NO₂ processing flags (dimensionless) - quality_no2 – NO₂ quality flags (dimensionless) - o3_bit_flags – O₃ processing flags (dimensionless) - quality_o3 – O₃ quality flags (dimensionless)
Get the data
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc") # free Earthdata Login
results = earthaccess.search_data(
short_name="PACE_OCI_L2_TRGAS",
version="3.0",
bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9), # your area (W,S,E,N)
temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"), # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results) # stream straight from OB_CLOUD Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package. Official links
- Earthdata Search allows users to search, discover, visualize, refine, and access NASA Earth Observation data. GET DATA
- View the version history of this product. VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- NASA's Ocean Color Web - Data Distribution Site GET DATA
- PACE Homepage VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- OCI Homepage VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- Satellite data procesing can be difficult. We're here to help! Visit the Oceandata Help Hub to navigate learning content for accessing visualizing, and analyzing data products. VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document for Trace Gas Concentrations (NO2, O3) VIEW RELATED INFORMATION