NOx & Ozone Instrument Comparison for ASIA-AQ

The ASIA-AQ project is a field campaign created in conjunction with NASA to measure the leading pollutants in the atmosphere. It is meant to improve the integration of satellite observations with existing air quality ground monitoring sites and modeling efforts across Asia. The project used a comprehensive suite of instrumentation to measure a variety of relevant pollutants. In this work I focus on O₃ and NO₂ as both of these species are harmful to human health and affect air quality and climate by creating secondary pollutants. NO2, when introduced to the atmosphere, can create acid rain, as well as increase the amounts of particulate matter and smog. While at higher latitudes O₃ (Ozone) is beneficial as it stops harmful UV radiation, at lower altitudes, closer to the surface it becomes hazardous to human health. In this work I compared two instruments measuring NO₂ and two measuring O₃. While the NO2 data from the two instruments agreed well, the data from the two ozone instruments show some discrepancy. This research shows that there is a discrepancy in the O₃ data especially when compared with the amount of water vapor in the sample air. Moreover, this displays that further research is needed to determine which instrument is affected and if the water vapor is the actual parameter causing the discrepancy.