Total Column Observation of Nitrogen Dioxide and Ozone in the Four Corners Region

Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂) is a pollutant created by the burning of fossil fuels, which is intricately related to levels of ozone (O₃), a tropospheric pollutant and greenhouse gas. Observing and understanding the behavior of these two chemicals in the atmosphere is essential to monitoring and verifying power plant emissions. In the Four Corners region, the San Juan and Four Corners power plants produce a total of 0.3 kilotonnes of NO_X (combined Nitric Oxide (NO) and NO₂) per day from burning fossil fuels. We compare NO₂ column measurements from a ground-based solar spectrometer (Pandora) and from the satellite-based Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI). We also compare O₃ column measurements obtained from Pandora and a Brewer Ozone Spectrophotometer. Using O₃ profiles obtained with ozonesondes and by separating long and short time scale changes in total column measurements we isolate tropospheric ozone columns and explore their relationship with the troposphere-dominated total column measurements of NO₂.