ATom Mission Hydroxyl and Formaldehyde Column Densities

Column-integrated densities of formaldehyde (HCHO) and hydroxyl (OH) radicals derived from NASA ATom mission flight profiles from July 2016 to February 2017. The dataset combines direct airborne observations with satellite retrievals from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and model outputs from the Global Modeling Initiative (GMI) to create a global gridded product. It is managed by ORNL_CLOUD and appears on multiple government data platforms.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the spatial distribution of hydroxyl radical concentrations using the gridded (0.5°x0.625°) product.
• Studying formaldehyde column variability and its role as a precursor to hydroxyl radical production.
• Validating or constraining chemical transport models with observed column densities and associated uncertainties.
• Investigating diel cycles of tropospheric mean OH concentrations from the profile-integrated data.
• Using provided GMI model outputs like tropopause height and photolysis frequency for independent calculations.

Strengths

• Integrates multiple data sources: direct ATom mission observations, OMI satellite retrievals, and GMI model outputs.
• Provides a global gridded product at 0.5° latitude x 0.625° longitude resolution.
• Includes calculated uncertainties for key chemical parameters.

Limitations

• Column names and exact row/record counts are not specified on any platform.
• Conflicting last updated dates: one source states 2017-02 21, another states 2026 03 13.
• License is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without explicit terms.

Provenance

Source

NASA Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) mission flights 1 and 2, Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), Global Modeling Initiative (GMI) model.

Collection Method

Derived from direct observation data from selected flight profiles, combined with coincident satellite retrievals and model output.

Time Range

July 29, 2016 to February 21, 2017

Freshness

2026-03-13 14:06:04.359924

Geography

Global, with specific profiles from ATom mission flights.