TRACER-AQ: Ozonesonde and Radiosonde Data for Houston Air Quality

Houston, Texas, and the surrounding Gulf of Mexico region are the focus of this dataset from the TRACER-AQ field campaign. It contains vertical profile measurements of ozone and meteorological parameters from sondes launched at the University of Houston and LaPorte ground sites. The data were collected primarily from mid-August to late September 2021, with a secondary deployment in summer 2022, to study photochemistry and meteorological impacts on ozone formation.

Use Cases

• Evaluating air quality model performance against observed ozone vertical profiles.
• Analyzing the relationship between meteorological conditions and ozone formation during peak season.
• Providing ground-truth data for validating satellite observations of atmospheric composition.
• Studying the vertical distribution of ozone and aerosols in an urban/industrial coastal environment.

Strengths

• Data is part of a coordinated, multi-platform campaign involving aircraft, mobile labs, and ground-based assets for synergistic analysis.
• Collection targeted the peak ozone season in East Texas (mid-August to late September 2021), capturing critical periods for study.
• Campaign was co-sponsored by NASA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), indicating institutional support.

Limitations

• Specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided in the available metadata, limiting immediate assessment of data structure and scale.
• The dataset's license is listed as 'other-license-specified' without further detail, requiring users to investigate terms of use.
• Metadata freshness is inconsistent across platforms, with last update dates ranging from 2022 to 2026.

Provenance

Source

NASA LARC ASDC (Atmospheric Science Data Center), from the TRACER-AQ field campaign.

Collection Method

In-situ measurements from ozonesonde and radiosonde balloon launches at fixed ground sites.

Time Range

Primary period: mid-August to late September 2021. Secondary deployment: summer 2022.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04 09 on some platforms, but 2022-10-08 on others.

Geography

Houston region, Texas, USA, specifically the University of Houston and LaPorte ground sites, focusing on the Houston Ship Channel, Galveston Bay, and the Gulf of Mexico.