Western North America Air Mass Back Trajectories for 1996 Ozone Analysis

WNA-FLEXPART-BackTraj-1996 provides 15-day backward simulations of air mass transport to identify sources of ozone over Western North America. The dataset, generated by NASA's LARC_ASDC using the FLEXPART model driven by ERA5 reanalysis, supports analysis of source contributions from 1994 to 2021. It offers global coverage at hourly temporal and 1° x 1° spatial resolution from the surface to 20 km altitude.

Use Cases

• Analyzing source contributions to tropospheric ozone observations at specific receptor locations.
• Studying seasonal or decadal changes in air mass transport patterns over Western North America.
• Identifying source regions and atmospheric layers influencing downwind ozone measurements.
• Supporting source contribution analysis for other atmospheric components co-located with the ozone receptors.

Strengths

• Simulations cover a nearly 3-decade period from 1994 to 2021.
• Provides high-resolution global data with hourly temporal and 1° x 1° spatial granularity.
• Model is driven by the ERA5 reanalysis, a high-quality meteorological dataset.
• Calculates detailed 15-day backwards source-receptor relationships for each observation point.

Limitations

• Conflicting last updated dates exist between platforms (1996-12-31 and 2026-03-12).
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and complete column schemas are not provided by any source.

Provenance

Source

NASA LARC_ASDC, supported by NASA's Atmospheric Composition Campaign Data Analysis and Modeling and High-End Computing programs.

Collection Method

Generated using the FLEXPART Lagrangian particle dispersion model driven by ERA5 reanalysis data, backward-calculated from receptor locations matching gridded ozone observations.

Time Range

1994-2021

Freshness

2026-03-12 19:50:29.488950

Geography

Global, with receptor locations focused over Western North America (WNA).