Western North America Air Mass Back Trajectories for Ozone Analysis

Hourly 15-day backward air mass trajectories simulate source contributions to ozone observations over Western North America from 1994 to 2021. The dataset uses the FLEXPART Lagrangian particle dispersion model driven by ERA5 reanalysis data at a 1° x 1° spatial resolution from the surface to 20 km altitude. Generated with NASA High-End Computing support, it provides a foundation for analyzing long-term atmospheric composition changes.

Use Cases

• Analyzing source-receptor relationships for tropospheric ozone using gridded ozone value columns.
• Investigating seasonal or decadal changes in air mass transport patterns to specific receptor locations.
• Supporting source contribution analysis for other atmospheric components co-located with the ozone observation receptors.
• Studying vertical distribution of source influences from the surface up to 20 km above ground level.

Strengths

• Simulations cover a 28-year period (1994-2021) for long-term trend analysis.
• Provides high temporal (hourly) and spatial (1° x 1°) resolution on a global scale.
• Model is driven by the ERA5 reanalysis, a high-quality meteorological dataset.

Limitations

• Column names and exact row count are not provided by any source.
• Conflicting last updated dates exist between platforms (2013-12-31 and 2026-03 12).
• Specific file size and complete data format details are unknown.

Provenance

Source

NASA's Atmospheric Composition Campaign Data Analysis and Modeling program, LARC_ASDC.

Collection Method

FLEXPART Lagrangian Particle Dispersion Model simulations driven by ERA5 reanalysis data.

Time Range

1994-2021

Freshness

2026-03-12 19:49:57.485067

Geography

Global simulations with receptor locations focused on Western North America (WNA).