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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2018

High‐Resolution Mapping of Nitrogen Dioxide With TROPOMI: First Results and Validation Over the Canadian Oil Sands

TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI), on-board the Sentinel-5 Precursersatellite, is a nadir-viewing spectrometer measuring reflected sunlight in the ultraviolet, visible,near-infrared, and shortwave infrared. From these spectra several important air quality and climate-relatedatmospheric constituents are retrieved, including nitrogen dioxide (NO2) at unprecedented spatialresolution from a satellite platform. We present the first retrievals of TROPOMI NO2over the Canadian OilSands, contrasting them with observations from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument satellite instrument,and demonstrate TROPOMI's ability to resolve individual plumes and highlight its potential for derivingemissions from individual mining facilities. Further, the first TROPOMI NO2validation is presented,consisting of aircraft and surface in situ NO2observations, and ground-based remote-sensingmeasurements between March and May 2018. Our comparisons show that the TROPOMI NO2verticalcolumn densities are highly correlated with the aircraft and surface in situ NO2observations, and theground-based remote-sensing measurements with a low bias (15–30 %); this bias can be reduced byimproved air mass factors. Plain Language Summary: Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a pollutant that is linked to respiratoryhealth issues and has negative environmental impacts such as soil and water acidification. Near thesurface the most significant sources of NO2are fossil fuel combustion and biomass burning. With a recentlylaunched satellite instrument (TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument [TROPOMI]), NO2can be measuredwith an unprecedented combination of accuracy, spatial coverage, and resolution. This work presents thefirst TROPOMI NO2measurements near the Canadian Oil Sands and shows that these measurements havean outstanding ability to detect NO2on a very high horizontal resolution that is unprecedented for satelliteNO2observations. Further, these satellite measurements are in excellent agreement with aircraft andground-based measurements.

TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI)↗
NASA NTRS1986

Ozone and nitrogen dioxide changes in the stratosphere during 1979-84

Analyses of stratospheric nitrogen dioxide distributions as measured by four different satellite experiments indicate midlatitude increases of up to 75 percent during the 1979-84 period. These increases are attributed to enhanced upper atmospheric formation of odd nitrogen during solar cycle 21 with downward transport to the stratosphere. The increases in NO2 provide an explanation for the recently observed dramatic springtime minima in the Antarctic ozone and suggest the reason for the reported midlatitude stratospheric ozone decreases observed by satellite and ground-based stations since the mid 1970s.

Callis, Linwood B.↗
NASA NTRS1969

Continuous analysis of nitrogen dioxide in gas streams of plants

Analyzer and sampling system continuously monitors nitrogen dioxide concentrations in the feed and tail gas streams of a facility recovering nitric acid. The system, using a direct calorimetric approach, makes use of readily available equipment and is flexible and reliable in operation.

Durkin, W. T.↗
NASA NTRS1970

Control of Nitrogen Dioxide in Stack Emission by Reaction with Ammonia

The development of an acid base gas-phase reaction system which utilizes anhydrous ammonia as the reactant to remove nitrogen dioxide from hydrazine-nitrogen tetroxide rocket combustion exhaust is reported. This reaction reduced NO2 levels in exhaust emissions so that the resulting stack emission is completely white instead of the earlier observed typical reddish-brown coloration. Preliminary analyses indicate the importance of reaction time and ammonia concentration on removal efficiency and elimination of the health hazard to individuals with respiratory problems.

Metzler, A. J.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Foliage plants for indoor removal of the primary combustion gases carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide

Foliage plants were evaluated for their ability to sorb carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide, the two primary gases produced during the combustion of fossil fuels and tobacco. The spider plant (Chlorophytum elatum var. vittatum) could sorb 2.86 micrograms CO/sq cm leaf surface in a 6 h photoperiod. The golden pothos (Scindapsus aureus) sorbed 0.98 micrograms CO/sq cm leaf surface in the same time period. In a system with the spider plant, greater than or equal to 99 percent of an initial concentration of 47 ppm NO2 could be removed in 6 h from a void volume of approximately 0.35 cu m. One spider plant potted in a 3.8 liter container can sorb 3300 micrograms CO and effect the removal of 8500 micrograms NO2/hour, recognizing the fact that a significant fraction of NO2 at high concentrations will be lost by surface sorption, dissolving in moisture, etc.

Wolverton, B. C.↗
DOE OSTI2021

COVID-19 pandemic reveals persistent disparities in nitrogen dioxide pollution

We leverage the unparalleled changes in human activity during COVID-19 and the unmatched capabilities of the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument to understand how lockdowns impact ambient nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) pollution disparities in the United States. The least White communities experienced the largest NO 2 reductions during lockdowns; however, disparities between the least and most White communities are so large that the least White communities still faced higher NO 2 levels during lockdowns than the most White communities experienced prior to lockdowns, despite a ~50% reduction in passenger vehicle traffic. Similar findings hold for ethnic, income, and educational attainment population subgroups. Future strategies to reduce NO 2 disparities will need to target emissions from heavy-duty vehicles.

TROPOMI↗
NASA NTRS2012

The Chemical and Dynamical Responses of Ozone and Nitrogen Dioxide to the Eruption of Mt. Pinatubo

Observations have shown that the concentration of nitrogen dioxide decreased in both hemispheres in the years following the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. In contrast, the observed ozone response was largely asymmetrical with respect to the equator, with a decrease in the northern hemisphere and little or no change in the southern hemisphere. Simulations including enhanced heterogeneous chemistry due to the presence of the volcanic aerosol reproduce a decrease of ozone in the northern hemisphere, but also produce a comparable ozone decrease in the southern hemisphere contrary to observations. Our simulations show that the heating due to the volcanic aerosol enhanced both the tropical upwelling and the extratropical downwelling. The enhanced extratropical downwelling, combined with the time of the eruption relative to the seasonal phase of the Brewer-Dobson circulation, increased the ozone in the southern hemisphere and counteracted the ozone depletion due to heterogeneous chemistry on volcanic aerosol.

Aquila, V.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Effects of Vegetation on Fluxes of Nitric Oxide, Nitrogen Dioxide, and Nitrous Oxide in a Mixed Deciduous Forest Clearing

Atmosphere-terrestrial exchange of nitrogen oxides, such as nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O), plays an important role in controlling atmospheric composition and the radiative forcing of Earth’s atmosphere. In this study, the impact of vegetation ground cover on NOx (NOx = NO + NO2) and N2O fluxes in a deciduous forest clearing was studied using dynamic flow chambers located on three experimental plots with differing vegetation ground cover. Microbial emissions of NO and N2O were observed throughout the measurement period, while NO2 was exclusively deposited. Vegetation had no observable impact on NO2 deposition. Under dry conditions, total measured nitrogen emissions were numerically similar across all plots, although the N2O:NO ratio was higher for plots containing plants. Vegetation elevates soil water content through enhanced water retention, a condition that favors denitrification and more N2O production, relative to NO. Two rain events induced pulses of NO and N2O that were higher for bare soil compared to the vegetated plots. Lower NO and N2O emissions in plant-containing chambers stemmed from enhanced root uptake of N following rewetting, which diminished the amount of N substrate available for microbial NO and N2O production. The sensitivity of soil N emissions to vegetation ground cover highlights the need for more studies that investigate this effect over a wide range of ecosystems and to include vegetation effects in future parameterizations of soil NOx and N2O used in atmospheric models. This dataset includes processed data collected from 4 dynamic flux chambers and 17 sensors. Data includes ambient gas measurements made 1 m from the surface and soil flux measurements of NO, NO2, N2O, ozone (O3) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Also included is a suite of meteorological (air temperature, humidity, pressure) and soil parameters (water filled pore space, soil temperature). Refer to the readme for more information about each of the data sets.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1991

Curing preceramic polymers by exposure to nitrogen dioxide

A rapid method of infusibilizing (curing) preceramic polymers comprising treatment said polymers with gaseous nitrogen dioxide. The infusibilized polymers may be pyrolyzed to temperatures in excess of about 800.degree. C. to yield ceramic materials with low oxygen content and, thus, good thermal stability. The methods are especially useful for the production of ceramic fibers and, more specifically, to the on-line production of ceramic fibers.

Rabe, James A.↗
NASA NTRS2012

The Response of Ozone and Nitrogen Dioxide to the Eruption of Mount Pinatubo

Observations have shown that the global mass of nitrogen dioxide decreased in both hemispheres in the year following the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, indicating an enhanced heterogeneous chemistry. In contrast, the observed ozone response was largely asymmetrical with respect to the equator, with a decrease in the northern hemisphere and little change in the southern hemisphere. Simulations including enhanced heterogeneous chemistry due to the presence of the volcanic aerosol reproduce a decrease of ozone in the northern hemisphere, but also produce a comparable ozone decrease in the southern hemisphere, contrary to observations. Our simulations show that the heating due to the volcanic aerosol enhanced both the tropical upwelling and the extratropical downwelling. The enhanced extratropical downwelling, combined with the time of the eruption relative to the phase of the Brewer-Dobson circulation, increased the ozone in the southern hemisphere and counteracted the ozone depletion due to heterogeneous chemistry on volcanic aerosol.

Aquila. Valentina↗
NASA NTRS2012

The Response of Ozone and Nitrogen Dioxide to the Eruption of Mt. Pinatubo

Observations have shown that the global mass of nitrogen dioxide decreased in both hemispheres in the year following the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. In contrast, the observed ozone response was largely asymmetrical with respect to the equator, with a decrease in the northern hemisphere and little change and even a small increase in the southern hemisphere. Simulations including enhanced heterogeneous chemistry due to the presence of the volcanic aerosol reproduce a decrease of ozone in the northern hemisphere, but also produce a comparable ozone decrease in the southern hemisphere, contrary to observations. Our simulations show that the heating due to the volcanic aerosol enhanced both the tropical upwelling and the extratropical downwelling. The enhanced extratropical downwelling, combined with the time of the eruption relative to the phase of the Brewer-Dobson circulation, increased the ozone in the southern hemisphere and counteracted the ozone depletion due to heterogeneous chemistry on volcanic aerosol.

Aquila, Valentina↗
DOE OSTI2022

A new method for inferring city emissions and lifetimes of nitrogen oxides from high-resolution nitrogen dioxide observations: a model study

We present a new method to infer emissions and lifetimes of nitrogen oxides (NO x ) based on tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) observations together with reanalysis wind fields for cities located in polluted backgrounds. Since the accuracy of the method is difficult to assess due to lack of “true values” that can be used as a benchmark, we apply the method to synthetic NO 2 observations derived from the NASA-Unified Weather Research and Forecasting (NU-WRF) model at a high horizontal spatial resolution of 4 km × 4 km for cities over the continental United States. We compare the inferred emissions and lifetimes with the values given by the NU-WRF model to evaluate the method. The method is applicable to 26 US cities. The derived results are generally in good agreement with the values given by the model, with the relative differences of 2 % ± 17 % (mean ± standard deviation) and 15 % ± 25 % for lifetimes and emissions, respectively. Our investigation suggests that the use of wind data prior to the satellite overpass time improves the performance of the method. The correlation coefficients between inferred and NU-WRF lifetimes increase from 0.56 to 0.79 and for emissions increase from 0.88 to 0.96 when comparing results based on wind fields sampled simultaneously with satellite observations and averaged over 9 h data prior to satellite observations, respectively. We estimate that uncertainties in NO x lifetime and emissions arising from the method are approximately 15 % and 20 %, respectively, for typical (US) cities. The total uncertainties reach up to 43% (lifetimes) and 45% (emissions) by considering the additional uncertainties associated with satellite NO 2 observations and wind data. We expect this new method to be applicable to NO 2 observations from the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) and geostationary satellites, such as Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) or the Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring Pollution (TEMPO) instrument, to estimate urban NO x emissions and lifetimes globally.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2023

Satellite Remote-Sensing Capability to Assess Tropospheric-Column Ratios of Formaldehyde and Nitrogen Dioxide: Case Study During the Long Island Sound Tropospheric Ozone Study 2018 (LISTOS 2018) Field Campaign

Satellite retrievals of tropospheric-column formaldehyde (HCHO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) are frequently used to investigate the sensitivity of ozone (O 3 ) production to emissions of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic carbon compounds. This study inter-compared the systematic biases and uncertainties in retrievals of NO 2 and HCHO, as well as resulting HCHO–NO 2 ratios (FNRs), from two commonly applied satellite sensors to investigate O 3 production sensitivities (Ozone Monitoring Instrument, OMI, and TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument, TROPOMI) using airborne remote-sensing data taken during the Long Island Sound Tropospheric Ozone Study 2018 between 25 June and 6 September 2018. Compared to aircraft-based HCHO and NO 2 observations, the accuracy of OMI and TROPOMI were magnitude-dependent with high biases in clean environments and a tendency towards more accurate comparisons to even low biases in moderately polluted to polluted regions. OMI and TROPOMI NO 2 systematic biases were similar in magnitude (normalized median bias, NMB = 5 %–6 %; linear regression slope ≈ 0.5–0.6), with OMI having a high median bias and TROPOMI resulting in small low biases. Campaign-averaged uncertainties in the three satellite retrievals (NASA OMI; Quality Assurance for Essential Climate Variables, QA4ECV OMI; and TROPOMI) of NO 2 were generally similar, with TROPOMI retrievals having slightly less spread in the data compared to OMI. The three satellite products differed more when evaluating HCHO retrievals. Campaign-averaged tropospheric HCHO retrievals all had linear regression slopes ∼0.5 and NMBs of 39 %, 17 %, 13 %, and 23 % for NASA OMI, QA4ECV OMI, and TROPOMI at finer (0.05° x 0.05°) and coarser (0.15° x 0.15°) spatial resolution, respectively. Campaign-averaged uncertainty values (root mean square error, RMSE) in NASA and QA4ECV OMI HCHO retrievals were ~9.0 x 10 15 molecules cm –2 (∼ 50 %–55 % of mean column abundance), and the higher-spatial-resolution retrievals from TROPOMI resulted in RMSE values ∼30 % lower. Spatially averaging TROPOMI tropospheric-column HCHO, along with NO 2 and FNRs, to resolutions similar to the OMI reduced the uncertainty in these retrievals. Systematic biases in OMI and TROPOMI NO 2 and HCHO retrievals tended to cancel out, resulting in all three satellite products comparing well to observed FNRs. However, while satellite-derived FNRs had minimal campaign-averaged median biases, unresolved errors in the indicator species did not cancel out in FNR calculations, resulting in large RMSE values compared to observations. Uncertainties in HCHO retrievals were determined to drive the unresolved biases in FNR retrievals.

Matthew S. Johnson↗
NASA NTRS1965

Nitrogen dioxide produced by self-sustained pyrolysis of nitrous oxide

Apparatus is developed for achieving continuous self-sustaining pyrolysis reaction in the production of nitrogen dioxide from nitrous oxide. The process becomes self-sustaining because of the exothermic reaction and the regenerative heating of the gases in the pyrolysis chamber.

Sabol, A. P.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Effect of nitrogen dioxide on Swiss albino mice

Times to incapacitation and death and LC50 values were determined for male Swiss albino mice exposed to different concentrations of nitrogen dioxide in a 4.2 liter hemispherical chamber. The LC50 for a 10 minute exposure was about 1000 ppm NO2.

Hilado, C. J.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Statistical summary of air quality data for metropolitian Cleveland, Ohio, 1967 - 1972: Total suspended particulates, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide

Air-quality data for metropolitan Cleveland, Ohio, from 1967 through 1972 were collated and statistically analyzed. Total suspended particulates (TSP) departed from lognormal distribution in 1972. Nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide, departed significantly from lognormal distributions in 1972. In Cleveland the Ohio standards were not met. However, the data indicate a general improvement in air quality. Unusually high precipitation (43% above the average in 1972) may be responsible in lowering these values from the 1971 levels. The mean values of TSP, NO2, and SO2 are 104, 191, and 83 microgram/cu m respectively.

King, R. B.↗