OWLETS-2 University of Maryland Cessna Aircraft Data

OWLETS2_UMDAircraft_Data_1 is the Ozone Water-Land Environmental Transition Study (OWLETS-2) data collected onboard the University of Maryland Cessna Aircraft. Data include trace gas measurements, greenhouse gases, aerosols, and aircraft navigational and housekeeping data collected via remote sensing and in-situ instrumentation. This collection features data from the GeoTASO instrument, a pre-cursor to the TEMPO satellite. OWLETS and OWLETS-2 were supported by the NASA Science Innovation Fund (SIF). Data collection is complete. Note: The GeoTASO data included in this collection was collected onboard the HU-25A aircraft. Coastal regions have typically posed a challenge for air quality researchers due to a lack of measurements available over water and water-land boundary transitions. Supported by NASA’s Science Innovation Fund (SIF), the Ozone Water-Land Environmental Transition Study (OWLETS) field campaign examined ozone concentrations and gradients over the Chesapeake Bay from July 5, 2017 – August 3, 2017, with twelve intensive measurement days occurring during this time period. OWLETS utilized a unique combination of instrumentation, including aircraft, TOLNet ozone lidars (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Tropospheric Ozone Differential Absorption Lidar and NASA Langley Research Center Mobile Ozone Lidar), UAV/drones, ozonesondes, AERONET sun photometers, and mobile and ship-based measurements, to characterize the land-water differences in ozone and other pollutants. Two main research sites were established as part of the campaign: an over-land site at NASA LaRC, and an over-water site at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. These two research sites were established to provide synchronous vertical measurements of meteorology and pollutants over water and over land. In combination with mobile observations between the two sites, pollutant gradients were able to be observed and used to better understand the fundamental processes occurring at the land-water interface. OWLETS-2 was completed from June 6, 2018 – July 6, 2018 in the upper Chesapeake Bay region. Research sites were established at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), Hart Miller Island (HMI), and Howard University Beltsville (HUBV), with HMI representing the over-water location and UMBC and HUBV representing the over-land sites. Similar measurements were carried out to further characterize water-land gradients in the upper Chesapeake Bay. The measurements completed during OWLETS are of importance in enhancing air quality models, and improving future satellite retrievals, particularly, NASA’s Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution, which is scheduled to launch in 2022.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Maintainer Earthdata Forum
Last Updated April 13, 2026, 20:17 (UTC)
Created April 1, 2025, 18:22 (UTC)
accessLevel public
bureauCode {026:00}
catalog_conformsTo https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
harvest_object_id 988836ad-d428-483d-aacd-31ef5b8f4024
harvest_source_id b99e41c6-fe79-4c19-bbc3-9b6c8111bfac
harvest_source_title Science Discovery Engine
identifier 10.5067/Suborbital/OWLETS-2/UMDAircraft_Data_1
license https://www.usa.gov/government-works
modified 2026-04-06T22:16:01Z
programCode {026:000}
publisher NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash 92580b0f0323b3f74173dba398d67d3877c93547d5a60566f87279ced22e80e9
source_schema_version 1.1
spatial ["CARTESIAN",[{"Boundary":{"Points":[{"Latitude":36,"Longitude":-78},{"Latitude":36,"Longitude":-70},{"Latitude":43,"Longitude":-70},{"Latitude":43,"Longitude":-78},{"Latitude":36,"Longitude":-78}]}}]], Maximum Altitude, 9999.9 Meters
temporal 2017-07-07/2018-07-20
theme {"Earth Science"}