BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF AIR QUALITY IN MEXICO CITY—TEMPO ANALYSIS AND FUTURE AIRBORNE MEASUREMENTS
Air pollution is one of the top environmental hazards with events quietly unfolding on the order of hours through a combination of emissions, weather, and chemistry. To progress our understanding of air pollution, satellite capabilities are advancing to increase frequency of observations from once-daily to once-hourly from a geostationary perspective. Over Mexico City, the Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) satellite instrument, launched by NASA in 2023, measures key pollutants like nitrogen dioxide (NO2), formaldehyde (HCHO), and ozone at the highest spatial resolution of any satellite of this type—(1.7 km x 4.7 km). This presentation will include analysis of the monthly/hourly variation of TEMPO over Mexico City and how it relates to surface observations. A particular focus will be given to the Spring time, as NASA will collaborate with Mexico in Spring 2028 to conduct the Hemispheric Airborne Measurements of Air Quality (HAMAQ) field study. HAMAQ includes high-resolution airborne of air pollutants over the Mexico City metropolitan area to improve the use of satellite observations for informing on air quality. This presentation will link what we see with TEMPO with the capabilities of the HAMAQ airborne remote sensing measurements including satellite/model validation, emissions evaluation, and connecting column-based satellite observations to surface pollution through the use of active remote sensing capabilities and satellite proxies.