Development of synthetic TEMPO satellite retrievals for future wildfire studies

As the first Instrument from NASA's Earth Venture Instrument Class Series, the Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) geostationary satellite is planned for launch in 2020-2021, providing key tropospheric composition measurements including formaldehyde (HCHO) at an unprecedented high spatiotemporal resolution over North America. This project aims (1) to develop synthetic TEMPO data for future wildfire studies, and (2)to establish the capability of satellite remote sensing for atmospheric composition research in Montana. Collaborating with NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center and Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, the project will mainly develop synthetic TEMPO HCHO column data for various future applications. It will provide the data to assess how the near-future TEMPO satellite could improve our capability to monitor VOCs emission from western U.S. wildfire smoke. The synthetic data development will improve our knowledge on satellite retrieval uncertainties in fire plumes and ultimately VOC emissions from wildfires after TEMPO's launch, thus improving NASA's readiness for the future satellite. It will benefit NASA/Goddard by exploring new aspects of its newly developed simulation system. This will bring the next generation of Earth observing system to Montana and provide a new powerful research tool from space for various applications in air quality, wildfire, forestry, ecology, public health, and beyond. It will improve Montana's long-term competitiveness in environmental and ecological research.

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