Clear-sky and cloudy-sky differences in NO<sub>2</sub> concentrations over the United States:  implications for satellite measurement  applications

Goldberg, Daniel L.; Nawaz, M. Omar; Lyu, Congmeng; He, Jian; Carlton, Annmarie G.; Kondragunta, Shobha; Anenberg, Susan C.

doi:10.5194/acp-25-16287-2025

Articles | Volume 25, issue 22

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-16287-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-16287-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 25, issue 22

Research article

|

20 Nov 2025

Research article |

| 20 Nov 2025

Clear-sky and cloudy-sky differences in NO₂ concentrations over the United States: implications for satellite measurement applications

Daniel L. Goldberg, M. Omar Nawaz, Congmeng Lyu, Jian He, Annmarie G. Carlton, Shobha Kondragunta, and Susan C. Anenberg

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-16287-2025-supplement

Data sets

Clear-sky and cloudy-sky differences in NO₂ concentrations over the United States: Data for Figures Daniel L. Goldberg https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30376426

TROPOMI Level 2 Nitrogen Dioxide total column products. Version 02 Copernicus Sentinel-5P https://doi.org/10.5270/S5P-9bnp8q8

HAQAST Sentinel-5P TROPOMI Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) CONUS Monthly Level 3 0.01 x 0.01 Degree Gridded Data V2.4 D. Goldberg https://doi.org/10.5067/MKJG22GUOD34

TEMPO gridded NO 2 tropospheric and 50 stratospheric columns V03 (PROVISIONAL) NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC https://doi.org/10.5067/IS-40e/TEMPO/NO2_L3.003

ERA5 hourly data on single levels from 1940 to present H. Hersbach et al. https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.adbb2d47

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Short summary

This research investigates how air quality, specifically NO₂ concentrations, is different under clear and cloudy skies. We find that in situ surface NO₂ is, on average, +36 % larger during cloudy days versus clear sky days, with a wide distribution based on geographic region and roadway proximity: largest in the Northeast U.S. and smallest in the Southwest U.S. and near major roadways. This has implications for satellite data applications, which only use measurements in the absence of clouds.

Clear-sky and cloudy-sky differences in NO2 concentrations over the United States: implications for satellite measurement applications

Supplement

Data sets

Clear-sky and cloudy-sky differences in NO₂ concentrations over the United States: implications for satellite measurement applications