First Results from the COFFEE Instrument: Airborne In-Situ Measurements of Formaldehyde over California

Abstract:

The Compact Formaldehyde Fluorescence Experiment (COFFEE) instrument uses Non-Resonant Laser Induced Fluorescence (NR-LIF) to detect trace concentrations of formaldehyde as part of the Alpha Jet Atmospheric eXperiment (AJAX) payload. COFFEE, developed at NASA-GSFC, has a sensitivity of 100 pptv (1 sec) and can operate over a wide range of altitudes from the boundary layer to the lower stratosphere. It is mounted in an external wing pod on the Alpha Jet aircraft based at NASA-ARC, which can access altitudes from the surface up to 40,000 ft. We will present results from test flights performed in Fall 2015 over the Central Valley of California. Targets include an oil field, agricultural areas, and highways. Formaldehyde is one of the few urban pollutants that can be measured from space, and we will present plans to compare COFFEE in-situ data with space-based formaldehyde observations such as those from OMI (Aura) and OMPS (SuomiNPP).