Nitrogen Dioxide Over the United States, 2005-2021

  • Released Monday, April 18, 2022
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Nitrogen dioxide can impact the respiratory system, and it also contributes to the formation of other pollutants including ground-level ozone and particulates. The gas is produced primarily during the combustion of gasoline in vehicle engines and coal in power plants. Air pollution has decreased even though population and the number of cars on the roads have increased. The shift is the result of regulations, technology improvements and economic changes, scientists say.

This visualization shows tropospheric column concentrations of nitrogen dioxide as detected by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA's Aura satellite, averaged yearly from 2005-2021.

NO2 over the United States as measured by OMI, with labels, by year. Each year 2005-2021 can be accessed through the drop-down menu for this item.

NO2 over the United States as measured by OMI, with labels, by year. Each year 2005-2021 can be accessed through the drop-down menu for this item.

NO2 over the United States as measured by OMI, no labels, by year. Each year 2005-2021 can be accessed through the drop-down menu for this item.

NO2 over the United States as measured by OMI, no labels, by year. Each year 2005-2021 can be accessed through the drop-down menu for this item.

NO2 colorbar, 0.0-10.0x1015 molecules/cm2

NO2 colorbar, 0.0-10.0x1015 molecules/cm2



Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

Release date

This page was originally published on Monday, April 18, 2022.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, November 15, 2023 at 12:18 AM EST.


Missions

This visualization is related to the following missions:

Datasets used in this visualization

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