The OAR strategy for the airborne campaigns in 2024–2026 is shown in the figure below. The NOAA Twin Otter and NOAA WP-3D aircraft can be instrumented to measure greenhouse gases (methane, carbon dioxide) and other tracers (nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide). The NOAA Twin Otter also measures wind velocities and boundary layer height with a Doppler lidar; a similar system is anticipated on the NOAA WP-3D by 2026. The enhanced NOAA WP-3D measurements also include co-emitted pollutants such as speciated volatile organic compounds (VOCs), oxidized nitrogen, speciated aerosol composition, etc.
This series of flights will survey several urban areas and a significant fraction of oil and gas production. The emissions estimates from the survey flights and coordinated activities will provide critical evaluation of top-down and bottom-up methods to reduce uncertainty and improve reliability. Coordination of these surveys with complementary methods from remote sensing and surface data will aid in assessing the accuracy of these approaches that provide longer-term monitoring of emission trends.