SOCCER-AQ field deployment wraps successfully

July 8, 2026

 

The Air Resources Lab just finished the field deployment portion of the Study of Urban Chemical Composition and Emissions Research – Air Quality (SOCCER-AQ) field campaign at the end of June. This campaign took advantage of the millions of visitors coming to the U.S. Northeast for the 2026 FIFA World Cup to gather data used to improve forecast models that help emergency managers.

Aerial view of city, horizon line is visible in the distance and just a small piece of the plane's propeller is visible at the very top.
NOAA's Twin Otter plane flew over Baltimore City taking measurements. Credit: NOAA/ARL
Aerial view of Boston. There are roads leading to and around the stadium and it's parking lot. There are a lot of trees, but you can also see houses and businesses in the image. There is a body of water on the right side and a wing of the plane on the top left.
The Twin Otter flew around the Boston stadium, which can be seen in the middle of the image. Credit: NOAA/ARL
two people next to a small aircraft. They are gathered around a cart with tubes extending from the side of the plane into a device on the cart.
Dr. Xinrong Ren from ARL (L) and Dr. Hannah Daley from the University of Maryland (R) prep the Twin Otter for the day's flight. Credit: NOAA/ARL

NOAA’s Twin Otter aircraft was outfitted with various instruments that measure different materials in the atmosphere. ARL’s Air Resources Car (ARC) had the same instruments so that both vehicles would get the same data from the air and from the ground. The ARC closely followed the flight path of the plane as it circled around the different cities. Starting on May 26, measurements were collected around the Washington D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia metro areas. On June 8, they packed up and traveled to New York to spend the next two weeks circling around New York City and Boston.

aerial view, there is a bright blue sky with fluffy white clouds in the background. The airplane wind enters from the top left side of the image and extends 3/4 of the way across the image. There is a major road extending from the bottom up the middle, with smaller streets and fields, trees and houses covering the ground.
The Twin Otter on the flight path around Philadelphia. Credit: NOAA/ARL

Twin Otter flight around New York City. Credit: NOAA/ARL (Video has no sound)

Scientists at NOAA take the data collected from this field campaign to improve forecasting models. Analyzing the data allows scientists to better understand the processes happening in the lower atmosphere, this knowledge in turn is used to improve models like ARL’s HYSPLIT model. HYSPLIT is an atmospheric model that can forecast where and how a chemical, smoke, ash or other hazardous materials travel through the air.

Cities in particular are complicated for forecast models as wind travels around tall buildings and hyperlocal conditions can affect atmospheric processes in unexpected ways. Field campaigns such as SOCCER-AQ help scientists understand those processes better.

ARL collaborated with the following NOAA labs and programs: Chemical Sciences Lab, Global Monitoring Lab, National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS) and Climate Program Office. Other collaborators included NASA, the University of Maryland, the EPA and several state and regional government agencies.