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Sciences and Exploration Directorate

John T. Sullivan

(Rsch AST, Atmospheric Chemistry & Dyn)

John T. Sullivan's Contact Card & Information.
Email: john.t.sullivan@nasa.gov
Phone: 301.614.5549
Org Code: 614
Address:
NASA/GSFC
 Mail Code 614
 Greenbelt, MD 20771
Employer:
NASA

Brief Bio

Dr. John T. Sullivan is currently serving on detail at NASA Headquarters since Spring 2025 as the Ground-Based Networks and Calibration/Validation Facilities Program Scientist and Deputy Program Manager for the Multi-Source Integrated Observatory. With a background in the Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Laboratory at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, he previously led the NASA Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet) project. In his current and ongoing roles, Dr. Sullivan coordinates inter-agency scientific teams to develop high-resolution ozone observations that support satellite data retrievals and improve atmospheric forecast models, including critical validation work for NASA's TEMPO mission.


Specializing in atmospheric constituent analysis, Dr. Sullivan leverages advanced remote sensing techniques, with focused expertise in lidar (light detection and ranging) technologies for air quality monitoring, satellite validation, and stratospheric trend analysis. He has contributed to the field by designing, calibrating, and deploying transportable lidar systems for precise ozone profile measurements across key NASA research campaigns, including DISCOVER-AQ, KORUS-AQ, TRACER-AQ, AGES+, and various NDACC intercomparison studies. His professional achievements include the NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) Fellowship and a 2017 Early Career Scientist recognition for the Ozone Water-Land Environmental Transition Study (OWLETS).

Research Interests

Atmospheric Monitoring

Utilize spectral and optical properties of the atmosphere to monitor important atmospheric constituents relating to air quality and human health. Understand the photochemical and diurnal cycle of urban/anthropogenic pollutants and their impacts on the outdoor environment. Examine the effects of topography on pollutants, particularly in the presence of complex terrain such as mountains or coastlines. Utilize various established networks of pollutant monitors to infer statistically significant spatial and temporal gradients in pollution. Recognize the physical and chemical parameterization applied in air quality modeling and forecasting. 

Positions/Employment

Program Scientist

NASA - NASA Headquarters

March 2025 - Present

Ground Based Networks and Calibration/Validation Facilities

Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet) Project Scientist

NASA - Greenbelt, MD

October 2019 - Present

Research Physical Scientist

NASA - Greenbelt, MD

December 2017 - Present

Postdoctoral Research Associate

UMBC/JCET - Baltimore, MD

July 2017 - December 2017

Posdoctoral Fellow (NPP)

NASA/USRA - Greenbelt, MD

February 2016 - July 2017

Postdoctoral Fellow (NPP)

NASA/ORAU - Greenbelt, MD

July 2015 - February 2016

Teaching Experience

Teaching Fellow, UMBC-CCBC, Fall 2013

  • PHYS 101 - Fundamentals of Physics I (Lecture)
  • PHYS 111 - Physical Sciences Lab (Lab)
  • PHYS 151 - General Physics I (Lab)
  • PHYS 252 - General Physics III (Lab)

Ph.D. Commitee Member, Brian Carroll, "Observations of Low-Level Jet Physics and Impacts", University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 2020. 

Ph.D. Commitee Member, Zhifeng Yang, "Improving Air Quality Forecasts of Ozone: Modeling-Observation Integrated Study", University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 2021. 

Ph.D. Co-Advisor, Maurice Roots, "Observations of Tropospheric Ozone Production and Dynamics", University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 2024. 

Co-Mentor, Amber Schlessiger, "Meteorological links to Houston’s Ozone Air Quality during TRACER-AQ", NASA, 2021 

Mentor, Trong Hieu Nguyen, "Lidar Automation and Software Development for Tropospheric Ozone DIAL" University of Central Florida, 2020-present

Mentor, Natasha Dacic, "Evaluation of NASA's high-resolution global composition simulations: Understanding a pollution event in the Chesapeake Bay during the summer 2017 OWLETS campaign" University of Michigan, 2018-2020. 

Mentor, Lance Niño, "Characterizing Spatio-Temporal Ozone Gradients Along Coastal Boundaries: Sondes and Mobile Measurements from OWLETS-2" Colorado State University, 2017-2019. 

Co - NPP Advisor, Alexander Kotsakis, "Characterizing temporal and spatial variability of Pandora ozone measurements over land-water pollution gradients", 2018-2021

Education

Ph.D., Atmospheric Physics, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 2015

"Improving the Current Understanding of the Evolution and Vertical Processes of Tropospheric Ozone Using a Ground Based Differential Absorption Lidar", Advisor: Dr. Raymond M. Hoff

M.S., Atmospheric Physics, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 2012

B.A. Physics, McDaniel College, 2010

Professional Societies

American Geophysical Union

2011 - Present

American Meteorological Society

AMS Committee for Laser Atmospheric Studies (CLAS)

2012 - Present

Awards

Inaba Award, 30th International Laser Radar Conference (ILRC- 30), 2022. This prize is awarded during each ILRC to an individual under the age of 40 who is judged to have presented the best paper at the ILRC.

Special Act Award on Behalf of NASA GSFC Earth Sciences and Exploration Directorate, John T. Sullivan, 2020

NASA Headquarters Honors Group Achievement Award, Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network, 2019

NASA Outstanding Group Achievement Award, OWLETS Science Team, 2019

NASA Outstanding Group Achievement Award, KORUS-AQ Science Team, 2018

NASA Outstanding Group Achievement Award, DISCOVER-AQ Science Team, 2016


Selected Publications

Refereed

2023. "An integrated monitoring system (IMS) for air quality: Observations of a unique ozone-exceedance event in Maryland.", Atmospheric Environment, 313 120028 [10.1016/j.atmosenv.2023.120028] [Journal Article/Letter]

2023. "Evaluating WRF-GC v2.0 predictions of boundary layer height and vertical ozone profile during the 2021 TRACER-AQ campaign in Houston, Texas.", Geoscientific Model Development, 16 (18): 5493-5514 [10.5194/gmd-16-5493-2023] [Journal Article/Letter]

2023. "Surf, Turf, and Above the Earth: Unmet Needs for Coastal Air Quality Science in the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL).", Earth's Future, 11 (6): [10.1029/2023ef003535] [Journal Article/Letter]

2023. "Satellite remote-sensing capability to assess tropospheric-column ratios of formaldehyde and nitrogen dioxide: case study during the Long Island Sound Tropospheric Ozone Study 2018 (LISTOS 2018) field campaign.", Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 16 (9): 2431-2454 [10.5194/amt-16-2431-2023] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Cluster-based characterization of multi-dimensional tropospheric ozone variability in coastal regions: an analysis of lidar measurements and model results.", Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 22 (23): 15313-15331 [10.5194/acp-22-15313-2022] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Tropospheric and stratospheric ozone profiles during the 2019 TROpomi vaLIdation eXperiment (TROLIX-19).", Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 22 (17): 11137-11153 [10.5194/acp-22-11137-2022] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Sensitivity of total column NO2 at a marine site within the Chesapeake Bay during OWLETS-2.", Atmospheric Environment, 277 119063 [10.1016/j.atmosenv.2022.119063] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "A Succession of Cloud, Precipitation, Aerosol, and Air Quality Field Experiments in the Coastal Urban Environment.", Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 103 (2): 103-105 [10.1175/bams-d-21-0104.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Tropospheric NO2; measurements using a three-wavelength optical parametric oscillator differential absorption lidar.", Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 14 (6): 4069-4082 [10.5194/amt-14-4069-2021] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Evaluation of NASA's high-resolution global composition simulations: Understanding a pollution event in the Chesapeake Bay during the summer 2017 OWLETS campaign.", Atmospheric Environment, 117133 [10.1016/j.atmosenv.2019.117133] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Integration of Airborne and Ground Observations of Nitryl Chloride in the Seoul Metropolitan Area and the Implications on Regional Oxidation Capacity During KORUS-AQ 2016.", Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 19 12779–1279 [10.5194/acp-19-12779-2019] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Taehwa Research Forest: a receptor site for severe domestic pollution events in Korea during 2016.", Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 19 5051-5067 [https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-5051-2019] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "The Ozone Water-Land Environmental Transition Study (OWLETS): An Innovative Strategy for Understanding Chesapeake Bay Pollution Events.", Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 100 (2): 291-306 [10.1175/BAMS-D-18-0025.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Boundary layer ozone in the Northern Colorado Front Range in July–August 2014 during FRAPPE and DISCOVER-AQ from vertical profile measurements.", Elem Sci Anth, 7 (1): 6 [10.1525/elementa.345] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "Validation of the TOLNet lidars: the Southern California Ozone Observation Project (SCOOP).", Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 11 (11): 6137-6162 [10.5194/amt-11-6137-2018] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "Lidar validation measurements at the NOAA Mauna Loa Observatory NDACC Station.", Lidar Remote Sensing for Environmental Monitoring XVI, [10.1117/12.2324714] [Proceedings]

2018. "Evaluation of potential sources of a priori ozone profiles for TEMPO tropospheric ozone retrievals.", Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 11 (6): 3457-3477 [10.5194/amt-11-3457-2018] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "Boundary layer pollution profiles from a rural site in South Korea.", EPJ Web of Conferences, 176 04004 [10.1051/epjconf/201817604004] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "Quantifying TOLNet ozone lidar accuracy during the 2014 DISCOVER-AQ and FRAPPÉ campaigns.", Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 10 (10): 3865-3876 [10.5194/amt-10-3865-2017] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "Using Observations and Source-Specific Model Tracers to Characterize Pollutant Transport During FRAPPÉ and DISCOVER-AQ.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 122 (19): 10,510-10,538 [10.1002/2017jd027257] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "Lidar observations revealing transport of O3 in the presence of a nocturnal low-level jet: Regional implications for “next-day” pollution.", Atmospheric Environment, 158 (June 2017): 160-171 [10.1016/j.atmosenv.2017.03.039] [Journal Article/Letter]

2016. "Quantifying the contribution of thermally driven recirculation to a high-ozone event along the Colorado Front Range using lidar.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 121 [10.1002/2016jd025229] [Journal Article/Letter]

2016. "Characterizing the Vertical Processes of Ozone in Colorado’s Front Range Using the GSFC Ozone DIAL.", EPJ Web of Conferences, 119 05014 [10.1051/epjconf/201611905014] [Journal Article/Letter]

2016. "TOLNET – A Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Profiling Network for Satellite Continuity and Process Studies.", EPJ Web of Conferences, 119 20001 [10.1051/epjconf/201611920001] [Journal Article/Letter]

2016. "Observations and Impacts of Transported Canadian Wildfire Smoke on Ozone and Aerosol Air Quality in the Maryland Region on 9-12 June, 2015.", Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 66 (no. 9): 842-862 [10.1080/10962247.2016.1161674] [Journal Article/Letter]

2015. "Characterizing the lifetime and occurrence of stratospheric-tropospheric exchange events in the rocky mountain region using high-resolution ozone measurements.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 120 (24): 12410--12424 [10.1002/2015JD023877] [Journal Article/Letter]

2015. "Optimization of the GSFC TROPOZ DIAL retrieval using synthetic lidar returns and ozonesondes--Part 1: Algorithm validation.", Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 8 (10): 4133--4143 [10.5194/amt-8-4133-2015] [Journal Article/Letter]

2015. "Results from the NASA GSFC and LaRC Ozone Lidar Intercomparison: New Mobile Tools for Atmospheric Research.", Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 32 (10): 1779-1795 [10.1175/jtech-d-14-00193.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2014. "A mobile differential absorption lidar to measure sub-hourly fluctuation of tropospheric ozone profiles in the Baltimore--Washington, DC region.", Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 7 (10): 3529--3548 [10.5194/amt-7-3529-2014] [Journal Article/Letter]

Non-Refereed

2020. "OWLETS: An Enhanced Monitoring Strategy Directly within the Chesapeake Bay.", EM: Environmental Manager , Special Issue 6 pp [Magazine]

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