About Me
Hi! My name is Zolal Ayazpour. I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Atmospheric Measurements Group at the
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I completed my Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering at the
State University of New York at Buffalo in May 2025.
I was also a Graduate Visiting Student and a Predoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics from 2020 to 2025.
My research focuses on remote sensing of the Earth’s atmospheric composition. It includes the retrieval of trace gases from spaceborne
instrumentation and validation against ground-based observations, the estimation of air pollutant emissions from satellite measurements,
and the application of data-driven and machine learning methods to advance understanding of atmospheric composition and air pollution.
During my PhD studies and postdoc, I have been involved in NASA’s OMI and TEMPO satellite missions.
[Curriculum Vitae]
Research
Here is a list of my main research projects:
o Retrieving trace gas Level-2 column amounts from Level-1B satellite observations
o Project: Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) collection 4 formaldehyde retrieval and validation
o Estimating Level-4 emissions using Level-2/3 satellite data products
o Project: Evaluation of the Directional Derivative Approach (DDA) for satellite-based emission estimation using chemical transport model simulation of nitrogen oxides
o Project: Estimation of agricultural nitrogen oxides emissions observed by the Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) satellite instrument using a deep learning model
o Generating a spatially complete atmospheric product from sparse observations using a machine learning approach
o Project: Estimation of a spatially complete planetary boundary layer height product over the contiguous United States
Publications
• J. He, L. Zhang, R. H. Schwantes, B. D. Baker, L. W. Horowitz, V. Naik, C. Lyu, Z. Moon, G. A. A. Grell, R. Ahmadov, J. Schnell, K. Yang, Z. Wei, S. Wang, K. Chang, A. M. Gorchov Ne- gron, A. Zhu, S. Kondragunta, E. C Apel, I. Bourgeois, R. Commane, S. R Hall, A. J. Hills, R. S. Hornbrook, J. Peischl, K. Ullmann, G. Gonz ́alez Abad, Z. Ayazpour, C. R. Nowlan, B. McDonald (2026). Incorporating gas-phase chemistry into the Unified Forecast System (UFS) for global air quality applications. Incorporating gas-phase chemistry into the Unified Forecast System (UFS) for global air quality applications. Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 18, e2025MS005299. DOI: 10.1029/2025MS005299.
• Z. Ayazpour, K. Sun, R. Zhang, H. Shen (2025). Evaluation of the Directional Derivative Approach for Timely and Accurate Satellite-based Emission Estimation Using Chemical Transport Model Sim- ulation of Nitrogen Oxides. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 130, e2024JD042817. DOI: 10.1029/2024JD042817.
• D. Gautam, S. Philip, S. Dey, M. Johnson, E. Chaudhary, Z. Ayazpour, G. González Abad (2025). Assessing Ambient Formaldehyde Exposure and Estimating Cancer Risks over India using the Ozone Monitoring Instrument Satellite Sensor. ACS ES&T Air. DOI: 10.1021/acsestair.4c00188.
• Z. Ayazpour, G. González Abad, C. R. Nowlan, K. Sun, H. A. Kwon, C. C. Miller, H. Chong, H. Wang, X. Liu, K. Chance, E. O’Sullivan, L. Zhu, C. Vigouroux, I. De Smedt, et al. (2025). Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) Collection 4 Formaldehyde Products. Earth and Space Science, 12, e2024EA003792. DOI: 10.1029/2024EA003792.
• J. Liao, G. M. Wolfe, A. E. Kotsakis, J. M. Nicely, J. M. St. Clair, T. F. Hanisco, G. González Abad, C. R. Nowlan, Z. Ayazpour, I. De Smedt, E. C. Apel, and R. S. Hornbrook (2025). Validation of formaldehyde products from three satellite retrievals (OMI SAO, OMPS-NPP SAO, and OMI BIRA) in the marine atmosphere with four seasons of Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom) aircraft observations. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 18, 1–16. DOI: 10.5194/amt-18-1-2025.
• H. A. Kwon, G. González Abad, C. C. Miller, K. Hall, C. R. Nowlan, E. O’Sullivan, H. Wang, H. Chong, Z. Ayazpour, X. Liu, K. Chance (2024). Updated OMI Glyoxal Column Measure- ments Using Collection 4 Level 1B Radiances. Earth and Space Science, 11, e2024EA003705. DOI: 10.1029/2024EA003705.
• T. Zhao, J. Mao, Z. Ayazpour, G. González Abad, C. R. Nowlan, and Y. Zheng (2024). Interannual variability of summertime formaldehyde (HCHO) vertical column density and its main drivers at northern high latitudes. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 24, 6105–6121. DOI: 10.5194/acp-24-6105-2024.
• H. Chong, G. González Abad, C. R. Nowlan, C. C. Miller, A. Saiz-Lopez, R. P. Fernandez, H. A. Kwon, Z. Ayazpour, H. Wang, A. H. Souri, X. Liu, K. Chance, E. O'Sullivan, J. Kim, J. H. Koo, W. R. Simpson, F. Hendrick, R. Querel, G. Jaross, C. Seftor, and R. M. Suleiman (2024). Global retrieval of stratospheric and tropospheric BrO columns from the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite Nadir Mapper (OMPS-NM) on board the Suomi-NPP satellite. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 17, 2873–2916. DOI: 10.5194/amt-17-2873-2024.
• D. C. Anderson, B. N. Duncan, J. Liu, J. M. Nicely, S. A. Strode, M. B. Follette-Cook, A. H. Souri, J. R. Ziemke, G. González Abad, and Z. Ayazpour (2024). Trends and Interannual Variability of the Hydroxyl Radical in the Remote Tropics During Boreal Autumn Inferred From Satellite Proxy Data, Geophysical Research Letters, 51, e2024GL108531. DOI: 10.1029/2024GL108531.
• H. Wang, G. González Abad, C. C. Miller, H. A. Kwon, C. R. Nowlan, Z. Ayazpour, H. Chong, X. Liu, K. Chance, E. O'Sullivan, K. Sun, R. Spurr, and R. J. Hargreaves (2023). Development of the MEaSUREs blue band water vapor algorithm – Towards a long-term data record. [preprint for Atmospheric Measurement Techniques]. DOI: 10.5194/amt-2023-66.
• C. R. Nowlan, G. González Abad, H. A. Kwon, Z. Ayazpour, C. C. Miller, K. Chance, H. Chong, X. Liu, E. O'Sullivan, H. Wang, L. Zhu, I. De Smedt, G. Jaross, C. Seftor, and K. Sun (2023). Global Formaldehyde Products from the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) Nadir Mappers on Suomi NPP and NOAA-20. Earth and Space Science, 10, e2022EA002643. DOI: 10.1029/2022EA002643.
• C. Howlett, G. González Abad, C. C. Miller, C. R. Nowlan, Z. Ayazpour, and L. Zhu (2023). The influence of snow cover on Ozone Monitor Instrument formaldehyde observations. Atmósfera, 37, 159–174. DOI: 10.20937/ATM.53134.
• Z. Ayazpour, S. Tao, D. Li, A. J. Scarino, R. E. Kuehn, and K. Sun (2022). Estimates of spatially complete, observational data-driven planetary boundary layer height over the contiguous United States. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 16, 563–580. DOI: 10.5194/amt-2022-235.
• Z. Ayazpour, A. E. Bakhshipour, U. Dittmer (2019). Combined Sewer Flow Prediction Using Hybrid Wavelet Artificial Neural Network Model. In: Mannina, G. (eds) New Trends in Urban Drainage Modelling. International conference on urban drainage modelling 2018, Springer, p. 693–8. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-99867-1_120.
• Z. Ayazpour, K. Sun, C. R. Nowlan, and G. González Abad, Investigating Agricultural NOx Emissions Using Observations from New Generation Satellite Instruments, AGU Fall Meeting, New Orleans, LA, December 2025.
• Z. Ayazpour, G. González Abad, C. R. Nowlan, K. Sun, H. A. Kwon, C. C. Miller, H. Chong, H. Wang, X. Liu, K. Chance, E. O’Sullivan, L. Zhu, C. Vigouroux, I. De Smedt, et al., Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) Collection 4 Formaldehyde Product, OMI-TROPOMI Meeting, Boulder, CO, June 2024.
• Z. Ayazpour, K. Sun, C. R. Nowlan, and G. González Abad, Quantification of NOx Emissions from Power-Generating Facilities over the US using Satellite Observations and intercomparison with Ground Measurements, AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, December 2023.
• Z. Ayazpour, G. González Abad, C. R. Nowlan, H. A. Kwon, C. C. Miller, H. Chong, K. Sun, E. O'Sullivan, H. Wang, X. Liu, K. Chance, A Consistent Long-Term Global Data Record of Formaldehyde from UV-Visible Satellite Instruments, AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, December 2023.
• Z. Ayazpour, K. Sun, C. R. Nowlan, and G. González Abad, Estimating Short-lived Air Pollutant Emissions in the United States Using New Generation Satellite Observations, AGU Fall Meeting, Chicago, IL, December 2022.
• Z. Ayazpour, K. Sun, S. Tao, and D. Li, Estimates of spatially complete, observational data-driven planetary boundary layer height over the contiguous United States, TEMPO Science Team Meeting (virtual), June 2022.
• Z. Ayazpour, K. Sun, C. C. Miller, C. R. Nowlan, E. O'Sullivan, and G. González Abad, Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) Version-4 Formaldehyde Product, AGU Fall Meeting, New Orleans, LA, December 2021.
• Z. Ayazpour, K. Sun, C. C. Miller, C. R. Nowlan, E. O'Sullivan, and G. González Abad, Improving the Spectral Fit of NASA's OMI Formaldehyde Operational Product, AGU Fall Meeting (virtual), December 2020.
• Z. Ayazpour and K. Sun, TROPOMI Observations of the Atmospheric Composition over the Middle East, AMS Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, January 2020.
• Z. Ayazpour and K. Sun, High-Resolution Satellite Remote Sensing of the Atmospheric Composition over the Middle East, AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, December 2019.
• Z. Ayazpour, A. E. Bakhshipour, and U. Dittmer, Combined sewer flow prediction using hybrid wavelet artificial neural network model, Urban Drainage Modeling Conference, Palermo, Italy, September 2018.