Tempo can also track pollution changes on a neighborhood scale. Leffer predicts this will be particularly useful for exposing environmental injustices. This is because low-income and segregated areas are likely to be closer to sources of emissions such as ports and refineries. “And satellite data can show that,” he says. Weather forecasts are also beneficial. Information is constantly collected across North America, allowing agencies to make better predictions about future conditions. This is especially true in places where there is currently only data for certain time periods.
However, this mission has its limits. Satellites only look down, just as remote sensing ground monitors only look up. That method misses a lot, such as details about which pollutants are at different altitudes, says NOAA chemist Gregory Frost. So this summer NASA plans to partner with NOAA, the National Science Foundation, and several other agencies to bridge the gap between space and ground. Instruments aboard NASA’s DC-8, Gulfstream III and V, and other jets characterize trace gases and aerosols over urban and coastal areas such as New York City, Los Angeles, and DC.
These measurements adjust Tempo’s spatial data and add to areas with poor satellite and terrestrial coverage. Combining all this data with information from EPA monitors and weather models, scientists will soon be able to analyze the atmosphere from multiple perspectives. “If we could do that,” he says, Mr. Frost.
Scientists are particularly interested in tracking pollutants called PM 2.5, or particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter. Such aerosols make up less than 1% of the atmosphere. Not many, but all air quality issues have to do with these trace elements, says Frost. They harm crops, impair visibility, and because they are small enough to lodge in a person’s lungs, they can lead to cardiovascular and respiratory disease. Smaller particles less than 1 micrometer in diameter can even enter the bloodstream.
NASA planetary scientist David Diner said: However, which type of PM 2.5 is most harmful to humans remains largely a mystery. “There’s always been the question of whether our bodies are more sensitive to the size and chemical composition of these particles,” he says.
To make that clear, Diner is leading NASA’s first collaboration with major health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health. In collaboration with the Italian Space Agency, the group will travel to Boston, Johannesburg, and Tel Aviv next year. The imager measures the sunlight scattered from the aerosol to determine its size and chemical composition. That data is passed on to epidemiologists, who combine it with information from ground-based monitors and compare it to public health records to find out whether the number of particles correlated with specific health problems, such as emphysema, pregnancy complications, and prematurity. Identify size and mixture. death.
