A new satellite could help clean up the air in America’s most polluted neighborhoods

A new satellite called TEMPO aims to offer more accurate data on air pollution in the US, potentially benefiting the country’s most polluted neighborhoods.

Driving the news: The TEMPO (Tropospheric Emissions
* Once operational, it will provide near-continuous air pollution information about the entire country, helping to reduce pollution and forecast poor local air quality more accurately.

Improving data granularity: The current network of federal air monitors is too spread out to capture a complete picture of air pollution exposure across the US.
* TEMPO will offer more detailed information by taking hourly measurements of three major air pollutants, allowing researchers to monitor pollution levels in sections of a city.
* This could help identify pollution sources affecting disproportionately polluted neighborhoods.

Potential uses: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sees the satellite as a “big step forward,” and is exploring ways to use the new data in combination with its ground-based air pollution monitors to combat environmental injustice.
* One immediate application could be providing real-time information about wildfire smoke, with plans to integrate the data into the EPA’s AirNow site to improve its accuracy.

Community impact: In areas like Curtis Bay, Baltimore, which suffer from dangerous air pollution, the TEMPO data could help guide companies and government officials to implement stricter regulations and enforce pollution-reduction measures.

View original article on NPR

This summary was created by an AI system. The use of this summary is subject to our Terms of Service.

Contact us about this post

Posted

in

by

Tags:

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *