On Friday, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully lifted off from Florida with a new NASA instrument that can monitor air pollution across North America. With the help of the Tropospheric Emissions Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) instrument, researchers will be able to more thoroughly and locally monitor air pollutants and the sources of their emissions from space than ever before.
The sensor will assess pollution and air quality across broader North America on an hourly basis during the daytime, all the way “from Puerto Rico up to the tar sands of Canada,” according to Kevin Daugherty, NASA’s TEMPO project manager.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and other organizations tasked with combating atmospheric pollution will use the data.
Why is TEMPO unique?
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson stated in a statement that “the TEMPO mission is about more than just studying pollution — it’s about improving life on Earth for all.”
“By monitoring the effects of everything from rush-hour traffic to pollution from forest fires and volcanoes, NASA data will help improve air quality across North America and protect our planet,” he added.
The fact that TEMPO will be housed on an Intelsat communications satellite in geostationary orbit makes it stand apart from other satellites of its kind. It is roughly the size of a washing machine and has been compared to a chemistry lab in space.
Since the current satellites for monitoring pollution are in low Earth orbit, they can only deliver observations once every day at a set time. At a geographical resolution of 4 square miles (10 square kilometers), or neighborhood level, TEMPO will be able to measure atmospheric pollution.
A geostationary orbit: what is it?
“Geostationary orbit is a common orbit for weather satellites and communications satellites, but an air quality instrument measuring gases hadn’t been there yet,” Caroline Nowlan, an atmospheric physicist at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, explained to news agency AFP.
TEMPO will be in a geostationary orbit of 22,236 miles (35,786 kilometers) above the equator, matching the rotation of the Earth, which means it will always be over North America.
“The great thing about TEMPO is that for the first time, we’ll be able to make hourly measurements over North America, so we’ll be able to see what’s happening over a whole day as long as the sun is up,” Nowlan added.
TEMPO will be used for a variety of purposes, including assessing the levels of various pollutants, forecasting air quality, and assisting in the formulation of emission-control measures.
What is the significance of the mission?
According to the American Lung Association, more than 40% of the US population, or 137 million people, live in areas with harmful levels of particle pollution or ozone. Air pollution is responsible for approximately 60,000 premature deaths per year.
TEMPO will monitor pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, which is created by the combustion of fossil fuels, formaldehyde, and ozone. The data will be made available online so that members of the public can monitor air quality in their neighborhoods.
Daugherty stated that TEMPO will be operational by the end of May or early June and will begin producing data in October, though it will not be accessible to the public until April of the following year.