NASA Air Quality Data Could Inform Knowledge of Respiratory Risks

No matter where on Earth you live, there's likely to be an eye in the sky hovering over you. That's a good thing, at least when it comes to satellite monitoring of air quality, said scientists from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, known as NASA.

In a special symposium held at the American Thoracic Society (ATS) 2024 International Conference, NASA health and air quality specialists described the use of space-based systems and earth science applications to improve understanding of respiratory health risks worldwide and to help enrich pulmonary research with galaxies of data.

"Every day we download over 25 terabytes of data," said John Haynes, MS, program manager for Health and Air Quality Applications in the Earth Action Program, Earth Sciences Division, NASA, in Washington, DC.

"Many of the observation datasets are critical for healthy air quality applications: Observation of land surface temperature, sea surface temperature, precipitation, fires and thermal anomalies, aerosols, just to name a few. And the really awesome news is this offering from our constellation of satellites is free and open access, available to everyone across the globe," he said.

The mission of NASA's Earth Action Program is "to enable people and organizations to apply insights from Earth science to benefit the economy, health, quality of life, and environment."

Source: MEDspace