Air Quality Data User Agencies

Draft

ESIP Federation Air Quality Cluster

February, 2005

Air Quality – Related Agencies and Organizations Background and Rationale

• The ESIP AQ cluster seeks to aid the flow of AQ-related data from the producers to the users

• Below is an initial list of agencies dealing with air quality/atmospheric chemistry data

• In order to aid the deliberations of the AQ cluster, the following pages summarize the stated AQ-related goals and activities for each agency

• Most of these organizations are both producers and users of data, tool and other resources

• During its deliberations, the AQ cluster can – Identify the specific activities of these agencies that could benefit from facilitation and advice by

the ESIP Federation on information technology– Identify the relevant data, tools and other resources available through ESIPFed– Match the needs and the resources (in case of mild mismatches, create gateways??)

Air Quality – Related Agencies and Organizations Draft Summary to be completed by the ESIP AQ Cluster

EPA – Environmental Protection Agency

NPS – National Park Service

NOAA – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RPOs – Regional Haze Regional Planning Organizations

NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NSF - National Science Foundation

WMO/GAW - Global Atmosphere Watch

IGAC - International Global Atmospheric Chemistry

EPA (1)

J. Bachmann:Air-Related Environmental Challenges for the 21st Century Bachmann

AQ Management Challenges• Meeting NAAQ Standards

PM/O3/Haze, Toxics

NRC Recommendations:• Strengthen technical capacity• Expand multi-state control

strategies

EPA (2)NAAMS: National Ambient Air Monitoring Strategy

Strategy Implementation emphasis:• Continuous monitoring• Real-time information transfer

Application of Monitoring Data:

EPA (3)G. Foley: Data Needs and Priorities of EPA:

How the EPA and Federation can work together to reach our common objectives?

Goals and Activities:• EPA needs to become a larger user of remotely sensed earth observation data• Define info needs through the use of its decision support tools, the observation and modeling• Seek partnerships with the Earth Observation community

NOAA’s Air Quality Program (1) Forecast Modeling and MonitoringSource: S. Fine: NOAA AQ Program, Sept. 2004

Goals:• Provide information to make well-informed AQ decisions• Provide AQ forecast guidance to better anticipate AQ episodes

NOAA’s Air Quality Program (2) Satellite Monitoring

Source: M. Goldberg: NOAA Satellite Operations, Sept. 2004

Goals:• Collaborative with NASA and EPA in support for the AQ forecast program• Help define requirements for satellite-derived AQ products• Help propose new technologies• Help develop AQ products and implement them operationally• *************** Assimilate satellite products **************

Department of InteriorNational Park Service, Air Quality Program

Goals and Activities:‘To preserve, protect, enhance, and understand air quality … in the National Park System’

IMPROVE Monitoring Program

Regional Haze Regional Planning Organizations (RPO)

• Mid-Atlantic/Northeast Visibility Union (MANE - VU)• Lake Michigan Air Directors Consortium (LADCO)• Visibility Imp. State & Tribal Assoc. of the Southeast (VISTAS)• Central States Regional Air Partnership (CENRAP).• Western Regional Air Partnership (WRAP)

•Pollutants that cause regional haze can originate from sources located across broad geographic areas

•EPA has encouraged the States to address visibility impairment from a regional perspective

•EPA funds five regional planning organizations (RPOs) to address regional haze issues:

• evaluate technical information to understand how the States impact Class I areas

•develop regional strategies to reduce emissions of PM and causes of regional haze

Data analysts working for the RPOs are major consumers of satellite products depicting PM-related parameters

NASA L. Friedl, P. DaCola : Air Quality and Climate Change: Research and Applications

Goals and Activities:

Research Applications

NASAL. Friedl: NASA Atmospheric Sciences: Research & Applications

Goals and Activities:

NSF Atmospheric Sciences/Atmospheric Chemistry

Goals and Activities:• Supports research to measure and model the concentration and

distribution of gases and aerosols. Supports research on– Chemical reactions in the atmosphere– Sources and sinks of important trace gases and aerosols– Aqueous-phase atmospheric chemistry– Transport of gases and aerosols throughout the atmosphere– Methods for measuring the concentrations of trace species and their

fluxes into and out of the atmosphere.

• NSF also provides support for participation by the US in international scientific research endeavors, such as the World Climate Research Program.

International Air Quality Programs (1) IGAC International Global Atmospheric Chemistry

Goals and Activities: Coordinated International Projects• To determine the global distributions of atmospheric chemical species and their change over time• To understand controlling processes and their impact on global change and air quality• To improve prediction of atmospheric over the coming decades by integrating atmospheric processes with the

response and feedbacks of the Earth System.

International Air Quality Programs (1) GAW - Global Atmospheric Watch

The rationale for GAW:• To understand the nature of natural and anthropogenic atmospheric change• Improve the understanding of atmosphere, ocean and biosphere interactions • Provide reliable scientific information for national and international policy makers

GEOSS: Global Earth Observing System of Systems

Over the next decade, a global Earth Observation System will revolutionize our understanding of the Earth and how it works.

Building an integrated, comprehensive and sustained global Earth Observation System opens a world of possibilities.

“A global system of Earth observations would provide us with tools to make national and global air quality forecasts in the same way we currently make weather forecasts.”