Air Quality Focus Group Discussion Summary

ESIP Winter Meeting

January 2005

Air Quality is one of 12 Applications of National Priority as defined by NASA and is one of 5 National Application Areas most frequently selected in Tom Yunck’s pre-meeting questionnaire

Air quality management involves multiple government agencies, businesses, and universities and provides an application area well suited for making use of ESIP’s infrastructure and resources.

About 20 participants attended the focus group

Air Quality Focus Group Discussion Topics

A) How are satellite data currently used in air quality research and management?

a) how is the data used

b) what satellite data are used

c) who are the data users

B) How to enhance the relevance of satellite data for air quality decision making?

a) what do EPA and other air quality organizations need

b) what can ESIP offer

AQ Management: Sensory-Motor System

AirQuality

AssessmentCompare to GoalsPlan ReductionsTrack Progress

Controls (Actions)

Monitoring(Sensing)

Set GoalsNAAQS

Assessment turns data into knowledge for decision making & actions through analysis (science & engineering)

Monitoring collects multi-sensory data from surface and satellite platforms and

NASA ESE data, tools and methods can benefit air quality (AQ) management through extended monitoring, data sharing tools and better science.

Set PolicyCAAA

Air Quality Data Use(EPA Ambient Air Monitoring Strategy, 2004)

AQ Management Activity Satellite Use (Part. Matter) ESIP

Informing the public Informative AQ Images

NAAQS (Nat. Amb AQ Std) development Criteria Document

NAAQS compliance

Tracking progress (trends)

Strategy dev. (SIPs), model evaluation Intercontinental transport

Science support (atmospheric processes) Natural dust & smoke, AQ Forecasting

Ecosystem assessment

Information

Information ‘Refinery’ Value Chain (Taylor, 1975)

Informing Knowledge

ActionProductive Knowledge

Data

Organizing Grouping

Classifying Formatting Displaying

AnalyzingSeparatingEvaluating Interpreting

Synthesizing

Judging Options

Quality Advantages

Disadvantages

Deciding Matching goals Compromising

Bargaining Deciding

e.g. DAAC e.g. Langley IDEA, FASTNET,

Forecast Modeling

e.g. WG Reports

e.g. RPO Manager

Info. Quality

Transform. Processes

Examples

ESIP – Facilitation States, EPA, International

Next Steps

• Form ESIP AQ Cluster to explore ideas & identify relevant ESIP resources• What types of air quality applications can ESIP support• Work up example applications• Prepare material for proposal

• Organize a meeting/workshop with EPA/NASA/NOAA• Understand their current efforts and information flow processes• Identify specific areas of interest• Develop a demo/testbed