GEOSS Architecture Implementation Pilot

Air Quality and Health Scenario

David McCabe

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

McCabe.David@epa.gov

Air Quality & Health AIP Scenario

• Air pollution is a serious global public health problemWorldwide: hundreds of thousands of deaths from outdoor air pollution

• Air pollution is influenced by processes on many scalesLocal, regional, intercontinental to global; times of minutes to years

• To understand, forecast, and manage air pollution, diverse information needs to be brought together:– surface monitors, satellites, airborne sensors– meteorological & chemical transport models– emissions & emissions-generating activities– demographics, exposure-related behavior, health impacts – air pollution crosses political boundaries so information must too

Great Lakes,23 April 2008

MODIS TerraRGB; AQI from AIRNow

Development of the AIP Air Quality Scenario

• Developed iteratively by a collaborating multi-organization group • Written on the ESIP wiki, using online forum and telecons to plan, discuss,

and develop the submitted scenario • Developed the ESIP air quality Community of Practice, which is co‑evolving

with the AIP Pilot and other activities

Community of Practice Wiki for AQ Scenario

What does the air quality scenario envision?

We produced a very broad, ambitious scenario, structured around 4 societal needs:

- Real-time event analysis (e.g., smoke, dust plumes)For forecasts, alerts, exceptional event rule analysis, etc.

- Assessing long-range transport of air pollutionPolicymakers need scientific assessments, assessment requiresbetter tools for using satellite, met, ambient data

- Assimilating satellite data with models to improve AQ forecastsSatellite data will improve forecasts, particularly in sensor-poor regions;interoperabilty challenge to make sufficiently fast forecasts feasible.

- Getting air quality forecasts and nowcasts to the publicAllows individuals, families to adjust plans if air quality is/will be poor;allows health community, other decision-makers to plan for episodes

What does the air quality scenario envision?

• Data and tools needed for any one of the 4 goals… …are needed for all of them

• Many data, tools already exist for each goal……but the systems don’t readily work together

We have produced a broad, ambitious scenario which does not call for specific ‘killer apps’ or demonstrations. Instead it calls for a service-oriented, interoperable, accessible, and available system of systems.

• Earth Observations Providers Space agencies; met, land management, and environmental/health agencies(national, regional, local); Academics; Private sector

• Air Quality Modelers, Forecasters, and Analysts

Environmental/health management and met agencies (national, regional, local)

Modelers and analysts in many settings

• Information Management Specialists

• Air Quality Management Decision-Makers

Environmental, health agencies;

Multi-lateral Cooperative Fora: LRTAP, EANET, Malé Declaration, Arctic Council

• Other Consumers of Air Quality Informations

Public, researchers, mass-media, …

Air Quality & Health Scenario: Actors

Many actors are ‘decision-makers’

Policymakers, sensitive individuals, modelers, parents, transit officials, air quality managers, weather forecasters, air quality analysts, environmental compliance officials, …

Air Quality & Health: Starting Information

• Meteorological data – Observations from ground-based networks, satellites, sondes– Forecasts from numerical models at the global and regional scales

• Geographical data – Land use – Demographics– Emissions-related activity

• Atmospheric Composition (Air Quality) Observations– Surface Monitoring Networks– Satellite Observations – Sondes– Ground-based remote sensors– Aircraft Measurements

• Numerical Air Quality Chemical Transport Models – (at regional to global scales)

Air Quality & Health Scenario: Existing Efforts

• Real-Time Large-Scale Event Analysis – FASTNET, IDEA, SmogBlog

• Assessment of International and Intercontinental Transport of Air Pollution– HTAP Data Network, AMET, RSIG, HemiTap

• Assimilation of Observations for Air Quality Forecasting– GEMS, RAQMS

• Provision of Relevant Information to the Health Community & the Public– AIRNow, PHASE

Examples – pieces of the puzzle

GAW:

WMO

Global

Atmosphere

Watch

Examples – pieces of the puzzle

GEMS:Global & regionalEarth systemMonitoringusingSatellites

(ECMWF)

Examples – pieces of the puzzle

Informing the public about Air Quality & Forecasts in real time: AIRNow

Interoperability needed!

many systems,

many pipes….

we shouldn’t

keep reinventing

wheels!

Societal needs and the actors

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Air Q

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Loca

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Se

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Real time

event analysisX X X X X X

Assessing inter-continental transport

X X X X X

Merging satellites,

in-situ, model dataX X X

AQ nowcasts, forecasts to public

X X X X X