On Thursday, NASA released the first data maps of its new device, launched into space earlier this year, which is now successfully relaying information on the main air pollutants over North America. President Biden and Vice President Harris believe that all people have the right to breathe clean air. Data from the TEMPO mission will help decision makers across the country achieve this goal and support the Biden administration’s climate agenda, the most robust climate agenda in history.

From orbit 22,000 miles above the equator, NASA’s TEMPO, or Tropospheric Emissions: Pollution Monitoring, is the first space-based instrument designed to continuously measure air quality over North America at a resolution of several square miles.

“Neighborhoods and communities across the country will benefit from TEMPO’s groundbreaking data for decades to come,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “This summer, millions of Americans have experienced firsthand the effects of smoke from wildfires on our health. NASA and the Biden-Harris administration are committed to making it easier for ordinary Americans and policy makers to access and use TEMPO data to monitor and improve the quality of the air we breathe, thereby supporting life on Earth. “

This pair of images shows nitrogen dioxide levels in the DC/Philadelphia/New York area as measured by TEMPO at 12:14 and 16:24 on Aug. Credits: Cal Elkins, Trent Schindler and Cindy Starr/NASA Science Imaging Studio

TEMPO’s observations will greatly improve studies of pollution from rush hour traffic, smoke and ash movement from forest fires and volcanoes, and the effects of fertilizer application on farmland. In addition, TEMPO data will improve understanding of differences in air quality within a community by helping scientists assess the health effects of pollutants and create neighborhood-scale maps of air pollution. The data will be shared with partner agencies that monitor and forecast air quality, such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Launched in April with the Maxar Intelsat 40e satellite on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, TEMPO provides hourly daytime scans of the lower atmosphere over North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast and roughly from Mexico City to central Canada. The main tool is an advanced spectrometer that detects pollutants that are normally hidden in reflected sunlight.

The science mission is a collaboration between NASA and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The first pollution maps NASA released during the mission show the concentration of nitrogen dioxide from pollution around cities and major transportation arteries in North America. TEMPO measures sunlight reflected and scattered from the Earth’s surface, clouds, and atmosphere. Gases in the atmosphere absorb sunlight, and the resulting spectra are then used to determine the concentration of various gases in the air, including nitrogen dioxide.

This pair of images shows nitrogen dioxide levels at 12:14 and 16:24 on August 2 in Southern California as measured by TEMPO. Credits: Cal Elkins, Trent Schindler and Cindy Starr/NASA Science Imaging Studio

The images show six scans taken between 11:12 am and 5:27 pm EDT on Aug. Close-up views are concentrated in the southwestern United States from Los Angeles to Las Vegas; from central and eastern Texas to New Orleans; and the Interstate 95 corridor between New York and Washington. The data were collected during TEMPO’s “first light” period, from July 31 to August 2, when mission controllers turned on the spectrometer to look at the Sun and Earth and started various tests and solar calibrations.

“TEMPO is beginning hourly measurements of daytime air pollution levels in much of North America,” said Kelly Chance, SAO senior physicist and TEMPO principal investigator. “It measures ozone, nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, aerosols, water vapor and various trace gases. Nearly 50 scientific studies are already planned based on this new data collection method.”

The TEMPO device was manufactured by Ball Aerospace and integrated with the Intelsat 40e manufactured by Maxar. Since launch, teams from NASA, Ball Aerospace, and SAO have been testing and calibrating the satellite’s systems and components. The device will begin full operation in October, collecting hourly daytime scans, making it the first device to monitor pollution in North America in this way.

“We’re excited to see the first data from the TEMPO instrument, and we’re excited to see performance in space as good as we can imagine,” said TEMPO project manager Kevin Dougherty of NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. . “We look forward to the completion of device commissioning and the start of scientific research.”