Air quality and the biosphere: Utilizing future satellite air quality measurements to monitor the planet’s response to global change

Jack FishmanDepartment of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences

and Center for Environmental Sciences

Saint Louis UniversitySt. Louis, Missouri

June 2, 2015AQAST-9Saint Louis UniversitySt. Louis MO

Fishman et al. (1987): “Measurements from a space-based platform could be used to study an

air pollution episode over the southeastern United States.”

In the beginning (~30 years ago)

EPA Collaboration

Key Milestones Leading to the Formation of AQAST• 1994 – Formation of formal TOMS Science Team that includes substantive component of scientists using TOMS for tropospheric studies

• 1998 - Jack Kaye leads NASA delegation from Langley and Goddard to EPA at Research Triangle Park NC to explore use of satellite data for air quality research

• 1999 – Memorandum of Agreement signed between NASA Langley and EPA NERL to explore use of satellite data for improving air quality forecasts; Jim Szykman form EPA sent to NASA Langley to foster collaboration

• ~2000 – Ron Birk becomes Earth Science Enterprise Applications Director and seeks to redefine NASA’s Applications Program to implement NASA products; determines that air quality is good fit for his vision after being shown RAQMS capabilities at NASA Langley

• ~2002 – Air Quality Applications Program Manager, Lawrence Friedl, established long-term EPA/NASA program and supports IDEA (Infusion of Satellite Data for Environmental Applications) as prototype program where air quality forecasters use NASA products to improve forecasts

• 2005 – Publication of Al-Saadi et al. in BAMS illustrating success of IDEA

• 2007 “Decadal Survey” releases report emphasizing use of NASA satellite products for societal benefits

• 2008 - Release of RFP to form AQAST

• 2011 - AQAST Members selected

Published in BAMS in 2005

Increasing Surface Ozone Concentrations Since ~1870

From Marenco et al., 1994

Background Ozone Concentrations Still Increasing into Beginning of 21st Century

(From Cooper et al., Nature, 463, 2010)

Global Tropospheric Increase Observed from Satellite Residual Method (2004-2014)

(From J. Ziemke, personal communication , 2015)

Free Tropospheric and Surface Trends

• Ozone enters plants through pores on leaves called stomata

Stoma

• In the leaf O3 reacts with other chemicals to form tissue-destroying oxidants

• The resulting reactive molecules cause a variety of problems within a leaf, including stippling and cell death

• Stomata open and close in response to environmental conditions such as daylight, temperature, humidity, and CO2 concentrations; many plants close their stomata to prevent high water loss during periods of hot temperatures (above 95°F), low humidity, and drought

Provided by H. Neufeld; from NASA’s Ozone-Induced Foliar Injury Field Guide

Ozone Will Damage a Plant as It Enters a Leaf

Laboratory Studies in 1980s Are Now Supported by Larger Scale Field Studies

Today’s O3 Concentrations in the Background Atmosphere Is

Costing the American Farmer Billions $$$ Annually

Plants Damaged by Ozone Have Different Spectral Signals

Healthy Leaf vs. O3-damanged Leaf

Ozone Sensitive Cultivar

Field Study Conducted in 2014: Cleanest O3 Season on Record

IEEE GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING LETTERS

Crop Value Year billion $$

2014 40.3

2013 43.6

2012 43.72011 38.5

2010 37.62009 32.1

2008 29.52007 27.02006 20.52005 17.32004 17.9

Value of U.S. Soybean Crop

Reduction of Soybean Crop Production by Ozone (a Few Percent) Costs Several Billions of Dollars to the American Farmer

Production Estimates and Crop Assessment Division (PECAD) ModelKnowledge and Forecasts of Crop Production Important to U.S. Agribusiness

Production Estimates and Crop Assessment Division (PECAD) Model: Currently: Only LCLU Satellite Data Used as Input

Production Estimates and Crop Assessment Division (PECAD) ModelCan Inclusion of TEMPO Data Improve Crop Forecasts?

TEMPO Will Provide Spectral Measurements that Might be Used to Forecast Relevant Information on Crop Yield

Early Growing Season

Late Growing Season

Entire Growing Season

Complete Vis/IR Spectrum

Gray Regions Indicate Statistically Significant Differences of CultivarsVis/Near Red Spectrum

530 - 730 nm

TOMS used measurements from 6 wavelength pairs

Nimbus-7 & Meteor

312.5

317.5

331.2

340.0

360.0

380.0

EP/TOMS

308.6

312.5

317.5

322.3

331.2

360.0

TEMPO will use spectral measurements with 0.2 nm

resolution from 290-490nm and 540-740nm (with 0.6 nm FWHM)

Tropospheric O3: Still the Holy Grail for Air Quality Measurements

• Measurements in O3 Chappuis (visible wavelengths) bands- Will provide atmospheric O3 column information down to surface- Extremely challenging measurement because cross-section two orders of

magnitude less than in UV- Must know surface spectral information extremely accurately- Many challenges awaiting

• First measurements over same location using varying sun angles implying time varying air mass factors (AMF)

• Bottom line: Many unknowns still await once first TEMPO measurements are obtained!

An

thro

po

cen

e?

Anthropocene/ænˈθrɒpəˌsiːn/Noun 1. the Anthropocene, a proposed term for the present geological epoch (from

the time of the Industrial Revolution onwards), during which humanity has begun to have a significant impact on the environment

Word OriginC21: from anthropo- and -cene, coined by Paul Crutzen (born 1933), Nobel-winning Dutch chemist

The Changing Tide in Worldwide Acceptance of Global Change Related to the Dawn of the Anthropocene

Acceptance of Concept of Global Change: 1985 vs. 2015

Instrument Wavelength(nm)

ViewingGeometry

Gases LaunchYear

GOME (GOME-2) 240-790 Nadir O3, NO2, BrO, OClO, SO2, HCHO, H2O 1995 (2006, 2012)

OSIRIS/ODIN 280-800 Limb O3, NO2, BrO, OClO, SO2, HCHO, H2O 2001

SAGE III 280-1040 occultation(limb)

O3, NO2, BrO, OClO, H2O 2001

GOMOS/Envisat 250-952 stellaroccultation

O3, NO2, H2O, NO3 2002

SCIAMACHY/Envisat 240-2380 nadir/limb/occultation

O3, NO2, BrO, OClO, SO2, HCHO, CHO-CHO,

H2O, NO3, N2O, CH4, CO, CO2

2002

MAESTRO/ACE 285-1030 occultation O3, NO2, BrO, OClO, SO2, HCHO, H2O 2003

OMI/AURA 270-500 nadir O3, NO2, BrO, OClO, SO2, HCHO, CHO-CHO 2004

OPUS/GCOM 306-420 nadir O3, NO2, BrO, OClO, SO2, HCHO 2006

OMPS/NPOESS 250-1000 nadir/limb O3, NO2, BrO, OClO, SO2, HCHO, H2O 2011

Crutzen Advocated Use of Satellites for Atmospheric Composition:European Satellites Have Led the Way for Air Quality Observations

Papal Release of Encyclical on Climate – Summer 2015

Pontifical Workshop in Rome – May 2014

• Release in 2015 just before Climate Conference in Paris will make Global Change Major Political Issue for 2016 U.S. Elections• Climate Change can no longer be ignored by U.S. Politicians• Mandates to Address Global Change will Filter Down to Agencies• Issue of Relationship between Global Air Quality and Crop Yield Using TEMPO Measurements could Open New Avenue of Research

How do we tie Global Change to Air Quality in light of Future Measurement Capabilities (i.e., TEMPO)?

Summary• Realization that we live in a new era called the “Anthropocene”:A paradigm that goes beyond the “earth-science” concept of Global Change

• New capabilities for air quality available from TEMPO that have not been previously available

- The ability to observe crop damage using satellite information

- The ability to measure O3 into the lower troposphere (??)

• Acceptance of Global Change as an key political Issue in 2016 and future that will drive U.S. federal agencies to address air quality issues beyond air quality

Air quality is no longer an issue as we once knew it: