EPA Perspective onGEO-CAPE

EPA Perspective onGEO-CAPE

Dr. Pai-Yei WhungChief Scientist

Office of the Science AdvisorU.S. Environmental Protection Agency

GEO-CAPE WorkshopUNC – Chapel HillAugust 18, 2008

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Meeting ObjectiveMeeting Objective

• Engender conversation between EPA and NASA scientists about EPA’s scientific goals for GEO-CAPE. • Provide NASA with an understanding of

EPA’s environmental mission, data needs, and limitations of current data sources.

• Facilitate the development of instrumentation requirements on GEO-CAPE that will maximize EPA’s societal benefits.

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EPA Officeswith an interest in GEO-CAPE

EPA Officeswith an interest in GEO-CAPE

• Office of the Science Advisor (OSA)• Office of Research and Development (ORD)• Office of Air and Radiation (OAR)• Office of Water (OW)• Office of Policy, Economics, & Innovation (OPEI)• Ten Regional Offices

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GEO-CAPEGEO-CAPE

• From the NAS/NRC Decadal Report (2007)

• Expectations• Identification of human versus natural sources of aerosols and ozone

precursors• Dynamics of coastal ecosystems, river plumes, and tidal fronts• Observation of air pollution transport in North, Central, and South

America

• Capabilities of instruments• UV-visible-near-IR wide-area imaging spectrometer (7-km nadir pixel)• Hourly intervals• Steerable high-spatial-resolution (250 m) event-imaging spectometer

with a 300-km field of view

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Air Quality Relevant Satellite Measurements - Current Air Quality Relevant Satellite Measurements - Current

• Time resolution of current space-observing system is insufficient to:• Observe transport of pollution on a regional basis• Observe chemical formation/transformation of two EPA criteria

pollutants (PM and O3).

• Applied research has shown retrievals of Aerosol and NO2 can capture variability in the boundary layer and currently have the closest connection to air quality at the surface.

• Techniques to obtain daily or weekly boundary layer data for Ozone, CO, and SO2 are evolving; but, additional development will be needed to make these measurements more useful for air quality applications.

• For daily urban scale applications clouds present the primary obstacle for satellite remote sensing of the boundary layer.

(Martin, 2008)

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The Air Quality Management Framework*

DETERMINE NECESSARY REDUCTIONS

DETERMINE NECESSARY REDUCTIONS

DESIGN CONTROL STRATEGIES

DESIGN CONTROL STRATEGIES

IMPLEMENTIMPLEMENT

EVALUATE

RESULTS

EVALUATE

RESULTS

ESTABLISHGOALS

ESTABLISHGOALS

-- National, Regional Rules- National, Regional Rules

-e.g. Mobile, NSPSe.g. Mobile, NSPS

-NOx SIP call, CAIRNOx SIP call, CAIR

-- Develop State, Local, Tribal - Develop State, Local, Tribal PlansPlans

-- State Implementation Plans (SIPs)- State Implementation Plans (SIPs)-- Permits- Permits-- Compliance & Enforcement- Compliance & Enforcement

- National Ambient Air National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)Quality Standards (NAAQS)

- Regional HazeRegional Haze

-- Monitoring- Monitoring-- Inventories- Inventories-- Data Analysis & Modeling- Data Analysis & Modeling

-- Assess Progress- Assess Progress-- Evaluate Effectiveness &- Evaluate Effectiveness & EfficiencyEfficiency

Scientific ResearchScientific Research

• Impacts of Poor Air Quality on Society

• 106 million+ people in the US live in areas with poor air quality+

• Aerosols (PM2.5): Human Health Impacts

• cardiovascular disease,• respiratory diseases, and• cancer

• Reduce visibility • Impacts Climate

• Ozone: Human Health Impacts• irritate to respiratory

system• reduce lung function• inflammation and damage

cells that line lungs• aggravate asthma and

chronic lung diseases* Scheffe et al., JAWMA 2007

Science of Air QualityScience of Air Quality

(NRC, 2004)(NRC, 2004)

7Source, NRC 2004

Science of Air Quality

Atmospheric Modeling

Exposure Modeling

Inverse Modeling – Top Down Constraints on Emission Sources

Data Assimilation – Constraints on vertical distribution, aerosol loading and composition

Model Verification – Characterize errors and uncertainties

Best Estimate of Surface Spatial Distributions of Pollutants, including Composition

Examples of Measurement

Needs

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lung function changes, immune cell responses, heart rate or heart rate variability responses

Asthma attacks, medication use, symptoms

Doctor visits

Hospital Admissions

Death Adversity of Effects

Proportion of Population Affected

• Annual PM2.5 (1997)• Form: Annual Arithmetic Mean• Level: 15.0 ug/m3

• 24-hr PM2.5 (2006)• Form: 98th percentile• Level= 35 ug/m3

• 8-hr O3 (1997)• Form: 4th daily max• Level =0.08 ppm

• 8-hr O3 (2008)• 0.075 ppm

Health Based Standards are Science Drivers

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Air Quality & Health Community of PracticeAir Quality & Health Community of Practice

The Public

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How Would EPA Use GEO-CAPE Data?How Would EPA Use GEO-CAPE Data?

• Regulatory Responsibilities• The Clean Air Act (CAA) requires EPA to set National Ambient Air Quality

Standards (NAAQS) for six common air pollutants (“criteria pollutants”): particulate matter, ground-level ozone, carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and lead.

• To regulate criteria pollutants, EPA develops human health-based criteria for setting permissible levels (primary standards).

• Retrospective analysis of rules.• Air Quality Forecasting

• Advance existing capabilities, e.g., AIRNow.• Partnership between EPA, NOAA, and NASA• Diagnosing modeling outputs.

• Ecological Forecasting• Integration of water and airshed data• Harmful algal blooms

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EPA Experience with Satellite DataEPA Experience with Satellite Data

• For water quality in coastal areas, EPA is using observations on blooms including harmful examples, swimming water characteristics, sediment transport and wetland condition.

• EPA is already embracing the use of satellite observations in its research for improving the CMAQ model (Rob Pinder will talk about this later).

• EPA has shown an interest in using space measurements and is already working with NOAA/NESDIS to develop algorithms for NO2 retrieval from GOME-2/METOP.

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Using Satellite Images to Identify Water Quality Risks

• EPA (with NOAA and the Naval Research Lab) is developing analytical tools and models to better predict unsafe conditions at the nation’s beaches.

• Data from satellite imagery can advance our beaches monitoring capabilities.

•EPA will examine the role of nearshore lake conditions and determine the timing and location of sediment and organic material plumes.

• If these plumes are involved in the outbreak, early identification and characterization using daily satellite measurements may improve prediction of unhealthy pathogen levels and provide early warning of beach closures.

MODIS Composite(R: Band 1, G: Band 4, B: Band 3)

(04/23/2003:1620)

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GeoTRACEGeoTRACE• GeoTRACE was a mission concept to observe air pollution for the first

time in the same way that weather is observed: every hour, from space, across the continent

• Decadal Survey White Paper 105: Earth’s First Time-Resolved Mapping of Air Pollution from Space

• Jack Fishman, Doreen Neil, James Crawford (NASA); R. Bradley Pierce (NASA, now NOAA); David Edwards (NCAR); Kelly Chance, Thomas Kurosu (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics); W. Paul Menzel (NOAA); Gary Foley, Rich Scheffe (US EPA)

Source: David Edwards

(Jack Fishman et al., 2008)

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How can we assess and manage risks from exposures involving complex mixtures of air pollutants that fall into multiple physical-chemical classes?

Which sources of air pollution most severely impact exposure and health, and how does this vary across the country?

How can we evaluate the benefits of prior regulatory decisions that were intended to reduce pollutant concentrations and adverse health outcomes?

EPA Air Quality Science Questions

Understand and improve predictive capability for changes in the ozone layer, climate forcing, and air quality associated with changes in atmospheric composition

NASA Research Objective

NASA Earth Science Questions GEOCAPE Science

QuestionsHow is atmospheric composition changing? (variability)

What trends is atmospheric constituents and solar radiation are driving global climate change? (Forcing)

How do atmospheric trace constituents respond to affect global environmental change? (Response)

What are the effects of global atmospheric chemical and climate changes on regional air quality? (Consequences)

How will future changes in atmospheric composition affect ozone, climate and global air quality? (Prediction)

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Potential Architecture for NASA & EPA Collaboration

GEOCAPE WORKSHOP OUTCOME

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How does the Community work Towards:

• A common nexus of goals and objectives

• Long-term commitment (5-10 years)

• A defined plan focused on outcomes

Forging Partnerships amongGEOCAPE and the EPA Science Community

Forging Partnerships amongGEOCAPE and the EPA Science Community

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Supplemental SlidesSupplemental Slides

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GEO-CAPE BackgroundGEO-CAPE Background• NAS/NRC Report – Earth Science and Applications

from Space: National Imperatives for the Next Decade and Beyond (2007)• One of 15 missions recommended to NASA for implementation

over the next decade• Focus on: coastal ecosystems and air quality• Launch: 2013-2016• Geostationary Earth orbit• $550 million• Mission Description: Atmospheric gas columns for air quality

forecasts; ocean color for coastal ecosystem health and climate emissions

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Summary: AQ Measurements from SpaceSummary: AQ Measurements from Space

• The Air Quality Community is new to satellite observations.• Current set of NASA-EOS instruments provided the first

opportunity to EPA to conduct quantitative research and begin to build capacity. GOES-R & MetOp (GOME-2) will allow that effort to continue in a operational environment.

• What else is needed:• Trace gas observations relevant to air quality in the boundary

layer: O3, NO2, CO, SO2, HCHO, NH3, and aerosol (composition).

• The diurnal variability and meteorological processes that drive air quality require high spatial and temporal resolution (as can be achieved by geostationary satellites).

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Questions for DiscussionQuestions for Discussion• Can a geostationary satellite like GEO-CAPE

obtain vertical information? (e.g., this is important for ozone)

• How can GEO-CAPE data (gases and aerosols) be used to support future potential greenhouse gas (GHG) rules?

• What are potential tradeoffs in capabilities? (i.e., improving the precision or interval of one measurement will reduce the precision or interval of another measurement)

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Ozone – Information NeedsOzone – Information Needs

• Hemispheric Transport - the background level of ozone

• The Exceptional Event - the variability in climate appear to cause an increase in the likelihood of "exceptionally" frequent air quality action days

• Real Time Adaptation - with real time data and reliable forecasts

GEOSS Framework

Dec Maker‘Informer’Proc/MedData Mgr

Foreign Ministers

LRTP Lead Taskforce

Atm. Science Assessors

Science Data Manager

HTAP

EPA Reg. Dec. Maker

Fed. Agency Regulator

Sate Agency Analyst

Portal Manager

Except Event

Public Individual

Media Public, Private

Forecaster Analyst

Automatic Data

Real Time

User/ Actor Class

Air Quality Info System

Users (Classes) Links (Types) I nfo (Flow)

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