We’ve reached a point where scientists can easily measure the levels of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants simply by measuring their concentrations in the air. But these measurements alone aren’t necessarily clear. where Where does pollution actually come from?
For example, how do you know which specific neighborhood in your city produces the most carbon dioxide? This is important information so scientists can begin to figure out how to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Especially as the Earth continues to warm due to human-driven climate change.
This summer, NASA plans to propose a solution: a greenhouse gas detection aircraft flight.
Over the past week and a half, NASA researchers and student interns have flown a pair of aircraft across the central-eastern United States, guiding them low over airports, industrial facilities and urban centers to create detailed maps of air pollution. By the end of this week, researchers will move the same aircraft to California and begin making the same measurements there.
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“The goal is that the data we collect will inform policy decisions that affect air quality and climate in the region,” said Glenn Wolfe, a research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the campaign’s principal investigator. declaration.
Wolfe and his colleagues used a turboprop aircraft, a B200, and a P-3 Orion, which are equipped with instruments to collect air samples and measure greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, as well as other air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, and ozone.
From June 17 to 26, the crews of the two planes took their instruments to circle over several cities in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Virginia. They circled power plants, landfills, and urban areas at altitudes ranging from 1,000 feet to 10,000 feet (305 m to 3,048 m), which is lower than the altitude of most commercial flights. They also performed mock landings at airports, approaching runways and then deliberately missing these targets.
NASA is particularly interested in confirming measurements from higher altitudes and data from airplane sources. speedAn instrument mounted on the Intelsat 40e communications satellite in geostationary orbit, 22,000 miles (36,000 km) above the ground, TEMPO measures air pollutants hourly across North America. Airplane flights can augment TEMPO’s readings with additional data on pollutants at various altitudes near the Earth’s surface.
The East Coast leg of the project is over, but the plane will soon embark on the second phase of its summer flight. NASA has already begun moving the plane to Southern California, where from June 29 to July 2, the team will measure air pollution in Los Angeles, the Tulare Basin to the north, and the Imperial Valley to the southeast.
