April 18th, 2009 Satellites Offer Insight into Air Pollution Levels
Judging from the list of the top 10 worst polluted places in the world, we can assume that these places are remote and typically poorer, so they often can’t afford to have air pollution measured. Sundar Christopher, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Alabama at Huntsville, has developed a new method for measuring air pollution in countries where the typical ground level tests are too expensive. He compares satellite data with ground measurements in well-studied areas. With these comparisons he can determine surface air quality using only satellite data. He examined 20 cities with populations greater than 10 million and discovered that in 15 of them, pollution levels were 5 to 10 times higher than the World Health Organization’s guidelines. Using the satellite, pollution can now be tracked to study how it travels from one region to another.
Image of the release of Sulfur Dioxide over the Pacific Ocean, captured by NASA's Terra/MOIDS satellite
