A new space study from NASA’s pollution monitoring instrument known as TEMPO revealed that the air we breathe has a problem.
NASA has released the inaugural data maps generated by TEMPO, short for Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution, which provided researchers and environmentalists with visual representations of pollution patterns and air quality variations spanning the entire North American continent.
The instrument, launched aboard a SpaceX rocket this April, is situated approximately 22,000 miles above the equator, affording it a unique vantage point to conduct hourly daytime scans.
This pioneering space-borne technology is set to refine pollution studies considerably, offering insights into various pollution sources including rush-hour traffic emissions, smoke and ash emanating from forest fires and volcanic eruptions, and the effects of fertilizer application on farmlands. The precision and scope of TEMPO’s observations are anticipated to facilitate a deeper comprehension of the complex interplay between human activities and environmental health.
NASA said the instrument marks the first time that air quality over North America is being continuously gauged from space. The spatial resolution TEMPO provides, narrowing down to a few square miles, is poised to be a game-changer, surpassing any previous endeavor in terms of clarity and coverage.
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