WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - US embassies and consulates, along with American citizens traveling and living abroad, now have a powerful tool to protect against polluted air, thanks to a collaboration between NASA and the U.S. State Department.
Since 2020, ZephAir has provided real-time air quality data for about 75 U.S. diplomatic posts around the world. Currently, it provides three-day air quality forecasts for PM2.5, a type of fine particulate matter, for all the approximately 270 U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide.
These tiny particles, much smaller than a grain of sand, can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, causing respiratory and cardiovascular problems.
The forecasts, created using NASA satellite data, computer models, and machine learning, are crucial for U.S. embassies and consulates, where approximately 60,000 U.S. citizens and local staff work. Many of these sites are in regions with few local air quality monitors or early warning systems for air pollution.
Previously, ZephAir only delivered data on current PM2.5 levels using air quality monitors on the ground from about 75 U.S. diplomatic locations and about 50 additional sources. Now, the enhanced tool provides PM2.5 forecasts for all sites, using the Goddard Earth Observing System forward processing (GEOS-FP), a weather and climate computer model. It incorporates data on tiny particles or droplets suspended in Earth's atmosphere called aerosols from MODIS on NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites.
Aerosols are tiny airborne particles that come from both natural sources, like dust, volcanic ash, and sea spray, and from human activities, such as burning fossil fuels. PM2.5 refers to particles or droplets that are 2.5 micrometers or smaller in diameter - about 30 times smaller than the width of a human hair.
NASA said that the Health and Air Quality Applied Sciences Team aims to expand ZephAir's capabilities to include ground-level ozone data, another major pollutant that can affect the health of embassy staff and local communities.
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