Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Air Quality Monitoring from Space


Special Issue of Atmospheric Pollution Research (APR) on “Air Quality Monitoring from Space”

This special issue will be focused on surface air quality monitoring and forecasting using surface and satellite observations of aerosols and trace gases over regional to global scales. In recent years, satellite observations of aerosols and trace gases have shown potential for application to monitor surface air quality with high spatial and temporal resolution over regional to global scales. Authors are encouraged to submit contributions that describe original research results of studies conducted using satellite derived aerosols and trace gases product for monitoring as well as estimation and forecasting of PM2.5, PM10, Ozone, NOx, and SO2 at the surface. Topics will include (but are not limited to): particulate matter observations from space and surface, regional trends of air quality parameters, assimilation of satellite data of aerosols into air quality and regional atmospheric models, transport of aerosols, role of biomass burning and dust aerosols in local air quality, role of local meteorology in estimation of PM2.5 from satellite observations, boundary layer process and their impact on satellite observations, and physical and statistical modeling of air quality, population health and ecological impact assessments driven by satellite data. 


for more details -- please check the following link
http://www.atmospolres.com/special.html

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Which station has longest continuous time series of aerosol related observations?

Sometime I wonder are there any questions left which Google can not answer? Today I stumble upon one such question, when I was just curious to know which station is oldest running station for aerosol related observations? I know in Barrow,Alaska and South Pole, CMDL is monitoring AOD since 1977. But don't know whether these are the oldest stations. And what about black carbon, surface size distribution, PM10, scattering coefficient. I guess one can expect to get long-time series for PM10 at least.

Let us compile the list. Leave the name of station and time period in comment, you know for aerosol related obs. are being made from the station.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Aerosols can only temporary fix global warming

an interesting article

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/global-warming/Aerosols-can-only-temporary-fix-global-warming-/articleshow/6187668.cms

Sunday, May 16, 2010

A Smog Blog by NASA

I remember an incident from early days of my PhD. I was travelling in a train and a fellow passenger asked me what is that I am doing? My reply was, "I study aerosols for their climatic effects". He was thoroughly confused. What he understood from the word "aerosol" was that I am studying gases coming out of aerosol-cans affecting the ozone layer. It was not his fault. There are very few places where aerosols scientist interact with laymen about their research. I guess still the situation may be not be very different from the perspective of layman when he or she hears word "aerosol". Beside aerosol's climatic effects, laymen have many reasons to know about aerosols, if not for the sack of curiosity, for the sack of his/her health. The obvious question is where to get this information particularly in a format that a layman can understand and use it without further processing it.

Few scientists and students from University of Maryland, Baltimore county have created a blog with the support of NASA to fill this information gap. They have named it "Smog Blog". Find out more about this blog from a video that NASA has created to popularize The Smog Blog.


Link to Smog Blog
http://alg.umbc.edu/usaq/

Link to NASA video about Smog Blog
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/smogblog.html