. Earth Science News .
FROTH AND BUBBLE
Thailand brings NASA air quality data down to Earth
by Molly Porter for MSFC News
Huntsville AL (SPX) Nov 24, 2020

SERVIR-Mekong launched its new Air Quality Explorer app with Thailand's pollution control department and space agency Nov. 23 in Bangkok.

For decades, NASA has used the vantage point of space, combined with airborne and ground-based field campaigns, to decipher the impact of air pollution and help other agencies protect people when unhealthy air threatens the places they live, work, and play. Now, government agencies in Thailand are harnessing the power of NASA air quality data and expertise through a unique partnership with SERVIR.

SERVIR, a Spanish word meaning "to serve," is a joint initiative between NASA and the United States Agency for International Development to boost environmental resilience and decision-making in developing regions around the world. Through its network of regional hubs, SERVIR puts publicly available satellite imagery, geospatial data, and analysis tools into the hands of local decision-makers to help solve their most pressing environmental challenges. The SERVIR-Mekong hub, located at the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center in Bangkok, serves countries in the Mekong River Basin.

To improve air pollution monitoring in Thailand and the lower-Mekong River region, SERVIR-Mekong brought together experts in air quality measurement, technology design, atmospheric modelling, and civic engagement. They include the Royal Thai Government's Pollution Control Department and Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency-Thailand's space agency. Together, they developed a web-based platform for tracking and forecasting air quality in the region.

"Through SERVIR we're proud to support the Royal Thai Government's Pollution Control Department in using satellite observations and model outputs to monitor and forecast air quality in Thailand," said Lawrence Friedl, director of NASA's Applied Sciences Program. "Partnerships and collaboration are how we create greater on-the-ground impacts that benefit lives on Earth."

SERVIR-Mekong's new Air Quality Explorer tool, introduced Nov. 23 at an event in Bangkok, features some major advances over past pollution monitoring systems. The new app combines NASA satellite data, ground-sensor data, and machine-learning techniques to enable large-scale monitoring and forecasting of air quality for the first time in Thailand. Previous systems relied heavily on ground-based technology.

While sensors on the ground can pinpoint local sources of pollution, satellites have proven essential for filling in missing data to provide consistent, near-real time, maps of pollution hotspots that would otherwise be invisible. Satellite observations help scientists and decision-makers see the bigger picture of how air pollution is distributed across the region and how it changes over time.

"Poor air quality is a seasonal problem in Thailand that has persisted for over a decade," said Steven Olive, mission director of USAID's Regional Development Mission for Asia. "In addition to providing Thailand with more accurate air pollution readings, this tool also has the potential to address the transboundary challenges that air pollution poses to the region."

Some of the major sources of pollution, including agricultural burning and forest fires, are a pervasive problem for much of Southeast Asia. Particle pollution becomes worse each year during the dry season, when monsoon rains retreat and colder temperatures and calm winds create favorable conditions for particles to accumulate and linger in the air for a longer period.

Intense smog resulting in unseasonably poor air quality in early 2019 revealed a need for readily available, reliable, and accessible pollution data. Since then, SERVIR-Mekong has put their user-driven development and science expertise to work to improve both monitoring and public awareness. In addition to launching the new tool, the team has held trainings to equip users and even challenged student-innovators to become part of the solution.

"We have stepped into the world of technology," said Athapol Charoenshunsa, director general of Thailand's Pollution Control Department. "We look at and understand the world from space through satellite technology. Not only the past and the present, we shall also tell everyone in the future to prepare for environmental pollution properly and effectively."

Building on the success of the Air Quality Explorer in Thailand, SERVIR-Mekong aims to expand the effort to cover other countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the future.

NASA and USAID launched the SERVIR-Mekong hub in 2015 at the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center to serve the countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. The partnership chiefly supports the development of services to address challenges related to regional water, food security, weather and climate, and land cover and land use.

Established in 2005, SERVIR is also improving awareness, increasing access to information, and supporting data-driven decision-making to help people in West Africa, Eastern and Southern Africa, Hindu Kush-Himalaya, and South America manage environmental challenges.


Related Links
SERVIR at NASA
Our Polluted World and Cleaning It Up


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


FROTH AND BUBBLE
NASA model reveals how much COVID-related pollution levels deviated from the norm
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Nov 18, 2020
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, space- and ground-based observations have shown that Earth's atmosphere has seen significant reductions in some air pollutants. However, scientists wanted to know how much of that decline can be attributed to changes in human activity during pandemic-related shutdowns, versus how much would have occurred in a pandemic-free 2020. Using computer models to generate a COVID-free 2020 for comparison, NASA researchers found that since February, pandemic restrictions ha ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Lake ice destabilized by climate change linked to increase in youth drownings

NORAD to track Santa on Christmas with smaller crew due to COVID-19

Climate change bigger threat than Covid: Red Cross

Winter rains in Beirut finish off blast-ravaged homes

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Cracking the secrets of an emerging branch of physics

Danger in sun-synchronous orbits

Earth may have recaptured a 1960s-era rocket booster

Smaller than ever - exploring the unusual properties of quantum-sized materials

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Real estate data can help policy makers anticipate urban water needs

New Chinese submersible reaches Earth's deepest ocean trench

Recent climate extremes have driven unprecedented changes in the deep ocean

Turkey probes Istanbul mayor in fight over 'crazy' canal

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Climate change thinning glaciers, increasing oxygen levels at Mount Everest

Phytoplankton perform photosynthesis, bloom beneath Arctic sea ice

Arctic animals' movement patterns are shifting in different ways as the climate changes

Greenland's largest glaciers likely to melt faster than feared: study

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Unilever targets 1-bn-euro sales for plant-based foods

Algae pasta, saltwater crops share million-dollar UAE prize

US agricultural water use declining for most crops and livestock production

People in developing countries eat less bushmeat as they migrate from rural to urban areas

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Storm Iota leaves over 30 dead in Central America

Piecing together the Alaska coastline's fractured volcanic activity

Central American states count cost of Iota amid search for bodies

Heavy rains kill five in Colombia, six missing

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Nigerian army bombs highway 'bandits' after kidnappings

Explainer: What is the Sahel and why is it so important?

WHO chief denies Ethiopia's claims he backs dissident region

African leaders mount effort to mediate Ethiopia conflict

FROTH AND BUBBLE
Humans simultaneously evolved the ability to use tools, teach tool usage

Does the human brain resemble the Universe

Newly discovered fossil shows small-scale evolutionary changes in an extinct human species

Newly discovered primate in Myanmar 'already facing extinction'









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.