Quantifying NO Emission Sources in Houston, Texas Using Remote Sensing Aircraft Measurements and Source Apportionment Regression Models.

Air quality managers in areas exceeding air pollution standards are motivated to understand where there are further opportunities to reduce NO emissions to improve ozone and PM air quality. In this project, we use a combination of aircraft remote sensing (i.e.

Air pollution impacts from warehousing in the United States uncovered with satellite data.

Regulators, environmental advocates, and community groups in the United States (U.S.) are concerned about air pollution associated with the proliferating e-commerce and warehousing industries.

Increasing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Ambient Air Pollution-Attributable Morbidity and Mortality in the United States.

Background: Ambient nitrogen dioxide () and fine particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter () threaten public health in the US, and systemic racism has led to modern-day disparities in the distribution and associated health impacts of these pollutants.

Objectives: Many studies on environmental injustices related to ambient air pollution focus only on disparities in pollutant concentrations or provide only an assessment of pollution or health disparities at a snapshot in time. In this study, we compare injustices in and health burdens, considering health impacts across the entire US; document changing disparities in these health burdens over time (2010-2019); and evaluate how more stringent air quality standards would reduce disparities in health impacts associated with these pollutants.

Public Health Benefits From Improved Identification of Severe Air Pollution Events With Geostationary Satellite Data.

Despite improvements in ambient air quality in the US in recent decades, many people still experience unhealthy levels of pollution. At present, national-level alert-day identification relies predominately on surface monitor networks and forecasters. Satellite-based estimates of surface air quality have rapidly advanced and have the capability to inform exposure-reducing actions to protect public health.

Ethnoracial Disparities in Nitrogen Dioxide Pollution in the United States: Comparing Data Sets from Satellites, Models, and Monitors.

In the United States (U.S.), studies on nitrogen dioxide (NO) trends and pollution-attributable health effects have historically used measurements from in situ monitors, which have limited geographical coverage and leave 66% of urban areas unmonitored.

Intimately tracking NO pollution over the New York City - Long Island Sound land-water continuum: An integration of shipboard, airborne, satellite observations, and models.

Nitrogen dioxide (NO) pollution remains a serious global problem, particularly near highly populated urbanized coasts that face increasing challenges with climate change. Yet, the combined impact of urban emissions, pollution transport, and complex meteorology on the spatiotemporal dynamics of NO along heterogeneous urban coastlines remains poorly characterized. Here, we integrated measurements from different platforms - boats, ground-based networks, aircraft, and satellites - to characterize total column NO (TCNO) dynamics across the land-water continuum in the New York metropolitan area, the most populous area in the United States that often experiences the highest national NO levels.

Unified real-time environmental-epidemiological data for multiscale modeling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

An impressive number of COVID-19 data catalogs exist. However, none are fully optimized for data science applications. Inconsistent naming and data conventions, uneven quality control, and lack of alignment between disease data and potential predictors pose barriers to robust modeling and analysis.

Long-term trends in urban NO concentrations and associated paediatric asthma incidence: estimates from global datasets.

Background: Combustion-related nitrogen dioxide (NO) air pollution is associated with paediatric asthma incidence. We aimed to estimate global surface NO concentrations consistent with the Global Burden of Disease study for 1990-2019 at a 1 km resolution, and the concentrations and attributable paediatric asthma incidence trends in 13 189 cities from 2000 to 2019.

Methods: We scaled an existing annual average NO concentration dataset for 2010-12 from a land use regression model (based on 5220 NO monitors in 58 countries and land use variables) to other years using NO column densities from satellite and reanalysis datasets.

COVID-19 pandemic reveals persistent disparities in nitrogen dioxide pollution.

The unequal spatial distribution of ambient nitrogen dioxide ([Formula: see text]), an air pollutant related to traffic, leads to higher exposure for minority and low socioeconomic status communities. We exploit the unprecedented drop in urban activity during the COVID-19 pandemic and use high-resolution, remotely sensed [Formula: see text] observations to investigate disparities in [Formula: see text] levels across different demographic subgroups in the United States. We show that, prior to the pandemic, satellite-observed [Formula: see text] levels in the least White census tracts of the United States were nearly triple the [Formula: see text] levels in the most White tracts.

Shaping the Future of Science: COVID-19 Highlighting the Importance of GeoHealth.

From the heated debates over the airborne transmission of the novel coronavirus to the abrupt Earth system changes caused by the sudden lockdowns, the dire circumstances resulting from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have brought the field of GeoHealth to the forefront of visibility in science and policy. The pandemic has inadvertently provided an opportunity to study how human response has impacted the Earth system, how the Earth system may impact the pandemic, and the capacity of GeoHealth to inform real-time policy. The lessons learned throughout our responses to the COVID-19 pandemic are shaping the future of GeoHealth.

TROPOMI NO in the United States: A Detailed Look at the Annual Averages, Weekly Cycles, Effects of Temperature, and Correlation With Surface NO Concentrations.

Observing the spatial heterogeneities of NO air pollution is an important first step in quantifying NO emissions and exposures. This study investigates the capabilities of the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) in observing the spatial and temporal patterns of NO pollution in the continental United States. The unprecedented sensitivity of the sensor can differentiate the fine-scale spatial heterogeneities in urban areas, such as emissions related to airport/shipping operations and high traffic, and the relatively small emission sources in rural areas, such as power plants and mining operations.

Disentangling the Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdowns on Urban NO From Natural Variability.

TROPOMI satellite data show substantial drops in nitrogen dioxide (NO) during COVID-19 physical distancing. To attribute NO changes to NO emissions changes over short timescales, one must account for meteorology. We find that meteorological patterns were especially favorable for low NO in much of the United States in spring 2020, complicating comparisons with spring 2019.

Using Satellites to Track Indicators of Global Air Pollution and Climate Change Impacts: Lessons Learned From a NASA-Supported Science-Stakeholder Collaborative.

The 2018 NASA Health and Air Quality Applied Science Team (HAQAST) "Indicators" Tiger Team collaboration between NASA-supported scientists and civil society stakeholders aimed to develop satellite-derived global air pollution and climate indicators. This Commentary shares our experience and lessons learned. Together, the team developed methods to track wildfires, dust storms, pollen counts, urban green space, nitrogen dioxide concentrations and asthma burdens, tropospheric ozone concentrations, and urban particulate matter mortality.

Enhanced Capabilities of TROPOMI NO: Estimating NO from North American Cities and Power Plants.

The TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) is used to derive top-down NO emissions for two large power plants and three megacities in North America. We first re-process the vertical column NO with an improved air mass factor to correct for a known systematic low bias in the operational retrieval near urban centers. For the two power plants, top-down NO emissions agree to within 10% of the emissions reported by the power plants.

Exploiting OMI NO satellite observations to infer fossil-fuel CO emissions from U.S. megacities.

Fossil-fuel CO emissions and their trends in eight U.S. megacities during 2006-2017 are inferred by combining satellite-derived NO emissions with bottom-up city-specific NO-to-CO emission ratios.

In love and war: The morphometric and phylogenetic basis of ornamentation, and the evolution of male display behavior, in the livebearer genus Poecilia.

Exaggerated male traits under sexual selection are often used for both competition and courtship, raising the question of whether ornaments evolved simultaneously for both functions, or if use in one context preceded use in another. Here, we apply a phylogenetic approach to study the evolution of ornamental dorsal fins in male poeciliid fish of the subgenera Mollienesia and Limia, which exhibit convergent development of an enlarged dorsal fin, and often direct erect-fin displays to male and female conspecifics. Unlike prior categorical assessments of poeciliid adornments, we measure dorsal fin exaggeration with a continuous index of ornamentation.

CAMx Ozone Source Attribution in the Eastern United States using Guidance from Observations during DISCOVER-AQ Maryland.

A Comprehensive Air-Quality Model with Extensions (CAMx) version 6.10 simulation was assessed through comparison with data acquired during NASA's 2011 DISCOVER-AQ Maryland field campaign. Comparisons for the baseline simulation (CB05 chemistry, EPA 2011 National Emissions Inventory) show a model overestimate of NO by +86.