“sidewalks to satellites” campaign in new york city makes use of the personal ozone monitor and personal air monitor
How can a satellite instrument, orbiting 22,000 miles overhead, tell us what the air pollution levels are at ground level?
Researchers are using several instruments, including 2B Tech’s POM (Personal Ozone Monitor), and PAM (Personal Air Monitor) to help answer that question. As part of that effort, two researchers gathered ground-truth data (along with curious looks from others!) as they walked the streets of New York City this summer with the very portable POM and PAM in their backpack and long sampling tubes sticking out the tops.
The Today Show’s Al Roker caught up with Dr. Audrey Gaudel of CIRES and NOAA, as she gathered ground-truth data using the 2B Tech POM and PAM. You can see Al watching the data come in on the PAM smartphone app, in this segment that aired on 13 September 2023 (click picture to play the 4:50 clip).
The TEMPO satellite instrument was launched in early 2023 to measure ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and other pollutants across North America in one of the most detailed pollution mapping efforts ever undertaken (measurements are hourly, and at the neighborhood scale). The “Sidewalks to Satellites” campaign is a collaboration between NOAA, NASA, and 21 different universities to compare ground-level data in New York City to the TEMPO satellite measurements.
