Recorded presentation5.5
Exploiting Satellite Remote-Sensing Data in Fine Particulate Matter Characterization for Serving the Environmental Public Health Tracking Network (EPHTN): The HELIX-Atlanta Experience and NPOESS Implications
Mohammad Al-Hamdan, Universities Space Research Association, Huntsville, AL; and W. L. Crosson, A. Limaye, D. Rickman, D. A. Quattrochi, M. G. Estes, J. R. Qualters, A. H. Sinclair, D. D. Tolsma, and K. A. Adeniyi
As part of the U.S. National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network (EPHTN), the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) led a project in collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) called Health and Environment Linked for Information Exchange (HELIX-Atlanta). Under HELIX-Atlanta, pilot projects were conducted to develop methods to better characterize exposure; link health and environmental datasets; and analyze spatial/temporal relationships. This paper describes and demonstrates different techniques for surfacing daily environmental hazards data of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) for the purpose of integrating respiratory health and environmental data for the CDC's pilot study of HELIX-Atlanta. It describes a methodology for estimating ground-level continuous PM2.5 concentrations using spatial surfacing techniques and leveraging NASA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) data to complement the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ground observation data. The study used measurements of ambient PM2.5 from the EPA database for the year 2003 as well as PM2.5 estimates derived from NASA's MODIS data. Hazard data have been processed to derive the surrogate exposure PM2.5 estimates. The paper has shown that merging MODIS remote sensing data with surface observations of PM2.5 may provide a more complete daily representation of PM2.5 than either data set alone would allow, and can reduce the errors in the PM2.5 estimated surfaces. Future work in this area should focus on combining MODIS column measurements with profile information provided by satellites like the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS). The Visible Infrared Imager / Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) and the Aerosol Polarimeter Sensor (APS) NPOESS sensors will provide first-order information on aerosol particle size and are anticipated to provide information on aerosol products at higher resolution and accuracy than MODIS. Use of the NPOESS remote-sensing data should result in more robust remotely sensed data that can be coupled with the methods discussed in this paper to generate surface concentrations of PM2.5 for linkage with health data in Environmental Public Health Tracking. Recorded presentation
Session 5, Societal Benefits: Improving Models and Tools
Tuesday, 22 January 2008, 3:30 PM-5:30 PM, R01
Previous paper