NASA’s new satellite will measure harmful air pollution from space
NASA is launching a new satellite that can detect and measure air pollution in real-time, from space. It’s called Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution, or TEMPO for short.
The orbital instrument will observe nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, and ozone. All three are pollutants harmful to our health.
NASA is partnering with the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the project. They plan to launch the satellite in early April. Then in the summer and fall, the TEMPO team is hoping to conduct air quality measurements over three major US cities, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City.
