Air-quality standards under the Clean Air Act (CAA) over more than 50 years have led to reductions in pollutants, resulting in positive impacts on health and life expectancy in the U.S., but air quality exceedances remain prevalent in populated areas across the U.S. Air-quality managers have primarily leveraged measurements from EPA-certified reference or equivalent high-resolution surface monitors for individual CAA pollutants to support their regulatory decision-making processes. These point measurements may miss transport of emissions to areas with observed higher air-pollution levels and often are not able to fully represent the evolution of complex photochemical reactions, due to large spatial gaps in monitor coverage. Observations of air pollutants from satellites can provide data to corroborate and attenuate CAA surface monitor coverage and to assess atmospheric chemistry, but the current suite of advanced satellites [e.g., TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI)] capable of observing both trace gas and aerosol pollutants are limited to mid-day observation times. The NASA Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) instrument, planned for launch in December 2022, will dramatically improve our capabilities of monitoring air pollution from space by measuring criteria air pollutants of NO2, SO2, and O3, at high spatial (~2.0 x 4.8 km2) and temporal (sub-hourly to hourly) over a Field of Regard (FoR) covering Greater North America. To maximize the societal benefits from the upcoming TEMPO mission, it is critical that the resulting science data can be effectively utilized by air-quality management agencies in the CAA regulatory process to reduce health exposures and improve visual air quality. The accuracy of the satellite observations are expected to be particularly suited for application in air-quality management decisions under the federal CAA and the states’ authorities. This presentation will provide the latest information on the TEMPO mission, the Early Adopters Program, and air quality management applications to enhance engagement and gather feedback on user needs.
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