Greetings from HAQAST

Dear HAQAST Community,
Happy holidays to everyone! We are grateful for your engagement with HAQAST over the years. We have updates on the next HAQAST Showcase, including a new TEMPO training, and opportunities to share your input on how you use NASA data.
 
HAQAST Showcase
Our next meeting, the HAQAST Showcase, will be Tuesday, January 28th, 2025 at NASA Headquarters in Washington DC and online.  This meeting will highlight success over the last four years, including increasing public engagement with NASA data, measuring health risks in unmonitored regions, and improving  decision-making tools.
  • *NEW* - We will have a pre-meeting TEMPO Information Session and Training, on January 27th from 1:00 - 3:00 pm in-person at George Washington University. Sign up here.
  • Please indicate your interest in attending the HAQAST Showcase in-person or online on the registration form. Registration is free! We welcome you to invite friends, colleagues.
  • For stakeholders, we have a few more travel stipends left to give out on a rolling basis. Please see eligibility criteria and complete the travel funding application here.
  • Interested in presenting? Submit a title for a pre-recorded virtual flash talk here.
  • Hotel room block deadline has been extended to Jnauary 16th.
Please visit our website at https://haqast.org/haqast-showcase-2025/ to learn about the event. We look forward to seeing you at the celebration of this generation of HAQAST!
 
HAQAST News

American Lung Association Releases "Something in the Air" Report
The American Lung Association (ALA) released a new report, "Something in the Air: Bridging the Air Quality Data Gap with Satellite Technology", which emphasizes how emerging technologies, such as satellites, can help critical air quality information to underserved communities without ground-based monitors. The report calls for various initiatives from federal and state governments, along with individual actions, to overall improve human health related to poor air quality. The analysis of satellite-derived air quality data was conducted by HAQAST Lead, Dr. Tracey Holloway, and other members of the Holloway Group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with data from HAQAST Member Randall Martin's group. Read more about the ALA's new report here.
 
Other Upcoming Meetings and Events of Interest

  • January 12 - 16, 2025 - American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting 2025: New Orleans, L.A.
  • January 21 - 23, 2025 - Earth Science Information Partners Meeting: Online
  • March 3 - 6, 2025 - CAFÉ (Convene, Accelerate, Foster, and Expand Research Coordinating Center) Climate & Health Conference: Online
  • March 13, 2025 - Communicating Air Quality: Digital, Physical, and Theoretical Advances: Online and in-person in London. This conference will bring together experts from the fields of sociology, science technology and society, public health, air pollution science, data science (visualisation), and data art to uncover how air quality is communicated in the public realm.
 
Funding Opportunities

Open AQ Community Ambassadors Program
  • This annual program supports ten emerging air quality leaders in low- and middle-income countries in developing skills to fight air inequality — the unequal access to clean air. Over nine months, Ambassadors are provided with interdisciplinary training (with a focus on using data), leadership development, and a supportive professional community to hone skills and expertise in the air quality field. Learn more here. Applications close January 13, 2025.

Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology
  • Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST F.5) solicits proposals for graduate student-designed and performed research projects relevant to NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. The graduate student shall be the primary author, with input or supervision from the proposal's Principal Investigator (PI) or mentor, as appropriate. FINESST awards are research grants for up to three years at up to $50K per year. Learn more here. Proposals are due February 5th, 2025.
 
Feedback Requests

  • TEMPO-Lite Data Story: The TEMPO Communications and Public Engagement team has been working with the Cosmic Data Stories team (a NASA Science Activation Project) to develop the TEMPO-Lite Data Story, and wants your feedback. Information from this ten minute survey will be used to improve the interface. Access the survey here.
  • NASA Earth Observation Data Usage Survey: Do you work for a U.S. State, Tribe or Territory and use or would like to use NASA Earth Observation (EO) data for decision making? NASA has commissioned an online, anonymous survey on the use of EO data by U.S. States, tribal organizations, and territories to learn more about NASA's impact, possible areas for growth, and how to better support users in applying EO data for decision making. Access the survey here. The survey closes December 31, 2024.
  • Did you participate in the HAQAST Satellite Data for Environmental Justice Team? We would love to hear about your experiences, feedback, and thoughts about how to how to better leverage satellite tools and datasets for environmental justice here.
 
Call for Manuscripts

  • Geospatial data applications for environmental justice. This special collection from GeoHealth will feature applications of these novel geospatial technologies and data for understanding and addressing environmental injustice. Submissions are due December 31, 2024. Read more here.
  • Dust and dust storms: From physical processes to human health, safety, and welfare. GeoHealth welcomes submissions focused on both natural and contaminated dust events that examine dust and dust storms from a multidisciplinary perspective. Submissions are due May 31, 2025. More here.
  • TEMPO Data Products, Science and Applications. This special collection (JGR: Atmospheres, Geophysical Research Letters, and Earth and Space Science) focuses on TEMPO data products, including their development, demonstration of societal benefits, usage through data assimilation or analysis to improve understanding Earth and atmospheric processes, and their synergy with other satellite data products. Submissions are due December 31, 2025. More here.
 
Data

GHGSat Methane Concentration and Emission Data Now Available
Data acquired by NASA for the successfully concluded scientific evaluation of GHGSat under the space agency’s Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition (CSDA) program is now available through the NASA Earthdata portal. The dataset consists of georeferenced per-pixel methane column abundances, methane concentration maps, methane emission rates with error estimates, and associated metadata for global anthropogenic and naturogenic point sources for the period from January 2021 to May 2024. Learn more and access the dataset here.

Toxic Prisons Mapping Project and Interactive Dataset
Postdoctoral researcher Ufuoma Ovienmhada has led a participatory research initiative called The Toxic Prisons Mapping Project to map environmental hazards that prisons, jails, and detention centers face. The project includes satellite-derived PM2.5 data from Randall Martin's group, data on wildfire activity that uses the NASA/NOAA VIIRS satellite sensors, and data on land surface temperature from the Landsat satellites. The map can be used to evaluate historical patterns of environmental burdens, monitor real-time hazards, and engage with stories from people who have been incarcerated in toxic prisons.

MERRA-2 bias-corrected global hourly surface PM2.5 dataset
The MERRA-2 bias-corrected global hourly surface PM2.5 dataset is now publicly available. This dataset, developed by HAQAST PIs Pawan Gupta and co-I Alqamah Sayeed, has been derived by using the machine learning method, convolutional neural network. The dataset covers the period from 2000 to the present and will be updated through the end of 2024.  Please read more from the data release newsletter and data DOIs.

Gridded TROPOMI NO2 Data Available for Download
Gridded 1 x 1 km monthly, seasonal, and annual satellite TROPOMI NO2 data is available for download on the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) from efforts of HAQAST co-investigator Dan Goldberg. The dates range from May 2018-present. There is a collection both global and continental United States.

Preliminary TEMPO Data Now Available
TEMPO Version 03 (V03) Beta Level 1, 2, and 3 data are available as of May 20, 2024. These datasets are at beta maturity, meaning the product is minimally validated but may still contain significant errors; it is based on product quick looks using the initial calibration parameters. Because the products at this stage have minimal validation, users should refrain from making conclusive public statements regarding science and applications of the data products until a product is designated at the provisional validation status. Learn more about accessing the data here!
 
Resources

Health and Air Quality Community Forum
The Health and Air Quality Community Forum is a new resource intended for all levels of expertise to collaborate about health and air quality related topics. Everyone can view the forum and sign up to post questions, answers, and comments to discuss with peers and experts in the field. Come join our online community, and please share with anyone you think would be interested! Access the forum at this link: https://haq.community.forum/
 
Connect with HAQAST

We are always appreciative of your interest and involvement in the team. If you have colleagues who might also be interested, please invite them to sign up on our mailing list. You can also follow and connect with HAQAST on Twitter and LinkedIn, or reach out personally with Tracey (taholloway@wisc.edu) and Jenny (bratburd@wisc.edu).
All the best,