Using Satellite Data to Develop Environmental Indicators: An Application of NASA Data Products to Support High Level Decisions for National and International Environmental Protection

The objective of the project is to test the feasibility of using NASA Earth Science research results to improve decision-making activities by U.S. and foreign governments and international agencies through scientifically rigorous national- and global-level environmental indicators. The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) relies on environmental indicators as part of its selection criteria for Millennium Challenge Account funding to developing countries. The U.S. EPA relies upon its indicator-based Report on the Environment for strategic planning on questions fundamental to its mission of protecting human health and the environment. The World Bank relies on limited monitor- and model-based air quality indicators to guide resource allocation for environmental remediation and public health. All three agencies have expressed interest in indicators with improved spatial and temporal coverage based on NASA Earth Science research results. This proj ect will focus on topics with significant in-situ data gaps: air quality (a multi-pollutant indicator, and emissions from biomass burning) and coastal water quality (chlorophyll-a concentrations). An advisory group of decision-makers, indicator experts, and remote sensing specialists will advise the team and vet the indicators for their scientific robustness and policy relevance at a final workshop. The results of more informed environmental decisions by MCC, EPA, and The World Bank will be better targeting of resources. This proposal is responsive to the Air Quality and Water Resources applications (ozone comparisons, biomass burning, and water quality in estuaries). The team will test the application of data from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS), Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS), Quickscat, Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO), and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). The project will be led by the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN, The Earth Institute of Columbia University), with Co-Is and Collaborators from Battelle, NASA, NOAA, U.S. EPA, and the EU.