+ Visit NASA.gov + Advanced Search   + About the Server   + Animation List   + How to Use the Server   + RSS Feeds   + Podcasts   + Opportunities Previous Animation Next Animation Atlantic Transport of Anthropogenic Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) in 2003 In a new NASA study, researchers taking advantage of improvements in satellite sensor capabilities offer the first measurement-based estimate of the amount of pollution. The new measurements from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA’s Terra satellite substantiate the results of previous model-based studies, and are the most extensive to date. Hongbin Yu, an associate research scientist of the University of Maryland Baltimore County working at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., grew up in China and taught there as a university professor, , where he witnessed first-hand and studied how pollution from nearby power plants affected the local environment. Yu points out, however, that the matter of pollution transport is a global one. “Our study focused on East Asian pollution transport, but pollution also flows from Europe, North America, the broader Asian region and elsewhere, across bodies of water and land, to neighboring areas and beyond,” he said. “So we should not simply blame East Asia for this amount of pollution flowing into North America.” In fact, a recent model study conducted by Mian Chin, co-author of this study and an atmospheric scientist at NASA Goddard suggests that European pollution also makes significant contribution to the pollution inflow to North America. “Satellite instruments give us the ability to capture finer measurements, on a nearly daily basis across a broader geographic region and across a longer time frame so that the overall result is a better estimate than any other measurement method we’ve had in the past,” said study co-author Lorraine Remer, a physical scientist and member of the MODIS science team at NASA Goddard. The MODIS instrument can distinguish between broad categories of particles in the air, and observes Earth’s entire surface every one to two days, enabling it to monitor movement of the East Asian pollution aerosols as they rise into the lower troposphere, the area of the atmosphere where we live and breathe, and make their way across the Pacific and up into the middle and upper regions of the troposphere. Remer added that the research team also found that pollution movements fluctuate during the year, with the East Asian airstream carrying its largest “load” in spring and smallest in summer. The most extensive East Asian export of pollution across the Pacific took place in 2003, triggered by record-breaking wildfires across vast forests of East Asia and Russia. Notably, the pollution aerosols also travel across the ocean quickly, journeying into the atmosphere above North American in as little as one week. “We cannot determine at what level of elevation in the atmosphere the pollution ends up once it crosses over to North America, so we do not have a way in this study to assess what actual impact it has on air quality here,” said Remer. “Nevertheless, we realize there is indeed impact. For example, particles like these have been linked to regional weather and climate effects. Since pollution transport is such a broad global issue, it is important moving forward to extend this kind of study to other regions, to see how much pollution is migrating from its source regions to others, when, and how fast,” said Remer.    This movie shows a three day moving average of anthropogenic aerosols over the Atlantic in 2003. Human population is shown in blue/purple.On July 6, 2003 a heavy pollution plume is being transported over the Atlantic to Europe. Duration: 48.0 seconds Available formats:   1280x720 (30 fps) MPEG-4   8 MB   1280x720 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   36 MB   640x360 (29.92 fps) MPEG-4   8 MB   1280x720 (30 fps) Frames (With dates)   1280x720 (60 fps) Frames (With dates)   3840x2160 TIFF         7 MB   320x180     PNG           278 KB   160x80       PNG           65 KB   80x40         PNG           17 KB How to play our movies    This movie shows the same three day moving average of anthropogenic aerosols over the Atlantic in 2003 without the date overlay. Duration: 48.0 seconds Available formats:   1280x720 (60 fps) MPEG-4   13 MB   1280x720 (30 fps) Frames (Without dates)   1280x720 (60 fps) Frames (Without dates)   640x360 (29.92 fps) MPEG-4   8 MB   3840x2160 TIFF         7 MB   320x180     PNG           286 KB How to play our movies    Colorbar Available formats:   320 x 90           PNG       10 KB    May 14, 2003 Available formats:   3840 x 2160     TIFF 7 MB   320 x 180         PNG     276 KB    May 29, 2003 Available formats:   3840 x 2160     TIFF 7 MB   320 x 180         PNG     275 KB    June 25, 2003 Available formats:   3840 x 2160     TIFF 7 MB   320 x 180         PNG     257 KB    June 23, 2003 Available formats:   3840 x 2160     TIFF 7 MB   320 x 180         PNG     276 KB    Dec 28, 2003 Available formats:   3840 x 2160     TIFF 7 MB   320 x 180         PNG     273 KB Animation Number: 3492 Completed: 2008-03-29 Animator: Lori Perkins (NASA/GSFC) (Lead) Scientist: Hongbin Yu (JCET UMBC) Platform/Sensor/Data Set: Terra/MODIS/Anthropogenic Aerosol Optical Depth (2003/01/01 - 2003/12/31) Data Collected: 2003/1 - 365 Series: Aerosols and Warming Goddard TV Tape: G2003-066 Keywords: SVS >> Aerosols DLESE >> Atmospheric science SVS >> Dust SVS >> HDTV SVS >> Pollution     Please give credit for this item to: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio Back to Top + Privacy Policy and Important Notices + Reproduction Guidelines NASA Official: Content Contact: Curator: