DISCOVER-AQ

Narration: Aries Keck

Transcript:

Narrator: Keep an eye on the sky this summer because right above your head scientific discoveries will be unfolding. Courtesy of NASA and its Discover-AQ campaign. Rich Rogers: They are going to be looking up over 295, 95 and 695 around Baltimore and see a big P-3, our ORION doing science above them at about 1000 feet. Throughout July this P-3 aircraft will spiral down low over the i-95 corridor, while it's partner, a high flying UC-12 will cruise above. Their mission is to measure and map air pollutants. Dr. Kenneth Pickering: We need to better understand how pollutions are how pollution is transported, how it evolves during the day and the air quality of course in this area does violate the ambient air quality standards for health effects a very frequently. Narrator: NASA is in a unique position to help. Using satellites to track pollutants is the best way to continuously monitor air quality over a broad region. That, however, has its challenges. Jim Crawford: What we want to understand is the pollution level at the surface, at nose level where its impacting people, but the satellite return is for the entire atmosphere. And so trying to understand how much pollution is aloft versus how much pollution is at the surface is a particular challenge for satellites. Narrator: And that's where Discover AQ comes in it's a three-pronged approach: Collecting data at ground stations, with a low flying P-3 and a high flying U-C 12. Combined the data can help create a three-dimensional view of how pollutants are distributed and travel through the atmosphere. Collecting the air samples will be a challenge by itself. The P-3 pilot will fly in spiral patterns to obtain data at different altitudes...it's the first time NASA has conducted such flights in a major urban area. Rich Rogers: We're going to have air traffic but the weather. So for us to get in there and work with the FAA, the high density traffic and some summer weather, we're going to be working real hard. Narrator: But the challenges are worth the potential reward. Jim Crawford: The ability to make smart decisions about how to either alter missions or patterns of behavior has to do with a complete understanding of how the pollutants enter the atmosphere, are chemically altered or transported, so that's where we try to bring the ability of satellites to try to show that more completley from space.