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At least 505 records · Page 28
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2016

Strategic Design of Long-Haul and Oceanic Aircraft Trajectories in Aviation Operations

Long-Haul Aircraft consume most of their fuel during the cruise phase of flight. The inefficiency in cruise flights compared to efficient routes varies is around 3 to 4. The efficiency of oceanic flights is low due to limited navigational and communication equipment, congestion and airspace restrictions. The availability of Automated Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) and other improvements provides opportunity for better strategic planning of trajectories. Transatlantic flights between US and Europe constitute one of the busiest oceanic airspace regions in the world. This talk examines the benefits of a wind-optimal trajectory concept with a strategic de-confliction component compared to the current flight planning using the North Atlantic Tracks. The analysis is based on air traffic between US and Europe during July 2012. The potential fuel savings are in the range of (420-970) kg per flight for a Boeing 767-300, the most widely used aircraft between the city-pairs in this study. The talk also describes a global simulation of aviation operations combining flight plans and real air traffic data with historical commercial city-pair aircraft type and schedule data and global atmospheric data. The resulting capability extends the simulation and optimization functions of NASAs Future Air Traffic Management Concept Evaluation Tool (FACET) to global scale. This new capability is used to characterize the evolution of global air traffic, analyze fuel savings and seasonal variations in the long-haul wind-optimal traffic patterns in six major regions of the world.

strategic trajectory design↗
NASA NTRS2019

A Satellite Assessment of the Urban Heat Island in Morocco

Urban ecosystems interact with surroundings via land cover changes and their subsequent impact on surface temperature. In emerging countries, large urban agglomerations often form around cities, and only few studies have evaluated their impact. This study carries out the first ever large-scale assessment of urban heat island (UHI) and reflects on its mitigation in Morocco.The analysis reveals a well-defined UHI in urban-areas built within vegetated lands and an urban heat sink (UHS) in urban-areas built within arid regions. Both UHI and UHS amplitudes are higher during day than nighttime, emphasizing vegetation physiological activity. We show a monotonic increase in UHI amplitude with urban-area size. However, unlike previous studies, our analysis shows that as urban-areas built in desert-like environments grow in size, the UHS gradually decreases to ultimately turn into an UHI. On average, cities built within vegetation are warmer than rural fringe by 1.51°C during daytime. This suggests that daytime urban heating may exacerbate the potential climate warming. Our results also suggest that adapted trees constitute a natural cooling mechanism and should be part of urban heating mitigation in Morocco.

Urban Heat Sink↗
NASA NTRS2020

Toa Baja Disasters: Utilizing Open-Source Earth Observations to Inform the Toa Baja Municipality’s Flood Mitigation Efforts and Educate the Public

Toa Baja, located just west of San Juan in Puerto Rico, is known as “the underwater city” due to its propensity to flood. The city contains the mouth of the island’s longest river, Río de la Plata, which drains into the Atlantic Ocean on the northern edge of the municipality. Proximity to these major water features and the flat, low terrain contribute to the flood-prone nature of the area. During tropical storm events, such as Hurricane Maria in 2017, Toa Baja experienced inundation of up to 20 feet. Changes in the global climate system are causing more intense and frequent tropical storms, making places like Toa Baja subject to irreparable damage. This NASA DEVELOP project collaborated with the Municipio Autónomo de Toa Baja, ResilientSEE, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Urban Risk Lab to supplement recent 2018 Federal Emergency Management Agency Hydraulic Engineering Centers-River Analysis System flood maps, which designated 63% of the area as a flood plain. The analysis provides a high-resolution interpretation of flood susceptibility using a variety of factors that collectively influence the likelihood of flooding. Sentinel-1 C-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (C-SAR) data processed with Google Earth Engine scripting identified historical inundation and was used for validation purposes. Socioeconomic factors were combined with the inundation layer producing a final risk output. These outputs will improve public understanding of exposure to flood risk in Toa Baja and provide scientific evidence for flood mitigation advocacy.

Disasters↗
NASA NTRS2021

Volatile chemical product emissions enhance ozone and modulate urban chemistry

Decades of air quality improvements have substantially reduced the motor vehicle emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Today, volatile chemical products (VCPs) are responsible for half of the petrochemical VOCs emitted in major urban areas. We show that VCP emissions are ubiquitous in US and European cities and scale with population density. We report significant VCP emissions for New York City (NYC), including a monoterpene flux of 14.7 to 24.4 kg ⋅ d−1 ⋅ km−2 from fragranced VCPs and other anthropogenic sources, which is comparable to that of a summertime forest. Photochemical modeling of an extreme heat event, with ozone well in excess of US standards, illustrates the significant impact of VCPs on air quality. In the most populated regions of NYC, ozone was sensitive to anthropogenic VOCs (AVOCs), even in the presence of biogenic sources. Within this VOC-sensitive regime, AVOCs contributed upwards of ∼20 ppb to maximum 8-h average ozone. VCPs accounted for more than 50% of this total AVOC contribution. Emissions from fragranced VCPs, including personal care and cleaning products, account for at least 50% of the ozone attributed to VCPs. We show that model simulations of ozone depend foremost on the magnitude of VCP emissions and that the addition of oxygenated VCP chemistry impacts simulations of key atmospheric oxidation products. NYC is a case study for developed megacities, and the impacts of VCPs on local ozone are likely similar for other major urban regions across North America or Europe.

Matthew M. Coggon↗
NASA NTRS2020

Toa Baja Disasters: Utilizing Open-Source Earth Observations to Inform the Toa Baja Municipality’s Flood Mitigation Efforts and Educate the Public

Toa Baja, located just west of San Juan in Puerto Rico, is known as “the underwater city” due to its propensity to flood. The city contains the mouth of the island’s longest river, Río de la Plata, which drains into the Atlantic Ocean on the northern edge of the municipality. Proximity to these major water features and the flat, low terrain contribute to the flood-prone nature of the area. During tropical storm events, such as Hurricane Maria in 2017, Toa Baja experienced inundation of up to 20 feet. Changes in the global climate system are causing more intense and frequent tropical storms, making places like Toa Baja subject to irreparable damage. This NASA DEVELOP project collaborated with the Municipio Autonómo de Toa Baja, ResilientSEE, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Urban Risk Lab to supplement recent 2018 Federal Emergency Management Agency Hydraulic Engineering Centers-River Analysis System flood maps, which designated 63% of the area as a flood plain. The analysis provides a high-resolution interpretation of flood susceptibility using a variety of factors that collectively influence the likelihood of flooding. Sentinel-1 C-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (C-SAR) data processed with Google Earth Engine scripting identified historical inundation and was used for validation purposes. Socioeconomic factors were combined with the inundation layer producing a final risk output. These outputs will improve public understanding of exposure to flood risk in Toa Baja and provide scientific evidence for flood mitigation advocacy.

Disasters↗
NASA NTRS2020

Cambridge Urban Development - Quantifying Changes in Urban Albedo with NASA Earth Observations to Reduce Urban Heat Island Effect in Cambridge, Massachusetts

The urban heat island (UHI) effect occurs when urban areas have temperatures that are warmer on average than the surrounding suburban and rural regions. Low albedo surfaces traditionally found in urban landscapes, such as dark asphalt and rooftops, absorb solar irradiance and reemit heat, which contributes to the UHI effect. Cambridge,Massachusetts,part of the Boston metropolitan area,expects severe impacts on human health,infrastructure, and local environmental features due to increasing urban heat. The Massachusetts – Boston NASA DEVELOP team partnered with the City of Cambridge Community Development Department and the American Geophysical Union’s Thriving Earth Exchange to inform ongoing planning and heat mitigation efforts. High Resolution Orthoimagery (HRO) and National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) scenes were analyzed in conjunction with ancillary datasets to assess changes in rooftop albedo between 2008 and 2018. Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data were used to determine nighttime land surface temperature (LST) between 2003 and 2019. Lastly, temperature anomalies were calculated using seasonally averaged nighttime LST values obtained from Aqua MODIS to display ‘hot spots’ for summers between 2004 and 2019. On average, albedo increased by 0.12 across the city, with the majority of positive change in commercial areas. Analysis of mean summer nighttime LST between 2003 and 2019 revealed a non-significant increase in temperature, although temperature anomaly maps demonstrated that Cambridge was warmer on average than rural areas. These results were incorporated in the interactive Cambridge Urban Heat Dashboard, which allows users to explore temporal trends in albedo.

Nicole Ramberg-Pihl↗
NASA NTRS2020

Satellite Beach Energy - Restructuring the Energy Balance in Satellite Beach, Florida, by Quantifying Solar Energy Production Potential using NASA POWER Data Products and LiDAR

The City of Satellite Beach, Florida, has committed to supplying 100% of its energy use from renewable energy, primarily solar, by the year 2050. The team created a methodology for estimating rooftop solar power potential using a high-resolution Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) dataset and the NASA Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resources (POWER) dataset to assist Satellite Beach in reaching their solar renewable energy goals. The POWER dataset provides information on direct and diffuse solar irradiation on horizontal surfaces, surface albedo, and effects of local meteorology, such as clouds. The team integrated the solar irradiance data with the LiDAR data to model slope, aspect, and shadowing in the 7 km2 study area to find suitable roof segments for solar panel installation and estimate the solar potential of each segment. This process was supplemented by an analysis of land surface temperature and urban greenness measured through the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager and Thermal Infrared Sensor (OLI/TIRS) observations. These metrics serve to target areas for cooling initiatives aimed at reducing Satellite Beach’s overall energy consumption. The team found the total rooftop solar potential throughout the city to be 221,919,330KWh per year with an average annual rooftop photovoltaic, or PV, potential of 55,647KWh per building. As such, the average building could generate over five times the annual energy needs for an average household if PV panels were installed on all viable areas of its roof.

Spencer Nelson↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Unveiling Urban Pollution Patterns from a Bird’s-Eye View

Low-earth orbiting satellites have been observing the global distribution of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) since the 1990s and these observations have been used to identify pollution source regions, temporal trends, and links to health effects and community disparities. However, historically, space-based NO2 observations have been coarse in spatial and temporal resolution resulting in challenges in data interpretation and product validation; therefore, NASA developed airborne capabilities and measurements strategies to observe ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS) trace gases at high temporal and spatial resolutions to unveiling never before seen spatiotemporal patterns over major urban hubs during recent air quality field studies. In this talk, Dr. Judd will share the story of these field studies with datasets collected from NASA’s airborne spectrometers, GeoTASO and GCAS, and how they integrate in with other space- and ground-based instrumentation to illustrate the conceptual model of air quality episodes in coastal urban environments, contribute to satellite validation and regional chemical transport model evaluation. These imagers have the capability to observe UV-VIS absorbing species, typically NO2 and HCHO, at spatial resolutions as fine as 250 m when observing from the upper-troposphere. Flight strategies allowed for the collection of repeated raster samples over urban areas multiple times per flight day in cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City, capturing never before seen pictures of the diurnal evolution of emissions, chemistry, and meteorology associated with NO2 heterogeneity. These airborne efforts help local air quality management better understand their air quality challenges as well as benefit the larger air quality community in preparation for geostationary air quality observations and the development of the global air quality observing system.

Laura Judd↗
NASA NTRS2020

Cambridge Urban Development: Quantifying Changes in Urban Albedo with NASA Earth Observations to Reduce Urban Heat Island Effect in Cambridge, Massachusetts

The urban heat island (UHI) effect occurs when urban areas have temperatures that are warmer on average than the surrounding suburban and rural regions. Low albedo surfaces traditionally found in urban landscapes, such as dark asphalt and rooftops, absorb solar irradiance and reemit heat, which contributes to the UHI effect. Cambridge, Massachusetts, part of the Boston metropolitan area, expects severe impacts on human health, infrastructure, and local environmental features due to increasing urban heat. The Massachusetts – Boston NASA DEVELOP team partnered with the City of Cambridge Community Development Department and the American Geophysical Union’s Thriving Earth Exchange to inform ongoing planning and heat mitigation efforts. High Resolution Orthoimagery (HRO) and National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) scenes were analyzed in conjunction with ancillary datasets to assess changes in rooftop albedo between 2008 and 2018. Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data were used to determine nighttime land surface temperature (LST) between 2003 and 2019. Lastly, temperature anomalies were calculated using seasonally averaged nighttime LST values obtained from Aqua MODIS to display ‘hot spots’ for summers between 2004 and 2019. On average, albedo increased by 0.12 across the city, with the majority of positive change in commercial areas. Analysis of mean summer nighttime LST between 2003 and 2019 revealed a non-significant increase in temperature, although temperature anomaly maps demonstrated that Cambridge was warmer on average than rural areas. These results were incorporated in the interactive Cambridge Urban Heat Dashboard, which allows users to explore temporal trends in albedo.

Nicole Ramberg-Pihl↗
NASA NTRS2020

UAM Vision Concept of Operations (ConOps) UAM Maturity Level (UML) 4

This Vision ConOps is intended as a foundation to engage members of the UAM community and provide a consensus on the future vision of UAM operations. It provides a concept for more detailed discussion and a basis for the exploration of ideas using a common framework to inform the continued development and integration of UAM as part of the broader transportation system. Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) encompasses a range of innovative aviation technologies (small drones, electric aircraft, automated air traffic management, etc.) that are transforming aviation’s role in everyday life, including the movement of goods and people. Urban Air Mobility (UAM) represents one of the most exciting and complex AAM concepts with highly automated aircraft, providing commercial services to the public over densely populated cities. This concept has generated tremendous interest and industry investment. UAM envisages a future in which advanced technologies and new operational procedures enable practical, cost-effective air travel as an integral mode of transportation in metropolitan areas. It represents one of the most exciting and complex AAM concepts with highly automated aircraft providing commercial services to the public over densely populated cities. For this reason, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) selected UAM as the initial goal of its AAM efforts and the focus of this Vision Concept of Operations (ConOps) document. UAM Community Vision ConOps: This Vision ConOps effort was led by experts from NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) in collaboration with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Deloitte’s Ecosystem Advisory Group (a cohort of advisers with aviation, aerospace, and regulatory expertise). To develop this Vision ConOps, NASA, FAA, and Deloitte built upon the current body of aeronautical research and consulted with more than 100 stakeholder organizations. This UAM community includes entities ranging from legacy aviation leaders to innovators and new market entrants. Stakeholders consulted included the federal government, state and local government, aerospace original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), local transportation organizations, prospective UAM operators, academia, industry standards-setting bodies, airports, service suppliers, and others (as described in Appendix G). This input was captured through the following methods: • A series of more than two dozen interviews with industry experts, federal regulators, state and local governments, and industry trade groups provided insight into the challenges of UAM integration into the National Airspace System (NAS), as well as technology developments and a variety of perspectives as to how UAM systems will integrate. • A series of two-day community workshops enabling active, detailed engagement of nearly 100 industry, academic, federal, and state stakeholder individuals. These workshops, hosted by NASA and Deloitte, explored UAM concepts in detail, and stakeholders were invited to collaboratively analyze and propose solutions to some of the greatest conceptual challenges behind UAM at an intermediate state. • A review of more than 160 sources of UAM literature from across government, industry, and academia, which are listed in Appendix H. • The public sharing of workshop input and document drafts for review and input across the UAM community. Feedback in the form of more than 1,000 comments and inputs on the document was received from industry groups, individual companies, academia, and government (federal, state, and local), among others. Although effort was made to incorporate inputs from across the UAM stakeholder group, not all comments could ultimately be incorporated in this version. The team resolved conflicting comments or ideas while maintaining consistency with the known direction of regulators and ensuring the document was coherent and consistent. It is recognized that this is a rapidly evolving area and that concepts will likely change over time; as such, this Vision ConOps is a living document and is expected to evolve as concepts mature. The ConOps does, however, provide a vision of UAM concepts and solutions based on the broad insights from across the UAM stakeholder community at the time of its publication and is intended to serve as a UAM North Star for continued research and development of UAM. As a broad Vision ConOps, is not a detailed engineering document; rather, it focuses primarily on outlining a broad, high-level vision across all aspects of a UAM transportation system.

Urban Air Mobility↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Urban Aerial Mobility Networks using Amphibious Vertical Takeoff and Landing Vehicles

This study considers novel urban aerial mobility (UAM) networks that address some of the key operator and community acceptance challenges inherent in proposed UAM operations. This paper seeks to examine three possible approaches to improve operator and community acceptance – specifically targeting cost, safety, and noise. First, the conceptual design space will be examined for VTOL amphibious vehicle technologies, including the implications of onwater versus in-flight time/speed. Second, the implications of minimizing community overflights by flying over-water will be examined. Third, the implications of the partial use of onwater, or near-shore/littoral, vertiports on UAM network performance will be examined. This study considers an alternate design trade space for urban aerial mobility systems. A large number of cities in the United States are located near or surround large bodies of water. Many of these same cities are considered to be candidates for metropolitan aerial transportation systems so as to moderate the impact of urban ground-transportation congestion. This paper will expand discussion and study of notional amphibious VTOL vehicles. There is nothing particularly new with regards to helicopters with amphibious takeoff and landing capability. For example, light rotorcraft have been outfitted with pontoons since the 1950s. Larger utility helicopters – used for carrying offshore oil-rig crew – have been designed, with varying degrees of success, to emergency land in rough waters in case of onboard mechanical system failures. The unique difference for the proposed amphibious UAM vehicles, as compared to these earlier amphibious rotorcraft, is that water operation is the norm rather than the exception and that, further, the water-born operation (and design) of such vehicles can be optimized to yield significant economic and operational benefits over solely UAM land-based stations and operations. Various different amphibious UAM networks will be discussed. A first-order set of analyses – employing novel mission metrics – is presented in this paper that will examine the operational performance of these amphibious networks. In particular, amphibious operations might address critical safety and community acceptance issues. An examination of the aerodynamic and hydrodynamic characteristics of amphibious VTOL UAM vehicles will be presented in this paper. One possible conceptual design for an amphibious UAM vehicle is a hybrid synchropter/hydroplane vehicle. As interest in urban aerial mobility grows, it is worthwhile to consider whether or not amphibious vertical takeoff and landing vehicles can play an important role in providing such mobility.

Urban Aerial Mobility↗
NASA NTRS2020

Assessment of urban aerosol pollution over the Moscow megacity by the MAIAC aerosol product

We estimated the distribution of aerosol optical thickness (AOT) with a spatial resolution of 1 km over the Moscow megacity using the MAIAC aerosol product based on MODIS satellite data (Lyapustin et al., 2018) for the warm period of the year (May–September, 2001–2017). AERONET (Aerosol Robotic Network)-based validation of satellite estimates near the city centre at Moscow_MSU_MO and over the Moscow suburbs at Zvenigorod revealed that MAIAC AOT at 0.47 μm is in agreement with AERONET AOT though underestimated by 0.05–0.1 for AOT < 1 and overestimated for smoke conditions with AOT > 1. The MAIAC AOT biases were almost the same for the Moscow_MSU_MO and Zvenigorod AERONET sites, which indicated that the MAIAC algorithm effectively removed the effect of the bright urban surface in the city centre. For the ground-based measurements, the difference between annual median AOT at Moscow_MO_MSU and Zvenigorod (∆AOT) varied within -0:002 to +0:03, with statistically significant positive bias for most years, and an average ∆AOT was about 0.02. According to the MAIAC dataset, the ∆AOT varied within ±0:01 and was not statistically significant. The ∆AOT started decreasing recently due to intensive urban development of the territory around Zvenigorod and the decrease in pollutant emissions in Moscow, which is mainly caused by the environmental regulations. According to the MAIAC dataset, the most pronounced spatial AOT differences over the territory of Moscow were observed at the 5% quantile level, where they reached 0.05–0.06 over several locations and could be attributed to the stationary sources of aerosol pollution, for example, large areas of construction sites, aerosol pollution from roads and highways, or agriculture activities. The differences between the maximum and the mean AOT for different quantiles, except the 95% quantile, within the Moscow region, were about 0.02–0.04, which could be attributed to the local aerosol sources. The application of the MAIAC algorithm over the whole Moscow region has revealed a decreasing AOT trend over the centre of Moscow and an increasing trend over the “New” Moscow territory which experienced an intensive build-up and agricultural development.

urban aerosol pollution↗
NASA NTRS2021

LMI Automated Air Cargo Operations Market Research and Forecast

Air cargo companies and aircraft manufacturers are making significant investments to enable the movement of cargo via various levels of automated aircraft, such as aircraft with simplified operations requiring a pilot, remotely monitored or piloted aircraft, and fully autonomous aircraft. These investments will enable greater utilization of aircraft while unlocking new air markets traditionally served by ground transportation only. Many cargo companies and aerospace experts envision an operating environment where a single pilot can remotely pilot numerous aircraft for significant increases in aircraft utilization. The future operating environment is also expected to include air cargo companies flying smaller aircraft from airports and distribution centers outside of major U.S. cities directly to city centers, avoiding congested roads and increasing the velocity of cargo shipments, particularly those that are high-value, time-sensitive, and security sensitive (e.g., pharmaceuticals). These are just a few benefits and use cases cargo companies and aerospace experts see with the advancement of automated aircraft. To better understand industry’s direction, NASA asked the LMI team to research the forecasted market, timeline, risks, and opportunities for integrating unmanned air cargo vehicles into the National Airspace System (NAS) for the development and prioritization of the NASA Air Traffic Management Exploration’s research portfolio. To begin the market assessment, we gathered data via numerous interviews with key stakeholders and subject matter experts and literature reviews. We then incorporated the data into a custom-developed systems dynamics model and visualization dashboard. The systems dynamics model classifies the size of the market (e.g., overall fleet size of automated aircraft) for four distinct use cases over the next 20 years. The model projects the year in which various types of automated aircraft will enter the commercial cargo market based on our team’s collective research on when the aircraft will become viable due to manufacturing and certification timelines and the lifespan of current, traditional aircraft in service, to name a few factors. While this report defines our team’s estimated timeline of entry and growth, the model is dynamic—it enables NASA users to change variables based on future-year events. If the necessary technology does not mature in accordance with our assumptions, then NASA can change the entry of service point to a future year to evaluate the changes in market size in the out years. This flexibility will be key to deciding when and how NASA should invest in various areas.

air traffic management↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Data & Reasoning Fabric (DRF) Outreach

The Data & Reasoning Fabric activity, under the Convergent Aeronautics Solutions (CAS) Project has developed images and content suitable for public outreach. Content and images are expected to be presented to National League of Cities, US Ignite, Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), cities, and local governments.

Data & Reasoning Fabric↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Integrating Earth Observations and Socioeconomic Data to Identify Vulnerable Populations and Support Environmental Justice Initiatives

Part of NASA’s Earth Applied Sciences, DEVELOP is a dual capacity building program that introduces communities to applications of NASA Earth observation data to help inform environmental decision making. These projects are conducted by small teams of students, recent graduates, and early and transitioning career professionals and are tailored specifically to end-user decision making processes. Since 2018, a collaboration between NASA DEVELOP, Groundwork USA and its network of trusts, the AGU Thriving Earth Exchange, and local communities such as the City of Cambridge and the City of San Diego, has culminated in a campaign of 14 projects focused on assessing vulnerability to environmental threats such as extreme heat and flooding. These projects have explored the integration of satellite data and socio-economic data to discern populations at risk of being negatively impacted and align with Groundwork’s Climate Safe Neighborhoods Initiative that explores the relationship between historical race-based housing segregation and current and predicted impacts of climate change. This presentation will introduce an overview of the DEVELOP projects using Earth observations to support vulnerabilities assessments and community resilience, the collaboration with Groundwork USA, and future plans for environmental justice efforts at NASA.

Capacity Building↗
NASA NTRS2021

Communicating Respiratory Health Risk Among Children using a Global Air Quality Index

Air pollution poses a serious threat to children’s respiratory health around the world. Satellite remote-sensing technology and air quality models can provide pollution data on a global scale, necessary for riskcommunication efforts in regions without ground-based monitoring networks. Several large centers, including NASA, produce global pollution forecasts that may be used alongside air quality indices to communicate local, daily risk information to the public. Here we present a health-based, globally applicable air quality index developed specifically to reflect the respiratory health risks among children exposed to elevated outdoor air pollution. Additive, excess-risk air quality indices were developed using 51 different coefficients derived from time-series health studies evaluating the impacts of ambient fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone on children's respiratory morbidity outcomes. A total of four indices were created which varied based on whether or not the underlying studies controlled for co-pollutants and in the adjustment of excess risks of individual pollutants. Combined with historical estimates of air pollution provided globally at a 25x25 km2 spatial resolution from the NASA's Goddard Earth Observing System composition forecast (GEOS-CF) model, each of these indices were examined in a global sample of 664 small and 140 large cities for study year 2017. Adjusted indices presented the most normal distributions of locally-scaled index values, which has been shown to improve associations with health risks, while indices based on coefficients controlling for co-pollutants had little effect on index performance. We provide the steps and resources need to apply our final adjusted index at the local level using freely-available forecasting data from the GEOS-CF model, which can provide risk communication information for cities around the world to better inform individual behavior modification to best protect children's respiratory health.

Air Qualilty↗
NASA NTRS2022

Yonkers Urban Development II: Leveraging NASA Earth Observations to Support Modeling Urban Cooling Interventions and Urban Heat Vulnerability in Yonkers, New York

The City of Yonkers, New York, located in Westchester County, is experiencing rising temperatures which are a growing threat to the health and safety of its residents. Furthermore, the risk of heat-related illnesses and mortality disproportionately affects neighborhoods in Yonkers historically subjected to race-based housing segregation. To better understand these inequities, Groundwork Hudson Valley and NASA DEVELOP collaborated for a second term to evaluate community-level heat vulnerability, landcover distribution, street-level thermal comfort, and modeled urban cooling interventions. This team applied 2019 5-year American Community Survey (ACS) data and social and biophysical heat vulnerability variables established by the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), along with land surface temperature (LST) data collected from Landsat 8 Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS), and ISS ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) to identify communities in Yonkers in need of prioritized cooling intervention at the census tract level. Data from the Real-Time Mesoscale Analysis (RTMA) provided relevant meteorological data for the ENVI-met model to conduct street-level thermal observations and model tree canopy cooling interventions in the Yonkers neighborhoods of Kimball and Old 7th Ward. The project results will support the prioritization and equitable distribution of cooling infrastructure in identified neighborhoods. Additionally, Groundwork Hudson Valley will use the analyses as a heat literacy tool to improve advocacy efforts and inform both residents and officials about how investment in deliberate modification to tree canopy cover improves the city’s thermal environment and helps mitigate extreme heat.

Tamara Barbakova↗
NASA NTRS2022

Milwaukee Urban Development: Assessing Climate Vulnerability through the InVEST Model on Urban Cooling in Milwaukee Using NASA Earth Observations

Milwaukee’s neighborhoods experience increased social, health, and ecological stress from the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect due to changing land cover and climate. Extreme urban heat disproportionately affects Black and Latine communities due to systematic disinvestment in infrastructure and lack of resources to cope with heat. Our partner, Groundwork Milwaukee, supports Environmental Justice organizing around urban heat in historically redlined neighborhoods. This study explores heat mitigation in Metcalfe Park, one such neighborhood that is a focus area for our partner, as well as across the city and county of Milwaukee. Our team utilized the Natural Capital Project’s Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) Model for urban cooling to model heat mitigation scenarios for Milwaukee in support of Groundwork’s climate resilience and heat mitigation work. The data inputs used in our analysis were Land Use Land Cover (LULC), evapotranspiration, and surface temperature derived from NASA Earth observations, as well as a biophysical table containing land cover class attributes. We developed a heat vulnerability index from American Community Survey datasets and satellite imagery to identify areas in most need of heat mitigation intervention. We found that central and northwest city areas, home to a majority of Milwaukee’s Black and Latine population, have low heat mitigation and high vulnerability to heat impacts compared to the rest of the county. We also found that tree canopy increases across scales are effective in promoting heat mitigation. Our results and end products will bolster the efforts of our partners to make decisions on heat mitigation strategies, build community resilience, and reverse legacies of environmental racism in the face of extreme heat and climate change.

urban heat island↗