NOAA Environmental Observations and Research in the time of COVID-19

Abstract:

NOAA’s JPSS and partner satellites observed significant reductions in the amount of air pollution in parts of the U.S. this spring, as the COVID-19 pandemic created an economic and societal slowdown. This presentation will highlight the work NOAA scientists are conducting, with NASA and other partner agencies, by merging satellite and in situ observations to monitor changing air quality conditions on the ground, and to study the changing relationships between and among different types of pollutants. Especially important are changes that are of interest and impact to our user communities. The driving motivation is to provide new and important evaluations of the scientific understanding underpinning air quality, weather forecasting and climate projections, which can improve the quality of forecasts and provide valuable information to decision makers going forward.

The indicators of earth system change and response to human activity include changes in pollutants like nitrogen dioxide, ozone, atmospheric aerosols, and even observed changes in nighttime lights. Observations and findings generated by this research effort are being archived by NOAA’s National Center for Environmental Information (NCEI) for use by other researchers. NOAA’s environmental data is contributing to the need and our scientists are working to facilitate access to environmental data commonly used in infectious disease modeling.