NASA, Smithsonian to discuss air quality satellite instrument

Media are invited to a joint briefing with NASA and The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory at 9 a.m. EDT Tuesday, March 14, to discuss the first space-based instrument to observe major air pollutants across North America every hour during the daytime.

NASA's TEMPO (Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution) instrument will improve life on Earth by revolutionizing the way scientists observe air quality. A partnership between NASA and the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, TEMPO will launch on a commercial mission as early as April.

A live stream of the briefing will air on NASA TV, the NASA app, and the agency's website.

The briefing participants are:

• Barry Lefer, tropospheric composition program manager, NASA
• Laura Judd, Applied Sciences Health and Air Quality associate program manager, NASA
• Christopher Browne, John and Adrienne Mars director, National Air and Space Museum
• Ellen Stofan, under secretary for Science and Research, Smithsonian Institution
• Caroline Nowlan, atmospheric physicist, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
• Erika Wright, education specialist, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, Sixth St., and Independence Ave., in Washington. Check in will begin at 8:30 a.m.

Media interested in attending in person should RSVP before arrival to Alison Mitchell at mitchellac@si.edu and 202-633-2376 or Kevin Lamparter at lamparterk@si.edu and 202-633-2347. Media also may join via teleconference by RSVPing no more than one hour prior to the start of the event to Joe Atkinson at joseph.s.atkinson@nasa.gov.

TEMPO will be the first space-based instrument to monitor major air pollutants hourly in high spatial resolution – down to four square miles – in a region stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the Canadian oil sands to below Mexico City, encompassing the entire continental United States. 

The instrument is a payload on the satellite Intelsat 40E. It was built by Ball Aerospace and integrated onto Intelsat 40E by Maxar. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory is part of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. 

Further information in the press release to download