How to monitor air quality in real time from space

This map shows pollution levels in North America. — AFP Relaxnews

Nasa recently released the first images taken by its air analysis tool, placed in geostationary orbit earlier this year. The aim is to monitor the state and evolution of pollution in the United States, very precisely, neighbourhood by neighbourhood. The same system will soon be rolled out for Europe and Asia.

The US space agency (NASA) has just unveiled its first maps of the state of pollution in the United States, produced by its Tempo (for “Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution”) space instrument. Dedicated to observing the main atmospheric pollutants across North America, it is installed on a telecommunications satellite placed in geostationary orbit more than 35 km above the equator.