NASA HEALTH AND AIR QUALITY APPLIED SCIENCES TEAM
Connecting NASA Data and Tools with Health and Air Quality Stakeholders

Dr. Daniel Tong

Credentials: Associate Professor, Atmospheric Chemistry and Aerosols, George Mason University

Address:
Faculty Profile
Twitter: @silentspring9
qtong@gmu.edu

HAQAST Project: Data-driven Forecasts of Hazardous Air Quality Events over North America

Daniel’s team will work to improve our collective predictability of high-impact events, such as wildfires, dust storms, and volcanic eruptions, through emission data assimilation (EDA) and multi-model ensemble forecasting, in order to mitigate harmful effects on human health and the economy.

Project goals/deliverables:

  1. Use NASA satellite data to improve dust and fire emissions
  2. Develop an ensemble forecast of hazardous air quality events (dust and wildfires) for North America.
  3. Work with stakeholders to prepare customized data packages for three applications:
    • Air quality metrics for the City Health Dashboard, a health initiative serving 750 largest US cities
    • Real-time ensemble dust forecasting as a pilot project for World Meteorology Organization
    • Forecasts and observations of wildfires and air quality to WHO’s Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) member countries.

Co-Investigators/Team Members: Susan Anenberg (George Washington University), Marc Gourevitch (New York University), Anton Darmenov (NASA GSFC), Scott Van Pelt (US Department of Agriculture), Yunyao Li (George Mason University), Alexander Baklanov (World Meteorological Organization), Juan Castillo-Lugo (WHO/Pan-American Health Organization), Andrea Sealy (Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology), Peng Xian (Naval Research Laboratory), Mark Cohen (NOAA Air Resources Lab), Scott DiBiase (Pinal County Government, AZ), Benjamin Spoer (New York University), Alexei Lyapustin (NASA GSFC), Edward Hyer (Naval Research Laboratory), Barry Baker (NOAA Air Resources Lab), Ralph Kahn (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center).

Publications