PACE Aerosols - US West Coast TINY Particles suspended in OUR Atmosphere CAN HAVE A HUGE IMPACT

Aerosols vary a great deal from place to place and over time. Knowing their type and distribution benefits people everywhere. The Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite mission will help capture a complete and accurate picture of aerosols around the globe.

Los Angeles has the second highest population in the United States (US) with over 13 million residents in the metropolitan area.

The Los Angeles (LA) region is bounded by the Pacific Ocean on one side and by mountains as high as 10,000 feet on the other.

When winds blow in from the coast, it traps "smog" against the mountains.

Smog is a combination of the word "smoke" and "fog" but the main contributing cause is ground-level ozone.

There are three ingredients necessary to form unhealthy levels of ozone in an urban environment...

#1 – Sunlight provides the energy to drive chemical reactions within smog that generate ozone.

#2 – Volatile organic compounds (VOC) are primarily emitted from the tailpipes of cars. VOCs are very common and have distinctive fumes (e.g., gasoline and paint).

#3 – Chemical compounds called nitrogen oxides, including nitrogen dioxide (NO2), are generated whenever coal and gasoline are combusted.

NO2 levels shown are based on conditions during 2005 to 2007 (Spring and Summer months) with highest levels over LA.

Comparable data from 2009 to 2011 show improvement in NO2 levels in the region due, in part, to strict car emissions standards in California.

Smog aerosol particles can impact the human respiratory system. In the US, air pollution has decreased even though population and the number of cars on the roads have increased. According to scientists, the is the result of regulations, technology improvements and economic changes.

The data visualization below shows concentrations of NO2 between the ground and about 6 miles high in the atmosphere. This layer, known as the troposphere, is where weather happens. Data are averaged yearly from 2005-2011. Blue and green denote lower concentrations and orange and red areas denote higher concentrations. [Ozone Monitoring Instrument on Aura satellite]

Where There's Smoke... There's Aerosols!

There have been improvements in US West Coast air quality from predictable sources such as cars and factories. However, smoke from unexpected fires can be a source of dense aerosols. In parts of the western US, fire risk is expected to increase with severe drought conditions caused by climate change.

A wildfire is an unplanned fire that burns in a natural area such as a forest, grassland, or prairie.

In November 2018, the Camp Fire erupted 90 miles north of Sacramento, California.

By early the next day, the fire had consumed 70,000 acres of land and was 5 percent contained, or surrounded by a barrier.

The satellite image includes shows two more fires in southern California, the Hill and Woolsey Fires.

Even some of the most beautiful places on the West Coast, like Yosemite National Park, are at risk.

Plumes of smoke rise from California's Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park on Aug. 23, 2013.

Aerosols scatter and absorb sunlight, which causes an overall cooling effect at Earth’s surface.

In contrast, dark smoke from some wildfires may have a localized heating effect.

Black carbon particles from US West Coast wildfires are highlighted in this visualization based on a NASA computer model.

Scientists are studying the length of time black carbon aerosols from wildfires remain in the atmosphere. Understanding how these specific aerosols break down in the atmosphere is one piece in the puzzle of understanding how Earth's climate changes.

In the video above, satellite imagery from 2017 shows wildfires burning across California. The Terra spacecraft can observe fires both day and night, helping aid firefighters in tracking and stopping the blazes. The smoke from the fires is even visible a million miles away from Earth, captured by NASA's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera onboard NOAA's Deep Space Climate Observatory. The data visualization below shows how dry conditions will cause different parts of North America to experience an increased risk of fire by the end of the century. Maps show projected values for a measure of dryness known as the potential evaporation, a calculation based on temperature, rainfall and wind speed estimates. Changes in dryness relative to 1980 levels are shown using color, where reds represent an increase in dryness and blues represent a decrease.

Thar She Blows!

Located in US state of Washington, Mount St. Helens is an active volcano. It is located in the Cascade Range and part of the Pacific "Ring of Fire" that includes over 160 active volcanoes. Mount St. Helens is well known for its ash explosions and rock flows. It had a major eruption on May 18, 1980. Fifty-seven people were killed; 250 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles of railways, and 185 miles of highway were destroyed.

View of Mount St. Helens the day before its major eruption on May 18, 1980.

The eruption was the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in US history.

A massive debris avalanche and associated earthquake caused an eruption that reduced the elevation of the mountain's summit from 9,677 ft to 8,363 ft.

The explosion left a mile wide horseshoe-shaped crater and extensive a debris avalanche.

The eruption of Mount St. Helens involved nine aircraft encounters, all of them damaging. It included the first reported in-flight engine shutdown incident on a military turbo-prop aircraft. Satellite data is used by NASA scientists to map the three-dimensional structure of volcanic clouds all over the globe. This allows a more accurate forecast of where the volcanic ash is spreading. The information can be used by air traffic management to re-route flights around the hazardous ash clouds, which can damage airplane engines.

The data visualization below shows the April 2015 eruption of the Calbuco volcano in Southern Chile. It can be difficult to distinguish the volcanic plume from ordinary clouds, but NASA scientists are developing ways to map the three dimensional structure of volcanic clouds, providing improved information for air traffic management. [Suomi NPP satellite]

In the data model visualization below, green represents the sum of aerosol optical thickness for organic carbon, black carbon, and sulfate. Organic and black carbon come from burning biomass or fossil fuels. Sources include fires, power plants, vehicles, and other combustion engines that run on fossil fuel. Sulfate particles come mostly from burning fossil fuels, but also from volcanoes.

Scheduled to launch in 2024, PACE will extend and improve NASA's over 20-year record of observing ocean life, aerosols, and clouds.

PACE observations of aerosols over the US West Coast will help us keep track of smog, smoke, and other aerosols affecting our health and climate.

Take the PACE Aerosols Quiz Again

More wavelengths. Unprecedented resolution.

Visit the PACE Website

PACE Aerosols - Hawaii

PACE Aerosols - US Midwest & Bahamas

PACE Aerosols - Aral Sea

PACE Aerosols – Amazon & Tropical Atlantic

PACE Aerosols - Southern Ocean

Links and Other Information

Los Angeles [NASA Earth Observatory]
Landsat with SRTM Shaded Relief, Los Angeles and Vicinity from Space [NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory - California Institute of Technology]
A Tale of Three Cities: Beijing, Los Angeles, Atlanta [NASA Scientific Visualization Studio]
Nitrogen Dioxide Reduction in U.S. Cities [NASA Scientific Visualization Studio]
NASA Images Highlight U.S. Air Quality Improvement [NASA Scientific Visualization Studio]
Ready - Wildfires [US Deparment of Homeland Security]
Camp Fire Rages in California [NASA Earth Observatory]
NASA Satellites See Wildfires from Space [NASA Scientific Visualization Studio]
Up In Smoke [NASA Scientific Visualization Studio]
NASA Study Eyes Soot's Role in 1800s Glacier Retreat [NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory - California Institute of Technology]
Just Another Day on Aerosol Earth [NASA Earth Observatory]
Wildfire Aerosols Remain Longer in Atmosphere than Expected [ScienceDaily]
Burn Notice [NASA Scientific Visualization Studio]
Mount St. Helens, One Day Before the Devastating Eruption [Harry Glicken, US Geological Survey, Wikipedia]
Mount St. Helens Erupted on May 18, 1980 [Austin Post, Wikipedia]
Mount St. Helens Plume from Harry's Ridge [Lyn Topinka, US Geological Survey, Wikipedia]
An Astronaut’s View of Mount St. Helens [NASA Earth Observatory]
Volcanic Ashfall Impacts Working Group [US Geological Survey]
Tracking Volcanic Ash With Satellites [NASA Scientific Visualization Studio]
Aerosol Optical Thickness Updating Forecast [NASA Scientific Visualization Studio]
Other images used under 123rf License Agreement [ID 63824476, 11505387, 112515872, 90161008, 74358945, 25699565, 67621316, 82602357, 19194458, 78968943]