Monday, February 24, 2014

Monitoring China's Air Quality



Beijing Air Quality Note

Bad air in China is intensifying, as evidenced by the recent recording of the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Beijing reaching 450, as reported in an article morning (Beijing Choking on Air Pollution).  An AQI above 300 is considered hazardous.  I've written before about how utilization of NASA data can track air pollution episodes.  In addition to point and non-point source pollution, there is an atmospheric component that is related to the severity of these high-AQI events.  When the NASA data is coupled with short and medium term weather forecasts, simple early warning systems can be developed to identify potential harmful events before they occur.



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