SAMPO observing moving aerosol cloud

Hello,

some days ago I advertised the new SAMPO (Satellite Measurements from Polar Orbit) service. One great thing about polar orbit satellites at high latitudes is that during one day the can observe the same spot many times. Here is one recent example where OMPS/SAMPO observes moving aerosol cloud — probably originating from Swedish wildfires — in four overpasses.

Thanks to my colleague Simo for spotting this!

Cheers,
Janne

New NASA Images Highlight U.S. Air Quality Improvement

Hello,

lately I have been posting about NO₂ in Baltic Sea. This post is related to those. Essentially, the news tell us that air quality has gotten way better in the US (and the rest of the Western world), although, many seem to think the opposite. This is because of the regulations and cleaner technology, even when we have more cars on the roads today. Satellite images, as always, reveal the reduction quite objectively.

Anyway, the reason why I wanted to blog about this subject is that I wanted to show how tremendous job our colleagues at NASA do. Check this website out to see how scientific images should be presented. In particular, I like those before and after images. Very cool.

Unfortunately, other countries do not have organizations like NASA that understands the importance of great satellite images and open data. Blaah.

Nitrogen dioxide pollution, averaged yearly from 2005-2011, has decreased across the United States. Image Credit: NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio/T. Schindler

See also some news videos from here and here.

Ciao,
Janne

sampo.fmi.fi

Hello,

the good old OMI Very fast delivery service is now called SAMPO. The reason for the name change is that now we are also delivering OMPS data from the Suomi-NPP satellite.

The idea of the service is to provide data very quickly after the satellite overpasses FMI's Satellite Data Centre at Sodankylä, Northern Finland. Quickly here means some 15 minutes – the time that is needed to process the data. The service is based on so-called direct-readout concept where the instruments measure the atmosphere and simultaneously send the data down to Earth for processing.

You can find the new website here.

Check it out,
Janne

Btw. Read this Wikipedia article to learn what Sampo actually means.

Btw2. Did you know that Suomi is a Finnish word for Finland, and that the Suomi-NPP satellite is named after Verner Suomi, whose parents arrived in the US in 1902 from Finland.

Btw3. Example figures:

Good science news: Characterization of OMI tropospheric NO2 over the Baltic Sea region, part 2

Hello,

more good news coming. The final version of Iolanda paper "Characterization of OMI tropospheric NO₂ over the Baltic Sea region" got published yesterday in ACP. I have already mentioned the paper here and here. Here's the FMI's science news about it

Satellite observations provide information about the changes in air pollution from cities and ships in the Baltic Sea region
Satellite data are very important for air quality monitoring over large areas where ground-based and aircraft measurements are not available.

and slightly different version in Finnish

Satelliittihavainnoilla saadaan tietoa kaupunkien ja laivojen päästöistä Itämeren alueella
Uusi tutkimus osoittaa, että satelliittipohjaisia havaintoja voidaan hyödyntää myös Itämeren kaltaisilla alueilla, joissa päästöt ovat pieniä. Aikaisimmin satelliittihavaintoja on käytetty lähinnä erittäin voimakkaiden päästöalueiden, kuten Kiinan, Yhdysvaltojen itärannikon ja Keski-Euroopan, tutkimiseen. Satelliiteista saatavat havainnot ovat erittäin tärkeitä ilmanlaadun seurannan kannalta alueilla, joilla maanpinta- tai lentokonemittauksia ei ole saatavilla tai ne ovat harvassa.

This got also out as a press release, so let us hope that it gets some media attention too.  Yei.

All the best,

Janne

P.s. I am waiting one more paper to come out soon...

Bayesian optimization for tuning chaotic systems

Hello,

today is my first day at office and I am already writing the second blog post :-)

Anyway, I just received an email saying that Mudassar's paper "Bayesian optimization for tuning chaotic systems" has been published as a discussion paper in NPGD:

Citation: Abbas, M., Ilin, A., Solonen, A., Hakkarainen, J., Oja, E., and Järvinen, H.: Bayesian optimization for tuning chaotic systems, Nonlin. Processes Geophys. Discuss., 1, 1283-1312, doi:10.5194/npgd-1-1283-2014, 2014. Link

Check it out,

Janne

Ten years of Aura

Hello,

it has been 10 years since the launch of NASA's Aura spacecraft. One of the instruments on board—among MLS, TES, HIRDLS—is the Dutch-Finnish Ozone Monitoring instrument (OMI), which continued the legacy of TOMS, GOME and SCIAMACHY instruments.

As my boss, OMI CO-PI Johanna Tamminen, would say

OMI is a nadir looking UV-VIS instrument which measures ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), aerosols, UV-radiation, and some other trace gases. The OMI has contributed strongly in our understanding of global distribution and variability of these constituents which play important roles for air quality and climate.

To celebrate the success. NASA has put together some news and videos. See

An Aura of Success
On the 10th anniversary of the launch of NASA's Aura spacecraft, we offer 10 examples of how the satellite has changed our view of dust, pollution, aerosols, and ozone in our atmosphere. Link

and

Ten-Year Endeavor: NASA’s Aura Tracks Pollutants
NASA’s Aura satellite, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year on July 15, has provided vital data about the cause, concentrations and impact of major air pollutants. With its four instruments measuring various gas concentrations, Aura gives a comprehensive view of one of the most important parts of Earth — the atmosphere. Link

This year's Aura Science Team Meeting and 10th year anniversary celebration will be held from Monday Sept. 15 to Thursday Sept. 18, 2014 at College Park, MD, USA. More information from this link. Note Johanna's presentation "Ten years of OMI measurements in Finland – a high latitude perspective".

Ciao,

Janne