GEO User Requirements for Air Quality Report

< GEO User Requirements for Air Quality | Report | Documents | Resources

Introduction

This report articulates Earth observation priorities for the Human Health: Air Quality SBA based on an analysis of 55 publicly-available documents, including documents produced by Group on Earth Observations’ Member Countries and Participating Organizations.

GEO and Societal Benefit Areas

The Group on Earth Observations (GEO, www.earthobservations.org) is an intergovernmental organization working to improve the availability, access, and use of Earth observations to benefit society. GEO is coordinating efforts to build a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) . GEOSS builds on national, regional, and international observation systems to provide coordinated Earth observations from thousands of ground, airborne, and space-based instruments. GEO is focused on enhancing the development and use of Earth observations in nine Societal Benefit Areas (SBA): Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate, Disasters, Ecosystems, Energy, Human Health, Water, Weather

GEO Task US-09-01a

The objective of GEO Task US-09-01a is to establish and conduct a process to identify critical Earth observation priorities within each Societal Benefit Area (SBA) and those common to the nine SBAs. Many countries and organizations have written reports, held workshops, sponsored projects, conducted surveys, and produced documents that specify Earth observation needs. In addition, researchers and practitioners have also identified and recommended key Earth observation needs in publications and peer-reviewed literature. Task US-09-01a focuses on compiling information on observation parameters from a representative sampling of these existing materials and analyzing across the materials to determine the priority observations.

• 10-year implementation plan note.

Purpose of Report

The primary purpose of this report is to articulate the critical Earth observation priorities for the Human Health SBA, specifically Air Quality as it affects health and well-being. The Human Health SBA EO priorities are addressed by two additional reports: Infections Diseases and Aeroallergens within GEO Task US-0901a. The intent of the report is to describe the overall process and specific methodologies used to identify documents, analyze them, and to determine a set of Earth observation parameters and characteristics. The report describes the prioritization methodologies used to determine the priority Earth observations for this SBA. The report also provides information on key challenges faced, feedback on the process, and recommendations for process improvements.

The primary audience for this report is the GEO User Interface Committee (UIC), which is managing Task US-09-01a for GEO. The GEO UIC will use the results of this report in combination with reports from the other eight SBAs. The GEO UIC will perform a meta-analysis across all nine SBA reports to identify critical Earth observation priorities common to many of the SBAs. Based on the nine SBA reports, the GEO UIC will produce an overall Task US-09-01a report, including the common observations and recommendations for GEO processes to determine Earth observation priorities in the future. The report’s authors anticipate that the GEO Secretariat, Committees, Member Countries, Participating Organizations, Observers, Communities of Practice, and the communities associated with the Human Health and other SBAs are additional audiences for this report.

Scope of Report

This report addresses the Earth observation priorities for the Human Health SBA. In particular, this report addresseS the sub-area of Air Quality within the Human Health SBA (see Section 3 for more details). The report provides some background and contextual information about Air Quality and Health. However, this report is not intended as a handbook or primer on Air Quality and Health, and a complete description of the Human Health SBA is beyond the scope of this report. Please consult the GEO website (http://www.earthobservations.org) for more information about the Human Health SBA.

The report focuses on the Earth observations for Air Quality and Health, independent of any specific technology or collection method. Thus, the report addresses the “demand” side of observation needs and priorities. It does not address the specific source of the observations or the sensor technology involved with producing the observations. Similarly, any discussions of visualization tools, decision support tools, or system processing characteristics (e.g., data format, data outlet) associated with the direct use of the observations are beyond the scope of this report.

The term Earth observation (EO) refers to parameters and variables (e.g., physical, geophysical, chemical, biological) sensed or measured, derived parameters and products, and related parameters from model outputs. The term Earth observation priorities refers to the parameters deemed of higher significance that others for the given SBA, as determined through the methodologies described within. The report uses the terms “user needs” and “user requirements” interchangeably to refer to Earth observations that are articulated and desired by the groups and users in the cited documents. The term “requirements” is used generally in the report to reflect users’ wants and needs and does not imply technical, engineering specifications.

Following this introduction, the report discusses the overall approach and methodologies used in this analysis (Section 2). Section 3 describes the Human Health SBA and the specific sub-areas. Section 4 articulates the specific Earth observations on Air Quality for Human Health and well-being. Section 5 presents the priority observations for Air Quality and Health. Sections 6 & 7 present additional findings from the analysis of the documents and any recommendations. The Appendices include the documents cited as well as additional information describing aspects of Air Quality and Human Health and Welfare.

2 Methodology and Process

This section documents the general process followed and specific methodologies used to identify documents, analyze them, determine Earth observation parameters and characteristics, and establish a set of priority Earth observations for this SBA. It states the (1) general task process approach, (2) identifies the analyst and the advisory group and (3) describes the methodologies used for this meta analysis: (a) document selection, (b) approach for defining and extracting AQ EO needs and (c) analytical methods for prioritizing Earth Observations for AQ.

2.1 Task Process

The GEO UIC established a general process for each of the SBAs to follow in order to ensure some consistency across the SBAs. This general process for each SBA involves nine steps, as summarized in the following list:

• Step 1: Identify Analyst and Advisory Group for the SBA
• Step 2: Determine scope of topics within the SBA
• Step 3: Identify documents regarding observation priorities for the SBA
• Step 4: Develop analytic methods and priority-setting criteria
• Step 5: Review and analyze documents for priority Earth observations needs
• Step 6: Combine the information and develop a preliminary report
• Step 7: Gather feedback on the preliminary report
• Step 8: Perform any additional analysis
• Step 9: Complete the report on Earth observations for the SBA

A detailed description of the general US-09-01a process is available at the Task website http://sbageotask.larc.nasa.gov or GEO website. Some steps in the process occurred simultaneously or iteratively, such as identifying documents (Step 3) and reviewing documents (Step 5).

2.1 Analyst and Advisory Group

The Health and Air Quality group had an “Analyst” and an “Advisory Group” to conduct the process of identifying documents, analyzing them, and prioritizing the Earth observations. The Analyst served as the main coordinator to manage the activities.

2.2.1 Analysts

The Analysts for this Air Quality and Health EO Requirement Report were Rudolf Husar and Stefan Falke. He/she ... (brief paragraph on Analyst, including appropriate information to establish his/her credentials and qualifications as the Analyst).

The Health and Air Quality Analysts served subcontract to ERG, Jan Connery, Project Officer.

2.2.2 Advisory Group

The first step in the nine-step GEO Task US-09-01a process is the formation of an expert Advisory Group (AG) that helps identify appropriate documents, provides feedback on the analysis approach and also reviews the preliminary and final reports. For the Air Quality and Health SBA, 18 potential AG members were identified. The sources of AG candidate names came from the UIC, major Agency representatives, the Analyst team, as well as additional AG candidates suggested by the AG members themselves. Eleven of the invited candidates responded favorably, two invitations were declined, three candidates did not respond and two candidates are still pending. Effort was made to include representatives from developing nations and to achieve a representation across geographic domains. Additional AG members would be desirable, particularly from the developing countries. The current Advisory Group consists of 11 experts from the field of Health and Air Quality or some subset thereof. Table 1 shows the Advisory Group members, including: Name, GEO Member Country or Participating Organization, Organizational Affiliation, Geographic Region, Specialty/Area of Expertise.

The Analyst identified the Advisory Group members through personal contacts, web searches. The Analyst attempted to recruit Advisory Group members from all geographic regions including developing countries. Overall, the Advisory Group includes members from 7 countries and 5 continents, including 3 from developing countries.

The primary roles of the AG were to (assist in identifying documents, assess methodologies and analytic techniques, assess prioritization schemes, review findings, and review reports.) The primary contact with the AG was through emails, and through the interactive project wiki page.

This report was prepared using an interactive wiki page on the Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) server. The members of the Analyst group used the wiki to collaboratively create the content, perform the editing and to share the evoloving report with the Advisory Group. The open wiki approach also allowed sharing the document and receiving feedback from the GEO Air Quality Community of Practice (ESIP Air Quality Work Group).

Table 1. List of Advisory Group Members*

Name	GEO Country or Organization	Affiliation	Region	Specialty
Jeff Brooks	Canada	Env. Canada	N. America	Air Quality
Jack Fishman	US	NASA Langley	N. America	Air Quality
Barry Jessiman	Canada	Health Canada	N. America	AQ and Health
Patrick Kinney	US	Columbia University	N. America	AQ and Health
Jim Meagher	US	NOAA	N. America	Air Quality
Rashmi S. Patil	India	IIT Bombay	Asia	AQ and Health
Leonora Rojas	Mexico	National Institute of Ecology	N. America	AQ and Health
Paulo Saldiva	Brazil	University of São Paulo	S. America	AQ and Health
Rich Scheffe	US	EPA OAR/OAQPS	N. America	Air Quality
Kjetil Tørseth	Norway	Norwegian Institute of Air Research	Europe	Air Quality
Michael Gatari	-	University of Nairobi	Africa	Air Quality

*Comments on the success of the AG or suggestions how to improve the AG should be in section 7.

2.3 Methodology

This section is a summary of analytic methods and approaches the Analyst used to identify documents, analyze them, and establish a set of priority Earth observations.

Document Selection

This section provides a general description of the process/method/approach the Analyst/AG used to identify documents and select a representative sampling for the analysis. Task US-09-01a methodology recommended the examination of a wide range of publicly available, geographically distributed sources for potentially relevant documents, including: International, regional, and national documents, project reports, surveys, workshop and conference summaries and peer-reviewed journal articles.

For the identification of candidate documents, the Analyst used three sources: documents that were known to the Analyst; documents recommended by the Advisory Group and documents retrieved through online searches. The documents (5?) from the Analyst's prior knowledge were based on decades of experience in AQ data analysis, network design and decision support for AQ management. The documents (15?) provided by the AG contributed a broad range of educated perspectives as well as geographic coverage of developing countries. The online web searches searches focused on websites of international, regional, and national organizations engaged in Air Quality and Health, such as WHO, CDC and HEI (??). The general online searches included search for published articles through Google Scholar and also general Google search using combination of keywords, such as 'air pollution', 'health', 'Afica'.

Each selected document was printed out and assigned a unique ID. The list of candidate documents was entered into a spreadsheet with columns for the Air Pollution parameters and document fields.

Upon further examination by the Analyst, each document had to include one of the following for consideration in the analysis: (1) specification of Earth observation parameters needed by users for renewable energy applications, or (2) reference to Earth observation parameters currently in use for renewable energy applications, with some indication of the adequacy of the parameter characteristics as currently available. While the Analyst focused initially on identifying the first type of document (identifying parameters needed by users), only a few of the identified documents fit neatly within this category. Thus, it was necessary to include the second type of document (focused on the adequacy of current observations) in order to have a broad enough set of documents from which priorities could be derived. A certain degree of specificity was required for a document to be deemed relevant for analysis. That is, the document had to name the specific parameter(s) required or used, along with at least some indication of parameter characteristics (e.g., spatial resolution), in order to be included in the analysis. The parameter characteristics that were sought are as follows:

• Coverage/Extent
• Spatial resolution (vertical and horizontal, as relevant)
• Temporal resolution (frequency)
• Timeliness (availability of measurement)
• Accuracy/Precision.

Analytic Methods

Each document was scanned 3-5 times. The first scan focused on the general suitability of the document for consideration in this assessment. The key criteria for inclusion was that the document had to contain reference specific Earth Observation parameters that are either needed or currently in use. Another selection criteria pertained to the perceived authority and document source.

There is no standard approach toward establishing user requirements for Air Quality and Health. For this reason, the GEO Task Leader, Lawrence Friedl, has encouraged the analysts to be innovative and possibly consider multiple approaches toward developing their respective EO requirements methodology. However, strong emphasis was placed on the need to describe and document the chosen methodologies. [Open process learn from other SBA groups] A key aspect of the methodology development consisted of choosing the sub-areas of the AQ domain: Pollutant Emissions, Transport, Ambient levels, Human Exposure. The rationale for choosing this division is stated and described in section 3.2. For each sub-area the EO status and desired requirements were compiled separately. A further subdivision of the user requirements was by geographic region of World. In the subsequent analysis the user requirements defined along these two dimensions were aggregated to yield the overall needs for Air Quality and Health.

The EO Requirements methodology development begun with important guidance provided by the Task leader, in the form of a standard table for recording EOs from the documents. These standardized tables were to be used for each SBA report and intended for cross-SBA integration of the EO needs. During the methodology development it became evident that for the AQ EO needs and priorities additional attributes were required (examples....). This report also benefited from the examination/evaluation of the completed EO Requirement Reports for Climate Energy and Disasters SBAs.

The second scan through each document yielded the list of AQ-Health-related EOs and other factual data regarding the observations (e.g. coverage, space and time resolution, accuracy, latency). The purpose of the third scan was to seek additional EO requirements that could only be inferred from the documents. The nature of the inference is noted in the documents metadata record.

Since both the criteria for document selection as well as the required data for prioritization have evolved during the four month analysis period. For this reason, the three scans were performed iteratively.

The analytic method for this meta analysis includes multiple factors that are combined to yield a prioritized list of EOs. Combining these factors was accomplished by the use of weights attached to each factor and subsequently adding the weighed contributions to each EO priority. Hence, the outcome of the prioritization was derived from the selection of suitable factors and their respective weights. Selecting the factors that influence the EO needs is based on subjective judgment that is derived from the full understanding of the Air Quality-Health topic. For the derivation of the weight factors effort was made to apply as much as possible objective measures, such as bibliometrics and ... measures. However, even for the weight factors it was necessary to apply subjective measures. Never the less, the resulting pritiorization is obtained by the application of specific and transparent formulae, where the role of each factor and weight can be examined. An open methodology allows changes in both the factors and weights at any time.

This section provides a general description of the process/method/approach the Analyst/AG used to analyze documents and extract information to identify Earth observation parameters and characteristics.

For those documents identified in Section 2.3.1, the Analysts conducted a detailed data extraction process. The first round of extraction involved the documentation of region, doc type and parameters mentioned in the document. For each document a table was made to track the parameters and any mention of desired parameter characteristics such as:

• Coverage/Extent
• Temporal resolution (frequency)
• Spatial resolution (vertical and horizontal, as relevant)
• Timeliness (availability of measurement)
• Accuracy/Precision.

For better comparison and recording all mentioned Earth observation parameter information was added to a spreadsheet organized by parameter and document. Each row in the spreadsheet represented a document, and each column represented a EO parameter (e.g., ozone), facilitating a quick review of the total information gleaned, either by document or parameter.

The results of this categorization are shown later in Section 3.3. The Analyst then conducted a detailed data extraction process. This entailed reading or skimming the document for mention of Earth observations, and recording all mentioned Earth observation parameter information in a spreadsheet organized by parameter and document. Each row in the spreadsheet represented a document, and each column represented a parameter (e.g., wind speed), facilitating a quick review of the total information gleaned, either by document or parameter. The Analyst recorded all relevant information provided in the document, including any mention of desired parameter characteristics

Gaps

In cases where the information in the document referred to the adequacy of the characteristics of a current observation rather than the ideally required parameter characteristics, the parameter characteristics of the current observation were recorded for reference purposes. For example, if a document indicated that current spatial resolution of wind speed data is inadequate, the spatial resolution of the current observation referenced in the document, if specified, was recorded (such as on a 10km x 10km grid). While this information on adequacy of current observations does not provide an absolute target of ideally required parameter characteristics, this information was used to fill gaps where information was lacking on ideally required parameter characteristics. A distinction between the information derived from these two approaches is clearly made in the results section of this document.

Multiple Criteria

The next step was to construct a table of priority observations for each renewable energy subarea, as described in Section 3.2. To do this, the Analyst noted whether there were one or more documents for each sub-area that addressed ideally required user needs, as opposed to the adequacy of current observations. For solar and wind energy, such documents addressing ideally required user needs were available, and these “primary” documents were used as an initial basis to construct a priorities table for those sub-areas. The Analyst then compared the needs in these primary documents to parameters identified in other relevant documents, and added parameters to the table in cases that did not contradict the primary sources. Where there was a parameter that was indicated as important by three or more documents, but not the primary document, the Analyst included it in the table, but flagged such parameter as not derived from a primary user needs document.

The Analyst performed a detailed data extraction process on the documents that met the criteria for inclusion in the analysis. All of the data extracted were compiled into a single database for further analysis. For each observation, the extracted information included the applicable disaster type(s) (earthquake/landslide/flood), the region of interest of the document (Global/Africa/Europe/Oceania/Asia and the Middle East/East Asia/North America/South and Central America), the type of document (e.g., international working group report, peer-reviewed journal article, conference proceedings, etc.) and the desired physical characteristics of the observation, where applicable.

The aggregation of certain parameters that are similar in nature in this way provides a more robust analysis, since individual observation requirements may not be frequently identified in the documents, but the effect could be larger if the observation were to be considered at the aggregated level. For example, precipitation duration, precipitation intensity, and precipitation amount were combined into a single “precipitation” category that was carried forward into the prioritization analysis. For each of the disaster types, the Analyst constructed a table of the observation priorities, as well as the aggregated observation category, that were identified in at least one of the document references. References to the documents that explicitly identify each observation as a priority are also included in the tables.

Prioritization Methods

The analysts used three factors to prioritize the EO needs. The first was a bibliographic method to determine which pollutants were cited most. The second factor weighted the EOs for coverage and the third factor weighted the EOs for their potency (or how close they were to the actual cause of sickness). Aggregate Emission, transport ambient.

In this second step, the method for assigning priority used well-known bibliometric methods (OTA, 1986). Priority was indicated by the relative frequency with which an observation was cited by the documents as a required climate observation. For identifying global priorities, and using the master database of all required observations generated during the document review, a simple count was taken of the number of documents in which a particular Earth observation was described in the document as a required observation. This value was divided by the total number of documents in which global requirements are discussed.

For the regional priorities, the count was taken of the number of regions for which an observation was described as a priority (for example, the number of regions for which extreme precipitation observations is required). This value was divided by the total number of possible regions. Several of the documents describe requirements for multiple regions. Appendix C identifies reports containing regional information.

Weight	Definition	Example	Factor
Bibliographic	# of times param mentioned in literature	PM2.5 mentioned 21x	0-1
Coverage	spatial and temporal coverage	Need better coverage in Africa for PM2.5	0-1
Potency	How close the parameter is to the actual cause of sickness	PM10 is available, but not the actual source of sickness	0-1

Air Quality and Health

This section provides summary information of the Health and Air Quality and the specific sub-areas. This section also discusses the specific documents used in the meta-analysis (general discussion rather than specifics on each document) and the broad user-types within the SBA.

Uses and users of EOs for Air Quality and Health

Identifying the key users is a necessity for proper evaluation of their Earth Observation (EO) needs. In this report uses and user categories are represented in a two dimensional matrix. The first dimension is the end-use category. An end user uses the EO for making a personal or societal decision. We will consider three groups of end-users of air quality-relevant observations: general public, air quality managers, and air quality policy makers. Each end use group has different EO needs. The respective information needs for each end user category will be determined.

The second dimension of EO user classification is along the value chain that transforms the raw observations into suitable information for the decision-makers (end users). Data managers and data flow mediators are a class of users who are responsible for the timely, robust and proper flow of EOs to the SBA application. These users, can be considered part ot the GEO information infrastrucuture. Intermediate users include researchers, analysts, and modelers who digest and prepare the raw observations in a manner that is suitable for the end-user's decision making needs. The consumers of the processed EOs are the end-users listed above. Classifying users along the value adding chain would aid consistency with the GEOSS data sharing infrastructure, the right information is delivered to the right user. It is here recognized that public documents that explicitly address the information requirements for each user class in the 2D user matrix will be sparse.

• Emphasis on quality control… at all stages of the data flow.

GEOSS 10-Year Plan Reference Document Pg. 43

[earthobservations.org/docs/10-Year%20Implementation%20Plan.pdf GEOSS 10 Year Implementation Plan]

• GEOSS will be a vital means of bringing useful environmental data to the health community in a user friendly form. Comprehensive data sets are powerful tools that support prevention, early warning, research, epidemiology, health care planning and delivery, and provide a variety of timely public alerts. For example, by linking weather, air quality data and the urban heat island effects, air quality forecasts can help protect asthmatics, the elderly and the young from cardiovascular and respiratory problems resulting from air pollution episodes. These data can also provide linkages to longer-term air quality impacts such as cancers, respiratory diseases, asthma and birth defects.

A - pg. 10 Earth Observations: Types and Quality

Earth observations for Air Quality and Health have many dimensions or facets, thus require a range of attributes for a full characterization and description. The natural dimensions of EOs are the the measured parameters as well as the spatial and temporal extent. Each physical dimension is also characterized by the resolution of the observation, i.e. spatial and temporal resolution, and the possible grouping/lumping of the measured parameters. Other facets of EOs include relevancy to the application, data quality, tracability, timeliness, etc.

Hardly any of the EOs can be used directly as raw data for decision making. Value adding processes (data filtering, aggregation and fusion) are needed to derive decision-ready products. The complementary use of EOS with air quality models is particularly important given the model’s potential to characterize multiple pollutant species across variable spatial and temporal scales. The more difficult characterization of EOs is along the value chain from the raw observed data to the derived information and knowledge that is used for decision making. Typical derived parameters include the air pollution index (an aggregate of multiple air pollutant concentrations), that informs the public on the general level of air pollution and facilitates personal decision making. Similarly, compliance with an AQ standard (derived from multi-year data series) informs an air quality manager whether an AQ control action is required.

Description

Health: Understanding environmental factors affecting human health and well-being

Health issues with Earth observation needs include: airborne, marine, and water pollution; stratospheric ozone depletion; persistent organic pollutants; nutrition; and monitoring weather-related disease vectors. GEOSS will improve the flow of appropriate environmental data and health statistics to the health community promoting a focus on prevention and contributing to the continued improvements in human health worldwide.

The following is the brief statement of topics covered and key outcomes in the Health SBA from the GEOSS 10-Year Implementation Plan: Health issues with Earth-observation needs include: airborne, marine, and water pollution; stratospheric ozone depletion; persistent organic pollutants; nutrition; and monitoring weather-related disease vectors. GEOSS will improve the flow of appropriate environmental

Section 3.1 should briefly state the broad set of sub-areas within the SBA. For example, the Disasters report stated the broad categories of disasters (weather-related, geologic, and human-induced) and specific disaster types (earthquakes, volcanoes, wildfires, avalanches, etc.). Section 3.2 articulates the specific sub-areas the report addresses.

GEOSS 10-Year Plan Reference Document Pg. 43

• Currently, the work being conducted with remote sensing technologies and disease is through interdisciplinary research groups involving scientists with varied backgrounds such as remote sensing, epidemiologists, and atmospheric scientists (e.g. the international ESSP). The science of epidemiology involves observing factors that might be associated with disease, and then calculating the degree of significance in the association. The true value of Earth Observation data will become more fully realized when simple, user-friendly data products are prepared that are easily overlaid onto disease/dysfunction maps. For example, if an epidemiologist wishes to investigate factors associated with childhood asthma, it will be useful to model the physical location of patients with real-time and cumulative local airborne particulates over the study period. GEOSS can make a significant contribution to this class of activity by ensuring data are available and developing the modelling capability.

Air Quality Sub-Areas

Earth Observations for Health and Air Quality are not uniformly distributed. For this report, the Analysts classified priority EOs for different geographic region using the physical breakdown shown in the table below. Earth Observations are needed at each stage from the emission of the pollutant to the population exposure.

AQ SubTypes	Brief Description
Emission	Pollutant sources, transport and transformation
Ambient AQ	Ambient AQ concentrations
Exposure	Population-weighted concentration

Documents

a general statement about the set of documents; a table of the documents with region, sub-area, organizational author, GEO Member or Participating Org.

This section states the specific documents that the Analyst/AG reviewed in the analysis. The section can include specific information about the identification and selection of a representative sampling. This section might include a table to summarize the number of documents by SBA sub-area, geographic region, authorship (by GEO member or participating organization). Note: Please use the template table, with additions as needed, which Lawrence included in an email.

This section should also address any attempts or actions taken to close any apparent gaps in types of documents.

Region	# of Docs
Africa	4
Asia	4
Europe	4
International	8
N. America	8
S. America	0
Total	28

Documents by type:

Document Type	# of Docs
Paper	8
Presentation	2
Reports	18
Workshops	0

Documents by Sub Area:

Doc Content	# of Docs
Emission	12
Ambient AQ	6
Health	14

User Types

statement and table on the general types of users in the SBA sub-areas; this section also needs to articulate how this User Types contributed to the analysis, such as its use to review & improve the set of documents

This section discusses the broad user types within the SBA. The specific user types can be listed or in a table. This section needs to describe how the user types were employed by the Analyst/AG, such as to perform a gap analysis of the documents to determine any potential biases.

GEOSS 10-Year Plan Reference Document Pg. 42

• Health service providers, researchers, policy makers, and the public in developed and developing countries as well as indigenous communities need such data products for providing the services,science, and decisions that affect human health and well-being.

Earth Observations for Air Quality and Health

This section contains the results from the analysis of the documents and the specific observation parameters/characteristics that the analysis revealed for each sub-area.

GEOSS 10-Year Plan Reference Document Pg. 43

• It will be achieved through the development of a system of in situ, airborne, and space-based systems integrated through assimilation and modelling tools with census data on health, and
• GEOSS will be invaluable in allowing exposure and disease data to be related among populations. For example, the aerial particle pollution and health consequences among the World’s major cities could be compared and contrasted, and degenerating environmental conditions that could lead to the emergence of infectious diseases could be identified and reversed before a new epidemic occurs.
• It is essential to be able to relate the results of disease studies conducted in different times and locations. Historical data from satellites on the effects of land use and land cover changes are needed to track, model and predict changes in ozone, particulate matter, chemical emissions, disease vectors, cancers, and birth defects to evaluate improvements in health conditions related to public well-being.

GEOSS 10-Year Plan Reference Document Pg. 201

• Health issues with Earth-observation needs include: airborne, marine, and water pollution; stratospheric ozone depletion; persistent organic pollutants; nutrition; and monitoring weather-related disease vectors. GEOSS will improve the flow of appropriate environmental data and health statistics to the health community, promoting a focus on prevention and contributing to continued improvements in human health worldwide.

Emissions

These sections should state what observations and characteristics came out of the meta-analysis of the documents, including a brief rationale based on the documents. These sections need to reflect the methodology from 2.3.2. Essentially, the section for each sub-area needs to articulate which observations “made the cut” and why.

For each sub-area, this section should identify the observations mentioned in the documents and state the specific observations that are common and representative of the sub-area. This section should reference the documents in establishing the set of observations. Since the results should be based on the methodology described in section 2.3.2, this section should blend those methodologies into the discussion in this section. A table listing all the observations and representative characteristics in this sub-area would be beneficial – please use the template table that Lawrence provided in an email.

Air Pollutant EO	Emissions
PM2.5	EMEP 2003 Kinney 2008 UNEP 2008 WHO 2005 b WMO 2009 Dabbert McHenry 2004 Minjares submitted
PM10/TSP	EMEP 2003 EMEP 2003 Kinney 2008 UNEP 2008 UNEP yyyy WHO 2005 b WMO 2009
SO2	EMEP 2003 EMEP 2003 Kinney 2008 UNEP 2008 UNEP yyyy WHO 2005 b Dabbert McHenry 2004
O3	EMEP 2003 EMEP 2003 Kinney 2008 UNEP 2008 UNEP yyyy Zunckel 2002 WHO 2005 b
NO2/NO	EMEP 2003 EMEP 2003 Kinney 2008 UNEP 2008 WHO 2005 b Dabbert McHenry 2004 Minjares submitted
CO	EMEP 2003 Kinney 2008 UNEP 2008 UNEP yyyy WHO 2005 b Dabbert McHenry 2004
VOCs	EMEP 2003 EMEP 2003 WHO 2005 b
Metals	EMEP 2003 Kinney 2008 UNEP 2008
Black Carbon	Kinney 2008
Airtoxics	EMEP 2003 EMEP 2003 UNEP 2008
NH3	EMEP 2003 EMEP 2003
POPs	EMEP 2003
Other Eos
Weather	EMEP 2003 Zunckel 2002
Surface Character	Zunckel 2002 Dabbert McHenry 2004
Demographic

Ambient AQ

Air Pollutant EO	Ambient
PM2.5	WHO 2005 a CENR, AQRS 2009 Scheffe 2009 WMO 2009 Dabbert McHenry 2004 Craig 2008
PM10/TSP	WHO 2005 a CENR, AQRS 2009 Scheffe 2009 WMO 2009 Dabbert McHenry 2004 Craig 2008
SO2	WHO 2005 a CENR, AQRS 2009 Scheffe 2009 Dabbert McHenry 2004 Craig 2008
O3	WHO 2005 a CENR, AQRS 2009 Scheffe 2009 Dabbert McHenry 2004
NO2/NO	WHO 2005 a CENR, AQRS 2009 Scheffe 2009 Dabbert McHenry 2004 Craig 2008
CO	WHO 2005 a CENR, AQRS 2009 Scheffe 2009 Dabbert McHenry 2004 Craig 2008
VOCs	WHO 2005 a
Metals	WHO 2005 a CENR, AQRS 2009 Craig 2008
Black Carbon	CENR, AQRS 2009 Craig 2008
Airtoxics	CENR, AQRS 2009 Craig 2008
NH3	Scheffe 2009 Craig 2008
POPs	Craig 2008
Other Eos
Weather	WHO 2005 a CENR, AQRS 2009 Scheffe 2009 Craig 2008
Surface Character	WHO 2005 a Dabbert McHenry 2004
Demographic	Craig 2008

Health

Air Pollutant EO	Health
PM2.5	van Vliet and Kinney 2007 Bart 2004 Krzyanowski 2005 Beelen 2008 HEI 2003 a Miller 2007 CDC 2008 Rojas-Martine 2007 CAI 2005 HEI 2003 b Craig 2008
PM10/TSP	Bart 2004 Krzyanowski 2005 Beelen 2008 HEI 2003 a Miller 2007 de Leeuw 2008 Rojas-Martine 2007 Craig 2008
SO2	Bart 2004 Beelen 2008 HEI 2003 a Miller 2007 Zunckel 2003 Rojas-Martine 2007 CAI 2005 HEI 2003 b Craig 2008
O3	HEI 2003 a Miller 2007 CDC 2008 de Leeuw 2008 Zunckel 2003 Rojas-Martine 2007 HEI 2003 b
NO2/NO	Bart 2004 Krzyanowski 2005 HEI 2003 a Miller 2007 Zunckel 2003 Rojas-Martine 2007 HEI 2003 b Craig 2008
CO	Krzyanowski 2005 HEI 2003 a Miller 2007 Zunckel 2003 Craig 2008
VOCs	Bart 2004 Krzyanowski 2005 HEI 2003 a Zunckel 2003
Metals	Krzyanowski 2005 CAI 2005 Craig 2008
Black Carbon	van Vliet and Kinney 2007 Krzyanowski 2005 Beelen 2008 Craig 2008
Airtoxics	Zunckel 2003 Craig 2008
NH3	Craig 2008
POPs	Craig 2008
Other Eos
Weather	van Vliet and Kinney 2007 CDC 2008 Zunckel 2003 Rojas-Martine 2007 Craig 2008
Surface Character	Zunckel 2003
Demographic	Bart 2004 CDC 2008 Craig 2008

Priority Observations

This section contains the results from the prioritization method(s) applied to the observations identified in section 4.

Summary of Results

The bibliographic weighting is shown in the figure below for all of the documents analyzed.

Priority observations.

This section contains the specific priority Earth observations for the Air Quality and Health. As stated in the methodology, the Analysts first identified priority EOs by region and then parameters that cross cut the regions were identified as Global EOs.

Global

Observation Category	Parameter	Aggregated Characteristics of Priority Observation Parameters
		Coverage/Extent	Spatial	Temporal	Accuracy	Latency	Other
Air Pollution	PM2.5
	PM10/TSP
	SO2
	O3
	NO2/NO
	CO
	VOCs
	Metals
	Black Carbon
	Airtoxics
	NH3
	POPs
Other	Weather
	Surface Character
	Demographic

Additional Findings

This section is for other finding and results of the meta-analysis that do not fit in the sections above. Create sub-sections as needed.

Analyst Comments and Recommendations

This section is for the Analysts to provide their perspectives on the SBA, documents, set of observation priorities, etc. This section can be a bit more subjective than the other sections. This section might include perspectives on the US-09-01a process and suggestions for improvement.

Process & Methodology

This section contains the Analyst’s perspectives on the overall US-09-01a process as well as perspectives on the analytic methods used. The section can certainly provide suggestions on how to do the process and analysis better in the future.

This report is invisioned as a milestone in the reporting of user-needs to GEOSS, but it is a continuous process. It should involve a broader community of practice.

Challenges (e.g., Advisory Group, Documents, Observations & Meta-analysis)

This section contains the Analyst’s perspectives on key challenges faced in this activity, actions taken to address the challenges, and suggestions how to address, prevent, or overcome the challenges in the future.

Recommendations

This section contains the Analyst’s recommendations to UIC how to improve the US-09-01a activity.

Title of Additional Sub-sections (as needed)

This section (and any others) contains other topics that the Analyst wants to address.

Note: In case the Analyst wants to convey some comments in a non-written format and/or outside of this formal report, the Analyst will have an opportunity to provide comments vocally.

Appendix

Acronyms

Abbreviation	Full Name
AG	Advisory Group
ESA	European Space Agency
EPA	Environmental Protection Agency
NASA	National Aeronautics and Space Administration
GEO	Group on Earth Observation
GEOSS	Global Earth Observation System of Systems
SBA	Societal Benefit Area
UIC	User Interface Committee
WMO	World Meteorological Institute
WHO	World Health Institute
CDC	Center for Disease Control
HEI	Health Effects Institute

Bibliography (can be split into the two if desired – not required to do so)

This section can list the documents and references in one list. Or, if preferred, this section can split the documents and references according to those “cited” and those “consulted.”

References Cited

List of the documents cited in the analysis.

References Consulted

<ask limit="5">

Document Region"*" is not in the list (International, Africa, Asia, Non-Southeast, Asia, Southeast, Europe, North America, Oceania/Australia, Polar Region, South America) of allowed values for the "DocRegion" property.Type"*" is not in the list (Report, Workshop, Paper, Website, Presentation, Legislation, Other) of allowed values for the "DocType" property.*</ask>

Other appendices as needed

AQ GEO Task 0901a Report Outline v.1

AQ GEO Task - Unused Texts