[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6265\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EEU satellites help China check pollution\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EChina\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions won\u2019t peak until 2030, which is bad news for cities like Beijing that are already suffering from severe smog. With coal still their economic driving force, Chinese authorities are now adding data from European satellites to their own in order to help curb their air pollution.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The satellites look at sunlight reflected from the earth\u2019s surface and detect pollutant gases by the light they absorb,\u2019 said Dr Ronald van der A from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI). \u2018These findings are then combined with model data to create an air quality forecast.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe EU-funded MarcoPolo project focuses on the emission estimates from space. A wide range of data is collected from various European satellite instruments, including the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) flying on a NASA platform.\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-size: 13.008px; line-height: 1.538em;\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ciframe style=\u0022font-size: 13.008px; line-height: 1.538em;\u0022 src=\u0022https:\/\/europa.eu\/webtools\/crs\/iframe\/?oriurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FAkDA1coBMDs\u0022 width=\u0022560\u0022 height=\u0022315\u0022 frameborder=\u00220\u0022\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe OMI measures air quality on earth by hitching a ride on NASA\u0027s Aura satellite, which orbits our planet. Please note this video has no sound. Video courtesy of NASA\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We have strong experience with satellite data and a long experience with air pollution,\u2019 said Dr van der A, who is the project coordinator for MarcoPolo. \u2018We have been dealing with this issue for years, from the smog in London during the 1950s to more recently in Paris.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn China, air quality concern is relatively new but the issue is high on the government\u2019s agenda.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018At the World Championships in Athletics in Beijing in August, the government managed to get relatively clean air by having very strict measures on traffic and factories,\u2019 said Dr van der A. \u2018If you have an air quality forecast predicting bad pollution for tomorrow, then you can reduce emissions today.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESatellite data will be integrated in the forecast, by using the observations to derive the most up-to-date air pollutant emission information. The strength of the MarcoPolo project is that it gets a more complete picture by complementing satellite data with models and ground-based observations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPANDA, an EU-funded project partnering with MarcoPolo, combines EU satellite observations with Asian ground air quality monitoring stations which take data from traffic, industry and agriculture. The project then analyses the daily air pollution events over Asia, with a particular focus on China.\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018In Beijing you can have a beautiful, clear sunny day and then two days later you can\u2019t see the building across the street.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EProf. Guy Brasseur, Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Germany\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We\u2019re developing a system that will give daily air quality predictions for the days ahead,\u2019 said Professor Guy Brasseur, project leader of PANDA.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAn air quality forecast needs to be able to monitor pollution each day because levels of pollution can change quickly due to factors like wind direction, wind speed and temperature.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018In Beijing you can have a beautiful, clear sunny day and then two days later you can\u2019t see the building across the street,\u2019 said Prof. Brasseur. \u2018These pollution events are becoming worse and more frequent.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPANDA is developing a more accurate and comprehensive forecast, which means better measures can be taken to address this pollution.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018By the end of the year we want to have the prediction system online,\u2019 said Prof. Brasseur. \u2018When high pollution levels are expected, authorities could take these predictions and start managing their emissions more effectively.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECoal\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor example, Chinese authorities would know when factories should stop burning coal or when they need to restrict the amount of cars on their roads.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis is particularly important when the World Health Organization says 7 million people are prematurely dying each year from air pollution. It\u2019s a serious problem for countries like China, where 2.6 million deaths are related to outdoor air pollution. However, PANDA\u2019s forecast system can also provide a tool to help those at risk.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Our predictions can give warnings to people. We can say tomorrow\u2019s air conditions will be bad for people with heart disease, or that visibility will be poor so people shouldn\u2019t run or take their bicycle,\u2019 said Prof. Brasseur.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project is also discovering opportunities to address other areas of pollution. Ammonia use in agriculture is causing significant pollution in China because farmers use excessive amounts to increase their production rate.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We have reached a point where farmers put too much fertilisers in the field and the resulting nitrogen gets into the stream, waters, rivers and finally into the sea,\u2019 said Prof. Brasseur.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018You can see this nitrogen from space and when these emissions observations are analysed, you can see how much fertilisers are used. It\u2019s not that easy, but we can see it and that creates potential to address the issue.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccording to Prof. Brasseur, cooperating with Chinese researchers has created several other valuable opportunities. The European Commission \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/research\/iscp\/index.cfm?pg=china\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003Erecently announced\u003C\/a\u003E that it expects to spend over EUR 100 million per year from 2016 to 2020 for the benefit of Europe-based entities in joint projects with Chinese participants.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The essence of the project is to create a partnership,\u2019 said Prof Brasseur. \u2018One of the most important milestones of the project is that we are forming teams with China that can work together.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-fhch5sgvizzsabrl4nkmumnwveo5ft1ubfo-nxs0xjy\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-fHch5sgVizzsabrL4NKmUMnWvEo5Ft1UbFo_Nxs0XjY\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]