Air & HealthCommunity of Practice (CP)

(a draft for review)

GEO User Interface WorkgroupGeneva, Switzerland

December 16, 2005

Gary Foley, USA

Presentation Outline• Objectives of the CP, GEOSS Societal Benefit Area

addressed by the CP• Justification - What value will the CP add over

existing collaborative activities • Membership- Typology of members sought• Working methods - how will this CP operate • Plan of Activities to contribute to the GEOSS

implementation in relation to the targets set out by the 10 Year Implementation Plan

• Schedule of proposed activities - in particular for 2006

Objectives of the CP• To improve and maintain (1) the health and well-

being of the population with regard to airborn, atmospherically-transported contaminants, (2) the local and regional air quality and (3) the atmospheric deposition quality considering its potential impact on the human food chain, (4) while sustaining and enhancing the economy of the countries and regions.

• To operationally provide forecasts of next day air quality to the local and regional air quality managers and public health officials as well as to industry, the public-at-large, sensitive subpopulations, the political leaders and public interest groups.

Objectives of the CP

• To routinely make measurements of ambient air quality using the optimal combinations of fixed-site monitoring, satellite & aircraft observations and operational modeling to meet the combined requirements of the users participating in the CP

• To perform research and development to continually improve the air quality-related science and to upgrade the observational instruments & methodologies, the atmospheric and air quality models, and the decision support tools used by the users participating in the CP

Societal Benefit Areas addressed by the CP

Health: Understanding environmental factors affecting human health and well-being (4.1.2 )

• Health issues with Earth observation needs include: airborne pollution . . . .

• 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.

Societal Benefit Areas addressed by the CP

Health: Weather: Improving weather infor-mation, forecasting & warning (4.1.6)

• . . . . Access to weather data for the other societal benefit areas will be facilitated.

Impacts of Poor Air Quality on Society – US Estimates

• 60,000 deaths per annual (mean) [Science 289, 2000]

• $143 billion per annual (mean) [American Lung Association, 2001]

Impacts of Poor Air Quality on Society – Europe

• Consistent air quality legislation and emission reduction measures, based on integrated research and monitoring activities, over the last 30 years in Europe has achieved significant progress,

• Ground level ozone concentrations are still a threat for human health and vegetation throughout the EU.

• Every year, numerous exceedances of limit values for ozone occur every year in many European countries (in summer 2001, concentration limits of summer smog were exceeded on two days out of three somewhere in Europe).

• During the 2003 August heat wave, ozone peak events overlap a large part of France and of Western Europe, yielding enhanced mortality due to the heat wave effect by a few percents.

Public Officials – What Benefits Might Interest Them?

1. The air is cleaner and safer to breath2. Stimulate and encourage early adopters of

new technologies3. Widespread voluntary measures occur4. Maintain the Country’s competitiveness

(electricity and energy)5. The Public is well-informed with real-time

information, uses it & sees the benefits

The Public – What Benefits Might Interest Them?

1. The air is cleaner and safer to breath2. How do I protect myself and my family when

air pollution alerts occur?3. What voluntary measures can I take?4. How do my lifestyle & activities lead me and

my family to greater involuntary risk? 5. How do my lifestyle & activities lead to greater

pollution episodes and risk to my community? 6. How do I keep well-informed with real-time

information and how should I use it?

Air Quality & Health CPThe PublicPublic Officials

The Atmospheric Observation Community

• Ground-based AQ monitoring networks

• Satellite measurements

• Groups working on "fusion of data"

• Researchers developing new observation methodologies

The Operational Forecasting Community

• Air Quality forecasters

• Atmospheric & AQ model developers

The Air Quality Managers

• Air Quality Index operations • Air Quality regulatory officials • Regulated industrial groups • Traffic planning & management

groups • Forest & agricultural fire

management officials • AQ management decision support

tool developers

The Public Health Officials

• Public Health outcome officials

• Epidemiologists

• Hospital & Emergency Room management groups

• Asthma, birth defect and cardiovascular disease researchers

The Hazard Alerting Community

• Air Quality Index operations

• Public Health outcome officials

• Wireless & internet service providers

• The media

How will this CP Operate?

• To engage potential participants in different geographic regions where there are common air pollution problems, possibly encouraging them to set up regional CPs

• To engage globally and regionally each of the "communities" in the CP to do an inventory of activities that would be relevant to each of the elements in the GEOSS framework diagram as it might be applied to this CP

How will this CP Operate?

• To ask participants and potential participants to complete a "Users and their Decisions" survey form

• Using the information from the inventory and the surveys, plan, organize and conduct at least one large workshop to create the CP and/or regional CPs.

The Survey Questions• What do they do in their occupation and what

does their organization do? Is there a web-site? • Looking at the potential "typology" of CP

Members, which would describe your activities? Which would describe those of your organization?

• What decision-making are they involved in, either directly or indirectly by providing research or decision support tool development?

• What impact/benefits result or might potentially result from this decision-making, including the expected timeframe of the impact/benefits? Does the organization measure the impacts/benefits?

The Survey Questions• Do you operate a system or systems that collect

observational data, either in-situ or remotely sensed? Describe these systems. Are they part of a larger system?

• What observational data, geographical data, socio-economic data and/or models/forecasts, if any, are used in the decision-making or the indirect support to the decision-making

• What are the needs for additional information that could improve the decision-making or the indirect support to the decision-making?

• What regional or international working groups are you a member of or on the mailing list of? What is charge or objectives of each of the working groups? Do they have websites? If so, what are the web addresses? If not, is their an email address for a key point-of-contact?

Schedule of Proposed Activities

Dec 05 User Interface Committee agrees to create this CP

Jan 06 First two hour conference call of the organizing members of this CP to agree on the initial activities of this CP and to take on assignments

Jan-May Regular conference calls to report on status

May 06 ? First face-to-face meeting of the CP (as an add on day to the UIG meeting). Survey results will be reviewed and the Implementation Plan details will be drafted.

Schedule of Proposed Activities

Nov 06 First workshop, possibly regional, to bring together the members and participating organization of the CP.

Dec 06 Second face-to-face meeting of the CP (as an add on day to the UIG meeting). Additional Survey results and first Workshop results will be reviewed. The Implementation Plan details will be updated.

April 07 Second workshop, possibly in a different region, to bring together the members and participating organization of the CP.

May 07 Third face-to-face meeting of the CP (as an add on day to the UIG meeting). Additional Survey results and results of the Workshops will be reviewed. The Implementation Plan details will be updated.

Schedule of Proposed Activities

Nov 07 Third workshop, possibly in a different region, to bring together the members and participating organization of the CP.

Dec 07 Fourth face-to-face meeting of the CP (as an add on day to the UIG meeting). Additional Survey results and results of the Workshops will be reviewed. Progress will be evaluated and the Implementation Plan details will undergo a major rewrite based on the progress-to-date.

Dec 07 The UIC will review the progress-to-date and the implementation plan details for the next two years.

Air & Health CP

Discussion• What are your comments on this concept

for an Air & Health CP ?• How should this concept be modified?• What existing International Orgs bring

together these five communities, either individually or in any combination?

• How do we identify the CP members?