Status Update and Preliminary Results from the Ground-Based Particulate Matter Monitoring Network of the Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols (MAIA) Investigation

SINA HASHEMINASSAB, David Diner, Jeff Blair, Ann M. Dillner, Yang Liu, Christian L'Orange, Randall Martin, Christopher Oxford, Jeremy A. Sarnat, MAIA Team, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech

     Abstract Number: 71
     Working Group: Urban Aerosols

Abstract
NASA and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) are jointly implementing the Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols (MAIA) investigation to explore the association between PM types and adverse health outcomes. The MAIA satellite instrument—a multi-angle imaging spectropolarimeter set for launch in 2025—will collect measurements of column-integrated aerosol optical and microphysical properties over selected Primary Target Areas (PTAs) in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. These measurements will be integrated with data from ground-based PM monitors and outputs of the WRF-Chem atmospheric model to generate daily maps of near-surface total PM₁₀, total PM_2.5, and speciated (sulfate, nitrate, organic carbon, elemental carbon, and dust) PM_2.5 mass concentrations at 1 km spatial resolution.

This presentation will provide a status update on MAIA’s ground-based PM monitoring network and share preliminary findings. MAIA leverages existing ground-based PM monitoring networks where available and expands upon them with additional equipment in several PTAs. The project capitalizes on the existing SPARTAN Surface Particulate Matter Network for PM_2.5 speciation and has expanded this network with additional filter samplers; deployed Colorado State University filter samplers to complement PM_2.5 speciation networks; and installed AethLabs microAeth MA350 monitors for black carbon measurements. In Ethiopia, where few PM_2.5 monitors have historically been operating, a set of calibrated PurpleAir sensors has been deployed to enhance the spatial coverage of ground-based PM_2.5 measurements.

Preliminary results show elevated PM concentrations at PTAs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), particularly New Delhi, India, where annual average PM_2.5 levels approach 100 µg/m³, three to eleven times higher than levels measured in the other PTAs. The chemical composition of PM_2.5 also varies substantially across PTAs, with black carbon—a tracer for diesel and biomass burning—found at levels up to twelve times higher in LMICs (e.g., India and Ethiopia) compared to high-income countries.