Project overview
The SMART-AQ project, short for Satellite Monitoring of Aerosols for Reliable Tracking of Air Quality, aims to advance air quality monitoring by combining space technology with robust data processing and analysis methods. This project focuses on addressing the critical challenge posed by particulate matter (PM), a major pollutant with severe health and economic impacts (WHO guidelines, 2021).
Traditional ground-based instruments, while accurate, are limited in coverage and often expensive to deploy. Existing chemical transport models, on the other hand, face significant uncertainties due to assumptions about aerosol emissions and atmospheric processes. To overcome these limitations, SMART-AQ leverages a unique combination of public satellite data and proprietary observations from the GAPMAP satellite constellation. GAPMAP’s advanced multi-angle polarimetric instruments enable unparalleled insights into atmospheric aerosols, distinguishing between natural and industrial pollution sources. This project delivers real-time data on key metrics such as PM1, PM2.5, and PM10, offering critical support for industries, policymakers, and environmental agencies at a fraction of the cost of current methodologies. The service includes user-friendly visualization tools, APIs for data integration, and trend alert systems, providing actionable data to improve air quality and ensure regulatory compliance.
In sum, the project represents a transformative approach to air quality monitoring, combining state-of-the-art satellite technology with ground-based measurements and sophisticated data analysis. By doing so, it addresses the limitations of existing methods, offering a cost-effective, scalable, and highly accurate solution to tackle one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time.
Proposed Approach
The development of SMART-AQ follows a structured approach, starting with the use of publicly available satellite data to create an initial product that will evolve as the GAPMAP constellation becomes fully operational. Initially, data from Sentinel-2, Sentinel-3, and Sentinel-5p satellites will be used to develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), ensuring a rapid entry into the market. This product will offer critical insights into air quality with a focus on particulate matter monitoring.
As the GAPMAP satellites are launched and integrated into the system, the service will expand its capabilities. GAPMAP satellites, equipped with advanced multi-angle polarimeters, will provide data that is more precise and comprehensive than what is currently available. These satellites will offer five global observations per day, enabling the detection of important diurnal changes in air quality. The enhanced system will also incorporate in-situ ground data from customers’ facilities and advanced data processing algorithms developed using the proprietary GRASP technology.
The SMART-AQ project will culminate in a pilot demonstration involving early adopters, including municipalities, industries, and mining organizations. This phase will validate the system’s performance, ensure user satisfaction, and refine the product based on direct feedback. The pilot will showcase the service’s ability to deliver accurate, actionable air quality data that can be seamlessly integrated into operational workflows. As the project progresses, additional features such as monitoring of greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, NO2) and the creation of digital air pollution twins for key regions will be developed, further enhancing its utility and scope.
For customers interested in understanding the potential benefits of SMART-AQ, a demonstration is available to illustrate how the service could positively impact their operations. This presentation focuses on the value of the proposed capabilities and how they align with customer needs, providing a realistic preview of the improvements the system aims to deliver once fully deployed. Customers can require the demo through the following link: https://forms.gle/fk6JnLRBBMon4dnq8.
Fig 1. Illustration of the proposed approach
Members of consortium
GRASP SAS shorten from ‘Generalized Retrieval of Atmosphere and Surface Properties” is a company that was founded in February 2015 with the main goal of developing remote sensing algorithms and scientific methods for environment studies of the atmosphere and surface of the Earth.
GRASP SAS developed a code “GRASP” for advanced aerosol and surface retrieval from remote sensing measurements. GRASP SAS comprises a unique team with the full understanding of all aspects of the code, including the physical and mathematical foundations, as well as software optimisation. The GRASP team has led several projects to retrieve atmosphere and surface parameters from different satellite sensors (POLDER, MERIS, AATSR, OLCI/S-3 TROPOMI/S-5p, Himawari), their synergies (MERIS+AATSR) as well as on the synergy of the ground-based and satellite (e.g., AERONET+OLCI/S-3, AERONET+TROPOMI/S-5p). as well as for passive and active observations as discussed by Lopatin et al. (2013, 2021), Dubovik et al. (2021). Therefore, the synergetic retrieval developments are natural GRASP algorithm evolution to cover combinations of different satellite measurements.
Data
The data will be available soon.