Ambee Joins NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Mission

Datair Technology Pvt Ltd (Ambee), a global platform for hyperlocal and geospatial datasets on air quality, weather, pollen, soil, water vapor, fire, and more, has joined NASA’s PACE Mission as an early adopter. PACE elongates to the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission developed by NASA to be a low orbit satellite gathering geospatial data.

The PACE mission, scheduled to launch in 2024, will add to NASA’s existing satellite observations of global ocean biology and aerosols, continuing the analysis of global ocean health and atmospheric quality. The data collected will be utilized by the scientific community, including universities and government agencies, to forecast weather and develop research that can aid in mitigating climate change. As part of the PACE Early Adopter program, sustainably driven companies like Ambee can integrate valuable PACE data into their offering. 

Madhusudhan Anand, CTO, and Co-Founder, Ambee, said, “We are excited to be a part of NASA’s PACE mission. At Ambee, our mission is to help people breathe cleaner air by making accurate, real-time, actionable air quality data easily accessible to governments, businesses, and people to improve everyone’s lives. This collaboration with NASA and PACE scientists will allow us to develop in-depth solutions that can mitigate the impact of climate change and strengthen our vision of creating a healthier, cleaner, and a better planet for everyone.” 

In India, air pollution was the cause of an estimated 1.6 million deaths in 2019 – the highest globally – according to a report by the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health. A significant number of the deaths were caused by particulate matter pollution, while household air pollution came in second. According to the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air, as of January this year, 132 cities have pollution levels below national standards. More than 90% of the country breathes air quality below World Health Organization’s standards.

The assessment and analysis of these increasing air pollution rates through data can help mitigate the oncoming environmental crisis. For instance, PACE’s data assessment on aerosol suspension can also calculate emissions, forecast visibility, understand extreme weather events, and account for climate risks.

Ambee’s air quality datasets are primed to become more accurate with access to NASA’s hyperspectral and polarimetric PACE data. Governing bodies, private companies, and individual initiatives will have access to new and improved datasets to derive correlations and strategize risk mitigation with solutions.

Additionally, Ambee is working with renowned NASA scientists Alexei Lyapustin, Lorraine Remer, and Snorre Stamnes to explore and identify new solutions.

“The PACE Science and Applications Team is thrilled to be working with partners like Ambee who bring a fresh perspective to the work that we do and ensure that the PACE mission will provide societal benefit,” says Lorraine Remer, Atmospheric Scientist, University of Maryland Baltimore County.

“Air quality is a pressing global concern, and the PACE mission aims to make significant advances to aid air quality improvement. PACE brings exciting new technology for the study of oceans and atmospheres. The goal of PACE science is to provide benefit to society”, quotes Lorraine.