Environmental public health applications using remotely sensed data

We describe a remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS)-based study that has three objectives: (1) characterize fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), insolation and land surface temperature (LST) using NASA satellite observations, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ground-level monitor data and North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS) data products on a national scale; (2) link these data with public health data from the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) national cohort study to determine whether these environmental risk factors are related to cognitive decline, stroke and other health outcomes and (3) disseminate the environmental datasets and public health linkage analyses to end users for decision-making through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER) system. This study directly addresses a public health focus of the NASA Applied Sciences Program, utilization of Earth Sciences products, by addressing issues of environmental health to enhance public health decision-making.     

Early Palaeozoic North Qaidam UHP metamorphic belt on the north-eastern Tibetan plateau and a paired subduction model

ABSTRACT An Early Palaeozoic UHP metamorphic belt was recently discovered in the North Qaidam Mountains in the north-eastern part of the Tibet Plateau. The belt contains abundant eclogite with lesser amounts of garnet peridotite and gneiss. The paragneiss contains abundant zircon with coesite inclusions whereas the eclogite has garnet with coesite pseudomorphs and omphacite with exsolved quartz. The calculated peak metamorphic conditions for the eclogite are T  = 730 °C and P  = 2.8 GPa. The garnet peridotites are magnesium-rich with Mg#s [100 × Mg/(Mg + Fe)] up to 92. Olivine in the peridotites is highly magnesian (Fo > 91.5) and TiO₂-poor and is typical of low- T garnet peridotites. Calculated peak metamorphic conditions for the peridotites are T  = 837 °C and P  = 2.5 GPa. U–Pb and Sm–Nd isotope dating indicate that continental subduction started during the early Ordovician (∼ 495 Ma). The North Qaidam UHP, together with the North Qilian HP belt about 300 km to the north, constitute a pair of genetically related early Palaeozoic subduction zones along the northern margin of the Tibet Plateau.     

Variation in existing domestic service level of pipe-borne water supply and associated challenges in a tourism destination of Uyo Capital City,Nigeria

GeoJournal - Domestic water supply plays a very significant role in the day to day life of humans in the global society and without water, life cannot be continued and that while water provisions...