Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced on California Clean Air Day, Oct. 7, that the city of Los Angeles has been awarded a $1.3 million grant to lead NASA’s “Predicting What We Breathe” project – a new initiative that utilizes NASA’s existing satellite equipment to better understand, predict and address air-quality impacts in Los Angeles.

“Clean air is a fundamental human right for people everywhere, and securing it starts at home, with bold steps to fight air pollution and protect the health of communities left to deal with the consequences of dirty air for far too long,” Garcetti said. “Our partnership with NASA hands our city another vital tool to predict air quality in our neighborhoods, measure the effectiveness of our efforts to clean our air, create a model for counterparts worldwide and deliver on our promise of equity and sustainability in Los Angeles.”

NASA’s investment will fund two years of research to devise a platform that integrates data from ground- and spaced-based air-quality measurements. When complete, the model will be able to provide local officials with new information to predict local air quality, issue more effective on-the-ground intervention tactics and receive detailed feedback on the impact of current efforts to reduce air pollution citywide.

“Predicting What We Breathe” is a partnership between a group of public, private and academic organizations, including the city of Los Angeles, NASA, the Southern California Air Quality Management District and others.