Aerosol Science for Public Health and Public Policy through Commercial Avenues

2014年4月初的沙漠沙尘引发的危险烟雾事件延伸到英国东南部，导致学校操场建议关闭[3]和报告的呼吸问题激增[4]是气溶胶对生活质量和经济产生广泛影响的最近例子。NERC已经资助并正在资助一系列与气溶胶有关的研究活动，这些活动通过加强公共部门的数据使用和广泛的商业活动，使最终用户能够获得这些数据并与之相关，从而有可能为公共卫生和交通带来短期社会效益。每天通过遥感、现场监测和建模产生的大量数据具有巨大价值。在将其转化为公共使用方面有两个基本问题。有时候，我们从测量或建模我们所能做的事情开始，而不是社会最需要我们研究的事情。但更常见的问题是，我们创造的数据具有潜在的社会效益，但没有充分利用它，它仍然是未开发的，在无法访问的位置或格式。这个NERC知识交流奖学金主要集中在两个努力。第一个是卫生部门与大气研究人员之间的联系日益密切，一个领域的知识可以更快地输入另一个领域，然后再输入公共政策。二是开发空气质量数据集整合的商业市场在莱斯特大学，在国家大气科学中心（NCAS）和国家地球观测中心（NCEO）的支持下，我们有能力利用NERC在气溶胶和空气质量科学方面的投资，为公众健康带来最大的利益。自2000年以来，超过1000万英镑的NERC资金已投资于该大学的空气质量研究。同样重要的是，莱斯特是卫生部门的国家中心，大学的健康研究与NHS有着密切的联系，例如NHS国家健康研究所（NIHR）呼吸生物医学研究单位（BRU）和NHS NIHR饮食，生活方式和身体活动BRU。因此，莱斯特显然是一个弥合NERC大气科学与卫生部门之间差距的地方，特别是在颗粒物和其他污染物对健康的影响方面。拟议工作的一项重要成果是制定一项商业战略，通过开放健康数据期刊http://openhealthdata.metajnl.com/（Ubiquity Press）。莱斯特大学健康与研究数据信息学主任、主编Jonathan Tedds博士对这一努力表示了热情的支持，并热衷于投入他的技能、经验以及计算和数据管理资源来协助我执行这项工作。大数据的协调工作是必要的，以指定数据格式，与数据生产者联络，寻求投资，并发展商业关系，以实现这一活动。[3]http：//www.theparan.com/education/2014/apr/02/pupils-indoors-lunch-smog-uk-government-adviser [4] http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/london-air-pollution-saharan-dust-smog-leads-to-surge-in-999-calls-9234692.html

Summary and context of the proposed fellowshipThe desert-dust-induced hazardous smog event of early April 2014 that stretched across the Southeastern UK and resulted in recommended closures of school playgrounds [3] and a surge in reported breathing problems [4] is a recent example of the broad impact aerosols have on quality of life and the economy. NERC has funded and currently funds a wide range of aerosol-related research activities which hold potential for near-term societal benefits for public health and transportation through enhanced data use in the public sector and the broad commercial activities required to make this data accessible and relevant to end-users.Broad expertise exists in the atmospheric science community in characterizing the atmosphere and its interactions with the built environment. Great value exists in the large amounts of data created on a daily basis through remote sensing, in situ monitoring, and modelling. There are two fundamental problems in translating this into public use. Sometimes we start by measuring or modelling what we can rather than what society most needs us to study. But the more common problem is that we create data with potential for societal benefit but do not fully exploit it and it remains untapped, in inaccessible locations or formats.This NERC Knowledge Exchange Fellowship is focused primarily on two efforts. The first is increasing connections between the health sector and atmospheric researchers, and the speed at which knowledge in one area can be fed into the other and then into public policy. The second is to develop commercial markets for integration of air quality datasets (focused on particulates) with health data, where they will be in accessible formats and can be easily filtered temporally and spatially and easily displayed and interpreted using standard geographic information system (GIS) technologies.At the University of Leicester, and with the support of the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) and the National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO), we are well positioned to leverage NERC's investment in aerosol and air quality science for maximized public benefit for health. Since 2000 over 10 million pounds of NERC funding has been invested in air quality research at the university. And equally importantly, Leicester is a national centre for the health sector, and there are strong existing links in health research at the university into the NHS, through for example, the NHS National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit (BRU) and the NHS NIHR Diet, Lifestyle, and Physical Activity BRU. So Leicester is an obvious place to bridge the gap between NERC atmospheric science and the health sector specifically on the health effects of particulates and other pollutants.While other avenues for knowledge exchange are certain to emerge during the course of this fellowship, an important output of the proposed work is the development of a commercial strategy incorporation of existing air quality data sets into health data compatible formats through the Open Health Data journal http://openhealthdata.metajnl.com/ (Ubiquity Press). Editor-in-chief Dr. Jonathan Tedds, Director of Health and Research Data Informatics at the University of Leicester has expressed his enthusiastic support of this effort and is keen to invest his skills, experience, and computational and data management resources in assisting me in executing the work. A major big data coordination effort is necessary to specify data formats, liaise with data producers, solicit investment, and develop commercial relationships to enable this activity.[3] http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/apr/02/pupils-indoors-lunch-smog-uk-government-adviser[4] http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/london-air-pollution-saharan-dust-smog-leads-to-surge-in-999-calls-9234692.html