36 SEPTEMBER 2024 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL but for all locations that have embassies and consulates. The implementation of AI ushers in the potential to analyze vast amounts of data to identify pollution patterns and predict future trends. Thanks to machine learning and as we gather more data, the forecasts will improve over time. This new feature is available now on both the ZephAir mobile app and on the web-based analytics ZephAir dashboard at https://zephair.stategdi.cloud. Going Global with NASA In 2015 the Greening Diplomacy Initiative in State’s Office of Management Strategy and Solutions (M/SS) began tracking air quality at posts through our DOSAir monitoring program. DOSAir collects data on pollutant levels in the air using U.S.-made ground-based monitors that have been tested and verified to return trusted data, referred to in the industry as “reference grade.” The monitoring network provides informaAdvertisement for downloading ZephAir on iOS and Android mobile devices. Customizable home page of ZephAir dashboard. COURTESY OF MARY TRAN COURTESY OF MARY TRAN tion to the public in areas where there is otherwise a dearth of reliable, public air quality data. In 2020 we built ZephAir, the department’s first air quality mobile application, to provide an instant look at air quality in the cities where we have air quality monitors. The air quality monitoring program was a success, but GDI knew that there were still thousands of employees and millions of people who needed air quality information, and we knew we couldn’t meet the need alone. So we turned to another agency with a global—even universal—purview: NASA. We partnered with NASA Senior Scientist Dr. Pawan Gupta and the health and air quality applied sciences team to compete for a Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Science grant to develop an air quality forecasting capability for more than 260 cities, including all our diplomatic mission locations. The forecast uses artificial
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