By Crisdeniele H. Clemente

The Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) carried out a site inspection at Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) today, November 14, to evaluate the feasibility of installing in the campus one of its four Pandora instruments, an air quality monitoring device designed to enhance air quality observation, forecasting, and research.

PhilSA Science Specialists Michael Angelo Valete and Og Locaba visited the National Bioenergy Research and Innovation Center, the Ferdinand E. Marcos Hall, Crops Research Laboratory, Teatro Ilocandia, and the Meteorology Laboratory.

The installation of the device could potentially facilitate research and development initiatives on air pollution and remote sensing at the university. This could then benefit meteorology and environmental science students who can leverage the data for their studies.

Expressing keen interest, MMSU Academic Affairs Vice President Prima Fe Franco stated, "This perfectly aligns perfectly with our commitment to providing our students and faculty with the tools to thrive in research and innovation."

The site checkup is an extension of the Pan-Asia Partnership for Geospatial Air Pollution Information Pan-Asia Network Philippines (PAGPAGI-PAN Ph) which is an offshoot of the partnership between the Republic of the Philippines, through PhilSA, and the Republic of Korea, through the Korea International Cooperation Agency. Particularly, the collaboration aims to monitor the air quality of the country using the Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer device. 

If the installation proceeds, MMSU would contribute to the nationwide effort to enhance air quality monitoring.

Last year, PhilSA brought the PINAS workshop in MMSU. The Philippine Space Agency Integrated Network for Space-enabled Actions toward Sustainability promoted mobilization space data for information-based action. (HLY/JVBT, StratCom)