Gore-led Climate TRACE expands to map neighborhood soot pollution with satellites and AI
The Climate TRACE project now tracks soot pollution sources in 2,500 cities worldwide, identifying 137,095 sources and 3,937 super emitters with a network of 300 satellites and 30,000 ground sensors, aiming for daily updates within a year.
NEW YORK — A Climate TRACE expansion will enable tracking of soot pollution at the neighborhood level across 2,500 cities worldwide. The nonprofit coalition led by former Vice President Al Gore said the system now uses 300 satellites, 30,000 ground sensors and artificial intelligence to identify where particle pollution originates and how it spreads within communities.
It catalogs 137,095 sources of particulate pollution, including 3,937 designated as super emitters. The platform allows users to examine long-term trends, and Gore said daily updates are expected within about a year so the data could feed into weather apps and allergy reports. The system also makes visible who is spewing the pollution.
Although soot is not a climate gas in itself, its emissions come from the same fossil fuel combustion that powers greenhouse gas pollution. Gore described the shared origin and cited a trip along Cancer Alley to illustrate scale; Climate TRACE's analysis showed that if that corridor were a nation, its per-capita warming emissions would rank among the top in the world.
Geographically, the coalition’s early findings point to high exposure in several dense urban regions. Karachi, Pakistan, had the most people exposed to soot pollution, followed by Guangzhou, China; Seoul, South Korea; New York City; and Dhaka, Bangladesh, according to Climate TRACE data.
Gore said the project aims to empower residents by making pollution sources more transparent. The approach blends satellite observations, ground sensors, and machine learning to infer both where emissions originate and how plumes travel. In the near term, users can study historical trends; within about a year, daily updates could be integrated into consumer-facing tools such as weather dashboards.
Industry observers say the expansion underscores how pollution data is increasingly used to inform public awareness and accountability, particularly in regions with sparse traditional air-quality monitoring.