Exposures to combustion sources near military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan using satellite observations.

ABSTRACT:

Background

U.S. military personnel deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq were stationed on bases impacted by airborne hazards including emissions from combustion sources. Due to limited environmental monitoring during military operations, exposure levels remain poorly characterized.

Objective

We used satellite observations to identify the locations and persistence of combustion sources on and near military bases in Afghanistan and Iraq from 2002 to 2012, the peak period of open-air combustion.

Methods

Daily fire detections from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) were clustered using density-based methods to identify persistent burning within 5 km of bases. Validation was conducted using military imagery and Google Earth. A sensitivity analysis compar

SUBMITTER: Franklin M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12637216 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature