The United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced recently that it will collaborate with Philippines’ research agencies to conduct a comprehensive study on weather and climate science.

In a statement, the USs’ space agency said that it will work with Manila Observatory Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) and the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) for the study dubbed as the Cloud, Aerosol, and Monsoon Processes Philippines Experiment (CAMP2Ex).

NASA noted that the study is aiming to tackle the “most difficult weather and climate phenomena to understand, monitor and forecast” and revealed that it launched a P-3B science aircraft over the Philippines on Sunday to start a two-month long probe on the impact that smoke from fires and pollution on clouds.

The US-based research facility said this was a key factor in improving weather and climate forecasts.

According to NASA’s U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) research meteorologist Jeffrey Reid, the CAMP2Ex would help in understanding atmospheric composition and weather predictions.

“Numerous studies have linked the presence of pollution and smoke from agricultural fires and fires from deforestation to changes in cloud and storm properties, but we lack the observations of the actual mechanisms taking place,” Reid said.

“CAMP2Ex provides a much-needed crucible for satellite observing systems and model predictions to monitor and understand how atmospheric composition and weather interact,” he added.