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The Role of Ozone Transport in the Washington DC Area

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The Role of Ozone Transport in the Washington DC Area

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    1. Page 1 The Role of Ozone Transport in the Washington DC Area Tad Aburn and Jeff Stehr, MDE and UMCP Transportation Planning Board February 18, 2004

    2. Page 2 Topics Covered Transport 101- Where does Maryland’s poor air quality come from Background on Maryland’s air quality The role of “transported” pollution Transport 201 – The three types of transport Short-range transport Westerly transport Low level night time jets

    3. Page 3 Maryland’s Air Quality Ozone levels in Maryland are very high Fine particulate levels are high Air pollution contributes significantly to Bay pollution Regional haze and air toxics are also significant air pollution problems in Maryland

    4. Page 4

    5. Page 5 Fine Particulate Percent of Monitors Above the Annual Standard

    6. Page 6 Nitrogen Deposition to the Chesapeake Bay

    7. Page 7 A Quick Primer on How Ground Level Ozone is Formed

    8. Page 8 Are Our Emissions Higher Than Other Areas?

    9. Page 9 Are Our Emissions Higher Than Other States?

    10. Page 10 So Where Does It Come From? Air pollution floating in from other states (called transport) is a significant contributor to our air pollution problems Maryland – the meteorologically challenged state MDE/UMCP Aircraft that measure “incoming” pollution Models that predict state by state contributions

    11. Page 11 Classic Ozone Weather in the Mid-Atlantic

    12. Page 12 Power Plant Emissions

    13. Page 13 How Much Comes From Out of State? MDE works in partnership with the University of Maryland – College Park to measure and analyze pollution being transported into Maryland On our worst days we measure ozone at 110 parts per billion (ppb) floating into the state from the West The 1-hour standard is 125 ppb

    14. Page 14 Who is Contributing to Maryland’s Ozone Problem?

    15. Page 15 Are Local or Regional Reductions Better? In Maryland, our technical analyses show that on our worst days Local reductions are not very good at reducing local ozone. In other areas, like Atlanta, local reductions seem to be much more effective On days where our ozone is more “home grown” local reductions are more important Not our worst days, but we often see high ozone

    16. Page 16 Transport 201 The different types of transport The elevated ozone reservoir Short range transport Westerly transport Low level night time jets

    17. Page 17 Is It Just Power Plants or are There Other Types of Transport? Maryland’s location places us at the “air pollution crossroads” when if comes to transport. Air pollution floats to us from the west and the south. Sometimes the air pollution we transport to the north actually “re-circulates” back to us. Power plants, cars and area sources are all involved in the transport process

    18. Page 18 Three Types of Transport That Affect Maryland Short range VA to MD to PA, etc. Long range (synoptic scale) 100s of miles Generally from W or NW Low Level Night-time Jets 100s of miles SW to NE along the Atlantic All types of transport collect in an “elevated reservoir” of ozone

    19. Page 19 The Elevated Ozone Reservoir Every bad ozone day, before any new ozone has been formed, a large reservoir of ozone sits above Maryland waiting to mix down. Ozone levels in the reservoir can routinely reach 80 to 100 ppb

    20. Page 20 What Creates the Reservoir? At night the earth cools and a “nocturnal inversion” is created several hundred meters above the surface Ozone, created earlier in the day is trapped above the inversion and moved to the north by night-time jets. Ozone below the inversion drops to very low levels.

    21. Page 21 Ground Level Ozone at Night

    22. Page 22 Regional Scale Ozone

    23. Page 23 Where Does the Reservoir Come From? The elevated ozone reservoir above Maryland is a complex mix of pollution that originated in the west (primarily power plants) and the south (cars, area sources and stationary sources)

    24. Page 24 Short Range Transport Central VA to DC DC to Baltimore Baltimore to PA Ground level winds from the southwest to the northeast Emissions from cars, area sources and stationary sources float to the northeast and add to high ozone levels downwind

    25. Page 25 Westerly Transport On Maryland’s worst ozone days “westerly transport” plays a significant role in creating high ozone.

    26. Page 26 Classic Ozone Weather in the Mid-Atlantic

    27. Page 27 Power Plant Emissions

    28. Page 28 Westerly Transport – What Does the Data Tell us About Its Origin?

    29. Page 29 Night time transport that moves air from NC to MD, MD to NJ, etc. The Jet is funneled northward by the Appalachians on the west and the Atlantic on the east Wind speeds up to 40 miles per hour can move pollution hundreds of miles overnight.

    30. Page 30

    31. Page 31

    32. Page 32 How Much Ozone May be in the Low Level Jet? Still analyzing this issue Theory and recent work by Penn State around Philadelphia (using laser technology called LIDAR) indicates that the low level jet can routinely carry 80 to 90 ppb ozone.

    33. Page 33 Take Home Messages The Washington areas air quality is significantly affected by transport from upwind areas to the west and the south On the worst ozone days well over half of the measured ozone in Washington originates in upwind states Sources that transport pollution to Washington include power plants, cars and area sources.

    34. Page 34 Policy Implications Current suite of NOx controls is good but more will be needed 2003/2004 “NOx SIP Call” 2007 Tier 2 vehicle and heavy duty diesel standards Congressional debate over “multi- pollutant” power plant legislation (Clear Skies Act, etc.) will be critical Low level jet issue raises some interesting new questions Should the “level playing field” for mobile and area source controls be stretched to the south?

    35. Page 35 Key Transportation Issues Are the mobile source reductions in the Washington area needed? Yes, on some days local mobile emissions drive our high ozone New, tougher standards for ozone and fine particulate begin in 2004 and will require even more controls

    36. Page 36 Key Transportation Issues (continued) Should areas to the south and west of the Washington area be subject to the same level of mobile source controls now require in DC? Yes, the playing field for mobile source controls should be leveled from Atlanta to Boston Maryland’s new low level jet research supports this

    37. Page 37 Key Transportation Issues (continued) Shouldn’t other sources (like power plants) be regulated better before local mobile sources are further controlled? Yes and no. MDE is pushing very hard for tougher controls on upwind power plants and areas sources. Local reductions still help!!! Conformity is required in the Clean Air Act With or without reductions in upwind areas

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