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89th AMS Annual Meeting January 15, 2009

An Assessment of Air Quality in the Houston region: Investigating the ability to infer surface PM 2.5 from remote sensing measurements and examining possible aerosol sources. DEVELOP National Program NASA Langley Research Center.

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89th AMS Annual Meeting January 15, 2009

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  1. An Assessment of Air Quality in the Houston region:Investigating the ability to infer surface PM2.5 from remote sensing measurements and examining possible aerosol sources DEVELOP National Program NASA Langley Research Center 89th AMS Annual Meeting January 15, 2009 11th Conference on Atmospheric Chemistry Session 10: Air pollution in mega cities in the world

  2. DEVELOP National ProgramNASA Langley Research Center Principal Investigators: Rebecca Legatt – University of Alaska - Fairbanks Amy Sanders – The Pennsylvania State University Erin Roberts – Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Laura Lynaugh – University of Virginia Derek Doddridge – Tabb High School Brianna Baxley – Grafton High School Science Advisor: Richard A. Ferrare, Ph.D. - NASA Langley Research Center

  3. Outline • Community Concerns • Objectives • Phase One: verification and validation • Phase Two: aerosol events and sources • Conclusions • Future Work

  4. Community Concerns Air Quality • High PM2.5 (particulate matter) concentrations in the Houston area • Associated health risks • Sources of PM2.5 in Houston region

  5. Objectives • Improve analysis methods for forecasting surface PM2.5 concentrations in the Houston area • Investigate ground-truth of satellite observations • Analyze peak aerosol events • Research PM2.5 aerosol sources

  6. Phase One Outline • Show that AOD values can be highly variable • Displayed through Aqua/Terra images • Prove that ground-truth can be improved through several methods • Changing size of interest region • Including planetary boundary layer (PBL) height

  7. Phase One • Compared Aqua and Terra AOD • High correlation analysis: Sept. 13th, 2006 • Ground-truth analysis of Terra AOD with surface PM2.5 • Verified with available High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) measurements from Aug. – Sept. 2006

  8. Phase One Results Houston Houston • Terra vs. Aqua AOD visualizations

  9. Phase One Results

  10. Phase One • Further research to find a stronger correlation between surface and satellite measurements • Decreased the size of interest region • Modeled J. Al Saadi’s study and divided by the planetary boundary layer (PBL) height

  11. Phase One Results Region of Interest Houston Latitude Surface Stations within 8 miles Longitude

  12. Phase Two Outline • Several sources of AOD in Houston region • Local Sources • Foreign Sources • Many tools combined can backtrack possible AOD sources • Aqua/Terra visualization • HYSPLIT model • CALIPSO curtain plot

  13. Phase Two • Visualized AOD with Terra satellite image • High AOD values on Aug. 28th, 2006 • Utilized HYSPLIT to provide possible back trajectories to emission sources • Verified high AOD values with CALIPSO curtain plot • Dust signature supported Saharan dust arrival on Aug. 28th, 2006.

  14. Phase Two Results August 28, 2006 Terra AOD 10:30 A.M. Houston Latitude

  15. Phase Two Results

  16. Phase Two Results

  17. Phase Two Results

  18. Phase Two Results Aug 27 8 UTC

  19. Phase Two Results August 28, 2006 Terra AOD 10:30 A.M. Houston Latitude Longitude HYSPLIT initialization Points CALIPSO track Possible dust Aug 27 8 UTC

  20. Conclusions • AOD values can change relatively quickly • 3 hour time difference between Terra and Aqua showed large variance • Could be weather-related • Low PM2.5/AOD correlation can be improved • Decrease region of interest • Divide by PBL height • Utilizing multiple tools can provide back trajectories for AOD sources

  21. Future Work • Investigate local mesoscale and microscale meteorological features • Look into horizontal and temporal aerosol variability • Study ozone concentrations in the region • Focus in on specific emission sites

  22. Future Work Provide legislators with information to make informed decisions concerning air quality for the Houston region and beyond

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