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Air Pollution in the Mid-Atlantic Region: Act Locally, Think Globally

Air Pollution in the Mid-Atlantic Region: Act Locally, Think Globally. Russell Dickerson et al. Department of Meteorology University of Maryland College Park. Maryland Climate Workshop August 7, 2003. Motivation. Third worst ozone in America: Anne Arundel County, MD

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Air Pollution in the Mid-Atlantic Region: Act Locally, Think Globally

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  1. Air Pollution in the Mid-Atlantic Region: Act Locally, Think Globally Russell Dickerson et al. Department of Meteorology University of Maryland College Park Maryland Climate Workshop August 7, 2003

  2. Motivation • Third worst ozone in America: Anne Arundel County, MD • Mortality increases 0.5% for each 10 mg m-3 PM2.5 • Double in Northeast. • Spatial scales larger than we thought. • Need a full tool box to fix the problem. • Avoid major strategic blunders.

  3. Donora, PA

  4. Washington, DC Annual mean visibility across the United states (Data acquired from the IMPROVE network)

  5. The mean number of exceedances over the last 12 years is 10 days per year. 2001 with 9 exceedances, was an average year. Like 2000, July of 2001 was quite cool.

  6. The mean number of exceedances over the last 12 years is 10 days per year. 2001 with 9 exceedances, was an average year. 2002 was an unusually hot year.

  7. Good News

  8. The ambient EC concentration decreased ~50% in 11 yr.

  9. Smog Machine Smog O3 PAN etc NOx, VOCs CO2, H2O, HNO3 NO NO2 NO2 NO

  10. What are we doing about it?

  11. Observations Surface: Shenandoah National Park, VA Fort Meade, MD Philadelphia, PA Greenbelt, MD Aloft Aztec Aircraft Profiler Sondes Remote (NASA) TES/OMI etc. MOPITT (CO) TOMS (O3) MODIS (particles) GOME (SO2, NO2…) SCIAMACHY Input Emissions Inventories Emissions Models (Chem Engineering) Balanced Theory & Observations(Regional Atmospheric Measurement Modeling & Prediction Program) MM5 Dynamical Model 4-km Resolution Forecasting Models 3 Modular Open Code Collaborative w/EPA Photochem. Aerosols Transport Deposition

  12. Which air pollutants cause trouble? O3, PM2.5 (NOx, VOC, SO2 areprecursors). • Why is smog (ozone) still a problem? • Cleaner cars, but more cars, grandfathered industry, NOx emissions remain constant. • Where does our air pollution come from? Roughly 1/3 background, 1/3 regional, 1/3 local? (nonlinear problem).

  13. GPS Position(°Lat, °Long) Meteorology (T, RH, Pr, Palt) Carbon Monoxide (CO) Ozone (O3) Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) Aerosol Optical Properties: Absorption,Bap (565 nm) Scattering,Bscat(450,550,700 nm) GPS Winds(AIMMS-10 u,v components) Aerosol Chemistry (PIXIE Streaker) Aerosol Particle Size (MetOne) 6 cuts – Range 0.3-1.0 m Aztec-F Research Aircraft N500Z

  14. Westerly transport is often present when the highest ozone is observed in Maryland.

  15. Power Plant NOx

  16. Fort Meade, MD

  17. Inorganic compounds ~50% (by mass) Carbonaceous material ~40% (by mass) Summer: Sulfate dominates. Winter: Nitrate/carbonaceous particles play bigger roles.

  18. Boundary Layer Height During Stable Conditions (High Pressure) 2 Free Atmosphere Layer Planetary Boundary Height (km) Residual Layer Mixed Layer 1 Mixed Layer Low Level Jet Stable Nocturnal Boundary Layer 0 surface layer surface layer surface layer afternoon sunset midnight sunrise noon

  19. Location and Extent of Low-Level Jet Because of its relatively thin vertical scale and inopportune temporal profile, determining the morphology low level jet until recently has been challenging. Low Level Jet Boundary layer wind profilers, aircraft work and finer scale numerical models are helping resolve the phenomenon.

  20. Do emissions estimates agree with observations?

  21. Ethene/VOC, Essex, MD…. 20 km x 20 km area 28 km x 28 km area

  22. Ratio of gasoline VOC/total VOC PAMS site cell 12 km x 12 km area

  23. MODIS: August 9, 2001 Highest Ozone of the Summer “RGB” Aerosol Optical Depth at 550 nm Phili Phili Balt Balt GSFC GSFC AOT 0.8 0.0

  24. Ozone: Surface Network vs TOMS  

  25. Surface Analysis 00 UTC Aug 9, 2001 • Note front through New England • Trof over Mid-Atlantic

  26. Take-Home Message on Transport of Pollutants Areas of Influence All three modes of transport are important when the highest pollution values are observed in Maryland. • Large scale ~ 800 km (~70-100 ppbv) • (Much of the Eastern US) • Medium scale ~ 200- 800 km • (Carolinas to New England Region) • Small scale ~ 100 km • (N. Virginia to Baltimore, • Baltimore to Philadelphia)

  27. Conclusions • Scale of problem large, but resolution needed great. • Much of air pollution imported from out of state. • PM2.5 regional in summer, local in winter. • PM2.5 & O3 may be related by more than. • Will NOx reductions, by reducing oxidants, be more effective than SO2 for reducing PM2.5? • Role of agriculture could be major. • Balanced theory and experiment most powerful.

  28. Discussion Topics • What is the most efficient way to improve air quality and reduce greenhouse forcing in MD? • NOx, SO2, NH3, VOC’s, all? • What is role of local vs regional emissions? • How will Maryland’s climate change? • What is the role of remote sensing in science/policy air pollution? • Policy: What are the nonlinearities lurking about? SO4 vs NO3, het chemistry, UV flux, NH3. • Emissions factors & inventories. • What can we do right? What needs improvement?

  29. Acknowledgements UMD Richard Calabrese, ENCH YuJin Choi, ENCH Bruce Doddridge, METO Sheryl Ehrman, ENCH Robert Hudson, METO Jennifer Hains, CHEM Lackson Marufu, METO Charles Piety, METO Jeff Stehr, METO Brett Taubman, CHEM Da-Lin Zhang, METO NASA/GSFC Holben, Kaufman, Levy, Thompson

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