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RESEARCH AREA -- MOBILE SOURCE EMISSIONS (EMISSIONS CHARACTERIZATION AND PREVENTION BRANCH, APPCD, NRMRL)
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Description:
The objective of this program is to characterize mobile source emissions which are one of the largest sources of tropospheric ozone precursor emissions (CO, NOx, and volotile organic compounds) in the U.S. The research objective of the Emissions Characterization and Prevention Branch's (ECPB's)mobile emissions characterization team is to develop and validate an air pollutant emissions estimation model for highway vehicles to gain a better understanding of the complex relationships between vehicle activity factors and emissions. In cooperation with ECPB's research partners at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the North Carolina Department of Transportation, the model is being implemented for the Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina. The model, the Mobile Emissions Assessment System for Urban and Regional Evaluation, is built in a Geographic Information System framework and goes beyond the capabilities of traditional mobile emissions models by estimating emissions for specific vehicle and engine operating modes (engine starts, acceleration, deceleration, idling etc.). The premise is that this approach can produce more accurate estimates of actual on-road emissions, provide better spatial and temporal resolution of the emissions, and be sensitive to how changes in highway design and functional characteristics affect emissions rates. The model can be used to produce more accurate emissions data for input to air quality dispersion models and the evaluation of the effectiveness of alternative mobile source emissions control scenarios. To support model development and validation, the team develops data acquisition strategies and conducts field studies to collect real-world vehicle activity and emissions data. The team employs remote sensing devices, automobiles and trucks equipped with on-board instrumentation, and other techniques to collect these data. For more information regarding this research area, visit the website at (http://www.epa.gov/appcdwww/crb/ecpb/mobile.htm). To access directly from this website, click on downloads on the navigation bar.