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The National Near-Road Mobile Source Air Toxics Study: Las Vegas
Citation:
KIMBROUGH, E. S., R. C. SHORES, D. A. WHITAKER, W. A. MITCHELL, R. W. BALDAUF, A. F. VETTE, D. A. VALLERO, C. W. CROGHAN, G. HAGLER, J. HIRTZ, V. Martinez, AND K. Black. The National Near-Road Mobile Source Air Toxics Study: Las Vegas. In Proceedings, 103rd Annual Conference of the Air & Waste Management Association, Calgary, AB, CANADA, June 22 - 25, 2010. Air & Waste Management Association, Pittsburgh, PA, Paper #553, (2010).
Impact/Purpose:
conference paper
Description:
EPA, in collaboration with FHWA, has been involved in a large-scale monitoring research study in an effort to characterize highway vehicle emissions in a near-road environment. The pollutants of interest include particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5), mobile source air toxics (MSATs) and black carbon as well as regulated gaseous pollutants. The primary objective of the research study is to determine PM2.5 and MSAT concentrations and variability as a function of distance from the highway. Relevant factors include highway vehicle activity, such as traffic counts, vehicle types and speeds. Moreover, the effects of meteorological conditions such as wind speed and wind direction are important considerations. Specifically, the data will be used to address the following goals: 1. Identify the existence and extent of elevated air pollutants near roads. 2. Determine how vehicle operations and local meteorology influence near-road air quality for criteria and toxic air pollutants. 3. Collect data that will be useful in evaluating and refining, if necessary, models used to determine the emissions and dispersion of motor vehicle related pollutants near roadways. The study design, based on a detailed monitoring protocol that was developed to ensure a uniformity of measurements across study cities, calls for consecutive year-long studies to be conducted in three cities (Las Vegas, NV; Detroit, MI; and tentatively Raleigh, NC). The first study city is Las Vegas, NV, with data covering December, 2008-December, 2009.
URLs/Downloads:
AWMA Website
1068, KIMBROUGH, AWMA.PDF (PDF, NA pp, 116 KB, about PDF)
Conference Information