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RESPONSE OF REGIONAL AIR QUALITY TO SEVERE DROUGHT
Impact/Purpose:
Three categories of drought-induced changes in natural systems will be examined:
- Changes in biogenic emissions caused by changes in land cover and changes in water availability due to drought
- Changes in dry deposition caused by changes in land cover and changes in stomatal resistances due to drought
- Changes in atmospheric mixing heights and atmospheric water content caused by changes in soil moisture due to drought
Drought induced changes in agricultural operations will also be examined
- Changes in ammonia emissions, dry deposition, and biogenic emissions caused by changes in agricultural operations due to drought
Each of these four categories of drought induced changes will be examined individually, and in combination. While these are not the only changes that might influence air quality in response to drought, they are potentially some of the most important, and understanding the direction magnitude, and synergies between these effects will help advance our understanding of how air quality will respond to severe drought.
Description:
Severe droughts are a recurring phenomenon throughout the southwestern United States, and most climate models suggest that these droughts will become more severe as climate changes in response to increased concentrations of greenhouse gases and other radiative forcing species in the atmosphere. Results from the US Global Change Research Program suggest that Texas will see substantially decreased rainfall during summer and fall under future climate scenarios, making the State an appropriate test bed for examining how air quality will respond to drought.