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A Decade of Field Changing Atmospheric Aerosol Research: Outcomes of EPA’s STAR Program
Citation:
Wagstrom, K., K. Baker, AND S. Hunt. A Decade of Field Changing Atmospheric Aerosol Research: Outcomes of EPA’s STAR Program. Godon Research Conference, West Dover, VT, July 28 - August 02, 2013.
Impact/Purpose:
The prpose of this poster presentation is to show the impact of the body of work that resulted from two previous STR RFAs.
Description:
Conference: Gordon Research Conference in Atmospheric Chemistry, July 28 – August 2, 2013, VermontPresentation Type: PosterTitle: An Analysis of EPA’s STAR Program and a Decade of Field Changing Research in Atmospheric AerosolsAuthors: Kristina M. Wagstrom1,2, Sherri W. Hunt31Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT2AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow hosted by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Center for Environmental Research3U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Center for Environmental ResearchA number of studies in the past decade have transformed the way we think about atmospheric aerosols. The advances include, but are not limited to, source apportionment of organics using aerosol mass spectrometer data, the volatility basis set approach, quantifying isoprene oxidation, and understanding the role of aqueous oxidation of organics on SOA formation. A series of grants funded by EPA just under ten years ago supported many of these advances. These projects make up the body of work awarded under two solicitations released by the EPA’s Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program: “Measurement, Modeling, and Analysis Methods for Airborne Carbonaceous Fine Particulate Matter” (2003) and “Source Apportionment of Particulate Matter” (2004). Our goal is to present the impact of the STAR solicitations and to show how they have pushed the field forward and led to new questions.In particular, we will discuss how well the resulting science addressed many of the scientific questions posed in the original solicitations. The goals of these solicitations was to fund work that would improve the understanding of the sources, reactions, and physical processes impacting fine carbonaceous aerosols and to further the understanding and ability to evaluate source-receptor relationships associated with sources of all aerosol species. Projects within this portfolio addressed many aspects of ambient aerosol measurements leading to improvements in black carbon measurements and individual organic species separation. Investigators also provided the community with detailed oxidation mechanisms, SOA yields, and emissions rates for many biogenic organic gases. In addition, findings brought to light the importance of aqueous oxidation in the SOA formation process. One set of investigators proposed the volatility basis set which provides a new, efficient approach for modeling organic aerosols. Finally, this work provided many advances in the area of source apportionment including the development of a new approach to apply positive matrix factorization to AMS data allowing for more comprehensive source analysis of organics. The application of modeling techniques such as the Decoupled Direct Method, a sensitivity method, to regional air quality models has improved the suite of tools available to policy makers.The aerosol science community has continued to build upon the work funded through these solicitations and is providing answers to many of the new questions that emerged. Our poster will focus on how the projects tied into the solicitations and unforeseen opportunities that arose rather than only giving an overview of the scientific advances.