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PREFACE TO SPECIAL SECTION: SOUTHERN OXIDANTS STUDY 1999 ATLANTA SUPERSITE PROJECT (SOS3)
Citation:
Solomon, P A., E. Cowling, AND R. Weber. PREFACE TO SPECIAL SECTION: SOUTHERN OXIDANTS STUDY 1999 ATLANTA SUPERSITE PROJECT (SOS3). JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH: ATMOSPHERES 108(D7):SOS 0-1, (2003).
Impact/Purpose:
The PM Supersites Program is an ambient monitoring program intended to address the scientific uncertainties associated with fine particulate matter. The main objectives of the Supersites Program are as follows: 1) characterize particulate matter in a way that contributes to the understanding of source-receptor relationships and supports development of State Implementation Plans (SIPs), 2) develop and test advanced measurement methods for potential use in national monitoring networks, and 3) support health and exposure studies by providing detailed chemical and physical data at one or more central monitoring sites.
The specific objectives of this task are to provide scientific review and coordination of the technical aspects of the Supersites Program. This includes coordination among all Supersites projects and other projects which support Supersites objectives, overseeing of the data management, and coordinating the communication of data analysis and modeling results to the scientific community and other stakeholders. Products include a number of peer-reviewed journal articles (approaching 200 or more), final reports from each project, a relational database than includes not only Supersites data, but most aerometric data collected in the continental US and SE Canada during the period July 2001 to August 2002, and a policy relevant findings synthesis entitled Key and Policy Relevant Findings from the Supersites Program and Related Studies. Also supporting the synthesis is a major international conference where results will be presented from air quality methods, measurements, modeling, and data analysis studies with similar objectives to the Supersites program and during the time period of the Supersites Program, i.e., the last 5-7 years.
Description:
The Atlanta Supersites Project consisted of a one-month intensive field program to compare advanced methods for measurement of PM2.5 mass, chemical composition, including single particle composition in real-time, and aerosol precursor species. The project was the first of EPA's PM Supersites Program field research efforts and provided valuable information to follow-on Supersites Program projects conducted during 2000-2004. Results from the study also provided insights into source-receptor relationships impacting the site and atmospheric chemical and physical processes that result in PM accumulation in Atlanta, GA. The Atlanta Supersites Project was funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through a cooperative agreement (EPA #CR824849) with the Southern Oxidants Study under the direction of Dr. Ellis Cowling. The project was managed by faculty in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Georgia Tech with Dr. William Chameides as principal investigator. The intensive field measurements program took place during the month of August 1999 at the Jefferson St. site adjacent to the Georgia Power building in NW metro Atlanta. Since 1998, this same site has been operated as part of SEARCH and ARIES programs funded by EPRI, the Southern Company, and Georgia Power and maintains a measurement program of many important atmospheric variables that will continue to provide insight into possible adverse health effects associated with exposure to ambient urban PM concentrations. SEARCH provided extensive spatial information about PM and related variables throughout the southeastern US, while other coordinated efforts, e.g., ASACA, provided valuable spatial information within the Atlanta metropolitan area. The papers within this special issue provide details and intercomparions of results from filter based time-integrated aerosol measurements, continuous or semi-continuous methods for mass and PM components and precursors, and for the four particle mass spectrometers operated during the study. Other papers include aerosol characterization and chemistry, atmospheric modeling studies, and results from ASACA. The overview paper summarizes the study, its results, and provides a listing of all publications associated with the Atlanta Supersites Project that were known at the time of its submission to this special issue of Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency through its Office of Research and Development(funded and managed or partially funded and collaborated in) the research described here under (Assistance agreement No. CR824849) to the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA. It has been subjected to Agency review and approved for publication.