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PREFACE: SPECIAL ISSUE OF ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT ON FINDINGS FROM EPA'S PARTICULATE MATTER SUPERSITES PROGRAM
Citation:
Solomon, P A. PREFACE: SPECIAL ISSUE OF ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT ON FINDINGS FROM EPA'S PARTICULATE MATTER SUPERSITES PROGRAM. ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 38(20):3101-3106, (2004).
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 Supersites Program is a methods development and evaluation, measurements, modeling, and data analysis program designed to provide key stakeholders in the science, regulatory, and policy communities with information to support primarily implementation of National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The program also supports health communities by providing essential information on the components of PM and PM precursors and the fate and accumulation of PM in air. The papers presented in this special peer-reviewed journal issue represent a small sub-set of papers being published by the Supersites Projects and represents one of 4 special journal issues published to date. The preface provides a synthesis of the papers within by summarizing key atmospheric sciences findings based on the results presented within and then from those key findings identifying key policy relevant and health relevant findings. The preface represents a first step in an overall synthesis of results from the Supersites Program and Related Studies.