Grantee Research Project Results
2011 Progress Report: Evaluation of Mobile Source Emissions and Trends Using Detailed Chemical and Physical Measurements
EPA Grant Number: R834553Title: Evaluation of Mobile Source Emissions and Trends Using Detailed Chemical and Physical Measurements
Investigators: Harley, Robert A. , Goldstein, Allen H. , Wood, Ezra
Current Investigators: Harley, Robert A. , Goldstein, Allen H.
Institution: University of California - Berkeley , Aerodyne Research Inc.
Current Institution: University of California - Berkeley
EPA Project Officer: Chung, Serena
Project Period: April 1, 2010 through March 31, 2014
Project Period Covered by this Report: April 1, 2011 through March 31,2012
Project Amount: $500,000
RFA: Novel Approaches to Improving Air Pollution Emissions Information (2009) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Particulate Matter , Air , Climate Change
Objective:
The overall objective is to evaluate mobile source emissions and trends over time. Both gasoline and diesel engine emissions were measured, and there was special emphasis on characterizing emission factor distributions for pollutants emitted by heavy-duty diesel trucks. Also, exhaust particulate emissions have been characterized in much greater detail than has been reported previously. This research includes as a major element a 2010 field study to measure current on-road diesel and gasoline vehicle emission rates and exhaust composition profiles, featuring new instrumentation for enhanced characterization of emission factor distributions.
Progress Summary:
In the first year of the project, gasoline and diesel-powered vehicle emissions were measured at the Caldecott tunnel in the San Francisco Bay area. We used fast-response instruments that could track the emissions of individual trucks as they drove through the tunnel. Data analysis of the fast response measurements has been completed, and we have reported on emission factor distributions for hundreds of individual trucks observed in our study. The distributions are skewed, with a small number of trucks contributing disproportionately to total emissions. Consideration of fleet-average emission factors in comparison to results from prior years will feed into assessments of long-term trends in motor vehicle emissions at local to national scales. We also have completed field and laboratory analysis of fuels, tunnel air, and filter samples to define the chemical composition of gas and particle-phase emissions from motor vehicles at a very high level of chemical detail. These data can be used to help apportion the overall burden of air pollution among various contributing sources.
Future Activities:
We will conduct further data analysis and reporting of results.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 19 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
gasoline, diesel, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, nitrogen dioxide, organic carbon speciation, black carbon, aerosol mass spectrometer.Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.