Grantee Research Project Results
Southern Center For the Integrated Study of Secondary Air Pollutants (SCISSAP)
EPA Grant Number: R826372Title: Southern Center For the Integrated Study of Secondary Air Pollutants (SCISSAP)
Investigators: Chameides, William L.
Current Investigators: Chameides, William L. , Zika, Rod G. , McMurry, Peter H. , Russell, Armistead G.
Institution: Georgia Institute of Technology
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: April 1, 1998 through March 31, 2001
Project Amount: $3,000,000
RFA: Special Opportunity in Tropospheric Ozone (1997) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Air Quality and Air Toxics , Air
Description:
The central scientific objectives will be to provide a better understanding of: (i) the sources and dynamics of 03 and PM2.5 in the southern United States; (ii) the physical and chemical processes, and emissions that couple O3 and PM2.5; and (iii) the combined effects of various emission control strategies on O3 and PM2.5. Specifically, four central major and interrelated scientific questions will be addressed: 1) What is the concentration and composition of PM2.5 in urban and rural locales in the South and to what extent do temporal and spatial variations in these parameters correlate with those of O3 and its precursor compounds? 2) What are the major precursor compounds and sources for PM2.5 in urban and rural locales in the South and to what extent do these compounds and sources correspond to/correlate with the sources of natural and anthropogenic O3 precursors (i.e., VOC and NOx)? 3) How are the formation rates and concentrations of O3 and PM2.5, as well as the PM2.5 composition affected by the relative emissions and concentrations of NOx, SOx, NH3, and VOC species; and what are the mechanisms responsible for these relationships? 4) To what extent do the mechanisms elucidated above affect the formulation of an integrated control strategy for O3 and PM2.5; and do our findings suggest an "optimum" strategy for addressing both pollutants? In the process, SCISSAP will work on the development, evaluation, and application of analytical tools, methods, and models that can ultimately become available to the regulatory communities tasked with the management of secondary air pollutants.Approach:
The research will be coordinated through two collaborating, multi-institutional teams from Duke University, the Universities of Minnesota, Alabama-Huntsville, New Hampshire, and Miami as well as Georgia Tech and the larger Science Team of the Southern Oxidants Study (SOS). The Numerical Modeling Team will focus on the further development and evaluation of variable-mesh, eulerian chemical transport models (CTMs) for simulating photochemical O3 and PM2.5 on regional and urban scales, using data collected by SCISSAP and related field studies. Specific emphasis will be given to the definition of a framework and procedure for evaluating CTMs, and then applying these to 3 CTMs, including a Models-3 prototype. An evaluation of modules for treating PM2.5 and the incorporation of these modules into Models-3 and other CTMs will also be undertaken. The Field Measurements Team's major activity will be to design, and help implement and coordinate a rural/urban surface monitoring network for PM2.5 and its chemical composition and O3 and its precursors in the southeastern United States. As envisioned, this network would integrate surface monitoring activities of state regulatory agencies in the region with those of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the National Parks Service, and the Southern Company, as well as SCISSAP. In the summer of 1999, the SCISSAP Field Measurements Team will collaborate with the larger SOS research community Science Team on a in the southeast incorporating both surface and airborne chemical and physical measurements, as well as the testing, intercalibration, and evaluation of new technologies for characterizing the chemical and physical characteristics of PM2.5 in the urban and rural atmosphere. In the summer of 2000, the SCISSAP Field Measurements Team will provide ancillary surface measurements for a follow-on SOS-designed Regional O3/Fine Particle Intensive Field Study. The SCISSAP Numerical Modeling and Field Measurements Teams will coalesce and work together during the planning phases of the field measurement campaigns and the analysis of the data from these campaigns.Expected Results:
At the end of the 3-year funding period, it is envisioned that the Regional Center will have: (i) Added significantly to the existing database on fine particles and their relationship to photochemical oxidant chemistry in the South; (ii) Better defined the sources and precursors of fine particles and O3 in contrasting urban and rural locales in the South; (iii) Improved understanding of the mechanisms that couple O3 and fine particles and incorporated these into a variable mesh CTM; (iv) Developed and applied more rigorous methods for evaluating CTMs used in air quality applications; and (v) Provided data, improved instrumentation, modeling tools, and scientific insights critical to the design of an integrated control strategy for O3 and fine particle pollution in the South.Publications and Presentations:
Publications have been submitted on this project: View all 54 publications for this projectJournal Articles:
Journal Articles have been submitted on this project: View all 31 journal articles for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
Air, ozone, particulates, modeling, monitoring, measurement methods, South., RFA, Scientific Discipline, Air, particulate matter, Environmental Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, tropospheric ozone, Atmospheric Sciences, environmental monitoring, ambient ozone data, ozone occurrence, precursor compounds, fine particles, VOCs, air pollution models, air quality data, chemical composition, chemical transport model, atmospheric chemical cycles, chemical kinetics, atmospheric monitoring, Center for Study of Secondary Air Pollutants, field measurements, secondary air pollutants, fine particulate formation, ambient aerosol particlesRelevant Websites:
http://www.wlc.eas.gatech.edu/scissap/
http://www.wlc.eas.gatech.edu/supersite/
Progress and Final Reports:
The 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.