Grantee Research Project Results
2012 Progress Report: Response of Regional Air Quality to Severe Drought
EPA Grant Number: R835191Title: Response of Regional Air Quality to Severe Drought
Investigators: Allen, David T. , McDonald-Buller, Elena , McGaughey, Gary , Huang, Ling , Kimura, Yosuke
Current Investigators: Allen, David T. , McDonald-Buller, Elena , McGaughey, Gary , Zheng, Jeff , Huang, Ling , Kimura, Yosuke
Institution: The University of Texas at Austin
EPA Project Officer: Chung, Serena
Project Period: June 1, 2012 through May 31, 2015 (Extended to May 31, 2016)
Project Period Covered by this Report: June 1, 2012 through May 31,2013
Project Amount: $750,000
RFA: Extreme Event Impacts on Air Quality and Water Quality with a Changing Global Climate (2011) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Air Quality and Air Toxics , Climate Change , Watersheds , Air , Water
Objective:
Droughts can occur over most parts of the world and vary substantially, in intensity, severity, duration, spatial extent, and frequency. Throughout the southwestern United States, severe droughts are a recurring phenomenon. Most climate models suggest that these droughts will become more severe in the future as climate changes in response to increased concentrations of greenhouse gases and other radiative forcing species in the atmosphere. The 2011 Texas drought resulted in record agricultural losses and was associated with the worst year for wildfires in Texas history. As drought is predicted to occur more frequently within the state, which also faces requirements to achieve and maintain attainment with the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone in several large metropolitan areas, it is important to understand the effects of drought on regional air quality. The objective of this project is to advance the understanding of the effects of drought-induced changes in natural systems, including biogenic emissions and dry deposition from vegetation, and changes in agricultural practices on Texas air quality.
Progress Summary:
Future Activities:
The second year of the project will focus on completion of the WRF meteorological simulations, which will be used to analyze the impact of drought on atmospheric parameters (e.g., temperatures, clouds, mixing heights) through inter-comparisons of results for representative dry and wet years. Sensitivity studies will explore inter-annual variations in predicted biogenic emissions in eastern Texas using MEGAN, as well as the driving variables that influence emissions estimates in climatological average, wet, and drought years. Similar studies will explore inter-annual variations in predicted dry deposition velocities and component surface resistances in Texas using the Zhang and Wesely/Slinn algorithms for dry deposition. A review of emerging science in the literature on the impacts of drought on stomatal conductance, including factors such species-specific variability in growth rate and recovery, will be conducted. Results from the sensitivity studies with the biogenic and dry deposition models will be selected, and initial simulations that will examine the effects on air quality with the Comprehensive Air Quality Model with Extensions (CAMx) will be prepared.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 11 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
Biogenic emissions, drought, dry deposition, ozone, particulate matterProgress 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.