Citation:

Mathur, R., C. Hogrefe, J. Szykman, G. Hagler, A. Hakami, AND S. Zhao. Need and Potential Benefits of Improving Aloft Air Pollution Characterization: A Modeling Perspective. Chapter 22, Air Pollution Modeling and its Application XXVII. Springer, Heidelberg, Germany, , 139–144, (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-63760-9_21

Impact/Purpose:

We put forth the rationale for deploying an aloft air quality monitoring network that would provide continuous measurements of ozone (and potentially other species in the future) in the residual layer. Leveraging new technology developments, we outline a feasible strategy to achieve this. We demonstrate how these new measurements will address critical data gap in observations and modeling capabilities supporting air quality management.

Description:

Using process tendencies derived from the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model in conjunction with inferences from widespread surface measurements, we demonstrate that the amount of O3 entrained in the morning to the surface is an indicator of non-local (or background) pollution at a location and that continuous aloft residual-layer O3 measurements would provide a direct quantitative measure of this non-local contribution. We discuss how continuous aloft air pollution measurements can cost-effectively be achieved through leveraging recent technological advances to provide for the first time a complete regional view of nocturnal aloft O3. Calculations with the CMAQ-adjoint model further demonstrate that such measurements would be 3–4 times more effective than surface measurements in characterizing the surface-level daily maximum 8-h average ozone. Preliminary results from chemical data “nudging” experiments demonstrate the additional benefits of assimilating aloft O3 information in improving next day air quality forecasts.

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