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Selected Research Projects |
| DRI Faculty: | Johann Engelbrecht (PI), Richard Tropp, Hampden Kuhns, Mark Green, John Watson |
| Title: | Source Apportionment Analysis of Air Quality Monitoring Data: Phase II |
| Sponsor(s): | MARAMA, (Mane-VU, LADCO) |
| Objectives-Results: | Source inventories, receptor modeling and back trajectory analyses are being conducted using more than ten years' data from the four IMPROVE sites at Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Lye Brook Wilderness Area, Shenandoah National Park, and Washington DC. The main goal of the study is to establish the sources of PM2.5 particulate matter, especially the secondary sulfates and secondary organics in the northeastern US. In the absence of adequate measured source profiles, modeled source profiles were generated applying Principal Components Analysis (PCA), Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) and UNMIX modeling. Modeled source profiles, together with averaged seasonal chemical data were used as input to the Chemical Mass Balance (CMB) receptor model. Although the PMF and UNMIX receptor models were able to resolve several source types, including vegetative burning, motor vehicle emissions, diesel vehicle emissions, coal fired power plant emissions, residual oil combustion, iron and steel industry emissions, geological and road dust as well as smelter emissions, the secondary organic profile could not be completely resolved. |
| DRI Faculty: | Alan Gertler (PI), Darko Koracin, John Lewis, Menachem Luria, John Sagebiel, William Stockwell |
| Title: | Development and Validation of a Predictive Model to Assess the Impact of Coastal Operations on Urban Scale Air Quality |
| Sponsor(s): | SERDP |
| Collaborator(s): | TVA, Naval Postgraduate School, NOAA |
| Objectives-Results: | The primary objective of this project is to develop and validate a prognostic modeling system capable of assessing the impact of coastal DoD operations on air quality. Included in this objective are the determination of primary and secondary pollutant concentrations, as well as their spatial and temporal variation. In addition, we hope to provide a tool that can be used to develop and implement effective strategies to reduce the impact of DoD operations on urban scale air quality. The technical approach involves linking state-of-the art meteorological, transport, and chemical modules into a hybrid model for the prediction of emissions, transport, transformation, and deposition in coastal regions. This approach couples the advantages of a Lagrangian random particle dispersion model with the advantages of a Eulerian chemical model and will be capable of predicting the impact of emissions from DoD facilities and operations on air quality in complex environments. We will also estimate the impact of emissions inventory and meteorological parameter uncertainty on the model predictions and validate the modeling system using real-world data obtained from a series of aircraft measurements performed in the San Diego area. |
| DRI Faculty: | John A. Gillies, Nick Lancaster (Co-PIs) |
| Title: | Relationships among Rangeland Vegetation Community Structure, Wind Erosion Processes, and Ecosystem Degradation |
| Sponsor(s): | U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program |
| Collaborator(s): | William Nickling, University of Guelph, |
| Objectives-Results: | The aim of this project is to carry out a field study to evaluate and constrain a shear stress partitioning model for sparsely vegetated rangelands. To evaluate the model parameters, the regional wind velocity regime and plant community geometry are measured. In addition, recently developed, field tested instrumentation allows for the independent and direct measurement of both surface and plant-borne shear stresses. This study will provide rigorous testing, evaluation, and validation of the shear stress partitioning model and allow it to be modified to accurately represent the effects of porous and sparsely distributed vegetation. |
| DRI Faculty: | John A. Gillies (Co-PI), Nick Lancaster (Lead Co-PI) |
| Title: | Aeolian Processes in the Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
| Sponsor(s): | National Science Foundation |
| Collaborator(s): | William Nickling, University of Guelph |
| Objectives-Results: | This research grant uses the unique natural laboratory provided by the McMurdo Dry Valleys to study fundamental processes associated with airflow and sediment transport by wind on rough surfaces. Understanding of these relations is necessary to develop realistic models that can predict the rate of wind transport of sediments in environments as diverse as rangelands threatened by reduced plant cover from human pressures and climate change, and most parts of the surface of Mars. |
| DRI Faculty: | Darko Koracin (PI) |
| Title: | Atmospheric Numerical Simulations in Support of Ocean Modeling During the NSF Bodega Bay Field Program |
| Sponsor(s): | Scripps Research Institute (prime sponsor is NSF) |
| Objectives-Results: | The proposed activities are an integral part of the NSF COOP Project “The Role of Wind-driven Transport in Shelf Productivity”. This is a collaborative effort among several University of California campuses (San Francisco, San Diego, and Davis), Scripps Institution of Oceanography, DRI, and recently Oregon State University and University of California, Los Angeles. The main goal of the project is to study the three-dimensional wind-driven circulation of water concurrently with size-structured distributions of phytoplankton and zooplankton species. The study focuses on the key physical and biological processes that control primary production, zooplankton population responses, and offshore transport of plankton and nutrients over the strongly wind-driven shelf and slope off Bodega Bay, CA. The analysis of the observations and modeling has indicated that the wind stress curl is of the same or greater importance compared to the wind stress in driving the coastal ocean. Recent ocean modeling results also confirm that the wind stress curl plays a significant role in generating upwelling in the coastal zone. |
| DRI Faculty: | Darko Koracin (PI) |
| Title: | Observations and simulations of diurnal effects contributing to the modification of the coastal marine atmospheric layer |
| Sponsor(s): | DOD-DEPSCoR-ONR |
| Collaborator(s): | J. Powers (NCAR), C. Dorman (Scripps), and M. Wetzel (DRI) |
| Objectives-Results: | The goal of this project was to increase our understanding of the modification of complex atmospheric dynamics, cloudiness, and fog due to the interaction of the air, sea, and land in a coastal region. Specific project objectives included: 1) investigating the ability of mesoscale models including the Navy's COAMPS and MM5 to predict the evolution of clouds and fog in the marine atmospheric boundary layer; 2) increasing the prediction accuracy of the mesoscale models by improving the model initial and boundary conditions using satellite and aircraft measurements; 3) testing various schemes for computing wind stress and the curl of the wind stress over the ocean using model results and observations; and 4) studying the transport and dispersion of atmospheric pollutants in coastal urban areas. The major project achievements include the development of the conceptual model for the offshore fog formation and a novel approach of using satellite data to improve accuracy of regional and mesoscale forecasts in coastal regions. |
| DRI Faculty: | Doug Lowenthal (PI), John Watson, Lung-Wen Chen, Darko Koracin |
| Title: | Evaluation of Regional Scale Receptor Models |
| Sponsor(s): | USEPA |
| Objectives-Results: | Assess and provide guidance for using multivariate (Absolute Principal Component Scores, Positive Matrix Factorization, UNMIX) and trajectory-based (Trajectory Mass Balance Regression) receptor models for regional source apportionment. Apply receptor models to data simulated with an air quality model for two eastern IMPROVE sites. This work will assess the ability of multivariate and trajectory-based receptor models to produce accurate and precise regional-scale source apportionment. It will provide guidance to states and Regional Planning Organizations in their efforts to meet progress goals and achieve compliance under the USEPA’s Regional Haze Rule. |
| DRI Faculty: | William Stockwell (PI), Darko Koracin, Vanda Grubisic, John Lewis |
| Title: | Modeling the Effect of Mountainous Terrain on Stratospheric/Tropospheric Exchange, Atmospheric Chemistry, Deposition and Water Quality |
| Sponsor(s): | NASA |
| Collaborator(s): | NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Goddard Space Flight Center, NOAA Env. Research Laboratory |
| Objectives-Results: | This modeling project will investigate the effects of mountainous terrain on stratospheric/tropospheric exchange, atmospheric chemistry and deposition, and water quality. The atmospheric and water quality research program will be conducted with NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, California, the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Environmental Research Laboratory, National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma. |