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IMPACTS ON OZONE AND PM BACKGROUND IN U.S.
CRC Project No. A-54
Leaders: D. C. Baker
D. P. Chock
Scope and Objective
The objective of this project is to evaluate
possible causes for trends and inter-annual variations in U.S. concentrations of
ozone (O3) and PM including intercontinental transport, biomass
burning, and variations in transport.
Current Status and Future Program
Recent observations and modeling studies show
that background air quality in the U.S. is influenced by sources from outside
the U.S. This includes industrial sources, as well as mineral dust from the
Eurasian continent. At the same time, biomass burning in the western U.S.,
Mexico, Canada, and Siberia can also have an influence on air quality in the
U.S. In this project, the importance of sources on background O3 and
aerosols, with respect to trends and inter-annual variability were evaluated.
Private
consultant, Dr. Daniel Jaffe (also affiliated with the University of
Washington-Bothell) was selected to conduct this study. Dr. Jaffe's Phase 1
Final Report, "Influence of Inter-Continental Transport on Background O3
and PM Concentrations in the United States," was released October 5, 2005,
containing a draft journal article submitted to Environmental Science &
Technology. The final Year 1 journal article included some updates beyond
the Phase 1 Final Report. The Final Phase 2 Report, "Trends in Western O3
and PM and Their Relationship to Fires and Meteorological Variables," was
released in December 2006. These reports are posted on the CRC website. Several
derivative articles are planned for peer-reviewed journals.
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