Rice University Tropospheric Ozone Pollution Project (RU-TOPP) Gary A. Morris

1)Motivation 2)Work to Date 3)Future of Project Rice University Tropospheric Ozone Pollution Project (RU-TOPP) Gary A. Morris

Environmental Threats and Health Impacts Caused by Ozone Pollution Exacerbate/Cause Respiratory Problems Damaging to Plants Highly Reactive Can Be Transported Over Long Distances

Economic Impacts from Ozone Pollution Loss of Federal Transportation Funds $30,000 per day fines to all stationary sources Factor in locating business offices Factor in attracting workers

Current EPA Standards Only Address Ground-Level Ozone Stage 1: 1-Hour Standard Region must not exceed 125 ppb on more than 3 days in a consecutive 3-year period. Deadline: 2007 Stage 2: 8-Hour Standard Region must not exceed 85 ppb for the 3-year average of the 4 th highest daily maximum 8-hour ozone concentration. Deadline: 2010

Houston Regularly Violates Both Standards August 21 – September 2, 2000

20-Year Record Shows Improvement But We’re Not There Yet Hour 1-Hour

Areas at Risk in the United States Severe Risk Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Washington, DC Serious Risk Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Hartford, Phoenix Moderate Risk Cincinnati EPA Non-Attainment Areas August 2003

Galveston Bay N Downtown Houston Industrial Complexes East Texas Forested (Evergreens) NASA Space Shuttle Photo from STS-61 Houston, Texas: A Case Study for Ozone Pollution

Dense Ground Monitoring Networks in Urban Areas are a Good Start PAMS Photochemical Assessment Monitoring Stations Ozone & Other Species Meteorological Data Hourly Data on Web Houston, Texas March 17, 2003

Winds Transport Ozone Pollution “Although many cities have made efforts to control ozone by reducing local emissions, incoming ozone transported from upwind areas also needs to be addressed.” (EPA)

Houston Exceeds L.A. Again in 2004 Last week’s Houston Chronicle reported that Houston will again surpass L.A. for the number of violations of EPA Air Quality standards in 2004.

EPA Studies O 3 Production in 5 Cities Nashville isolated city, biogenic sources, NOx emitters (power plants) Phoenix isolated, low biogenic, low industry, dry Philadelphia and NYC inter-urban transport Houston extensive industry, coastal

Houston Unique Among Cities in the EPA Study City Number of Flights Total O 3 > 100 O 3 > 120 Max O 3 (ppbv) Nashville (’95) NYC (’96) Phoenix (’98) Philadelphia (’99) Houston (’00) flights in Houston show ozone > 150 ppbv Data courtesy P. Daum (2003)

Data from TexAQS 2000 Indicate Ship Channel as Primary Source Region Courtesy P. Daum (2003) Flight data from TexAQS 2000 show highest ozone production rates co-located with industrial sector near Houston Ship Channel

Back-Trajectory Analysis Trace Plumes Back to Ship Channel Courtesy P. Daum (2003) Calculate back-trajectories. Black dots are 1-hr intervals. O 3 production: High Low “Without exception, back- trajectories from the locations where these high O 3 plumes were observed passed over, or in close proximity to, sources of NO x and hydrocarbons surrounding the Houston Ship Channel.” Daum (2003). Latitude Longitude

Limitations of Current Ground-Level Ozone Monitoring Instrumentation No Information on Vertical Distribution of Ozone Transport (especially aloft) Not Well Monitored Few Rural Measurements

TexAQS 2000 Data Show Ozone Formation Above the Surface Down-looking lidar observers large plumes of ozone above the surface Ground monitors unable to detect this ozone pollution

telescope Ground-Based Ozone Lidar Would Provide Important Data Continuously monitor O 3 above the surface. Total magnitude of the pollution problem. O 3 aloft results in more persistent high levels of O 3 at the ground. Proposal to NSF in January 2005 High Powered UV Laser System O2O2 N2N2 O3O3

Shell Center for Sustainability Funds RU-TOPP in 2004 $40,000 grant Acquire ozonesonde laboratory Fly balloons to begin characterizing O 3 aloft. Undergraduate student participation

RU-TOPP Launches 25 Ozonesondes in July and August 2004 Nearly daily launches during peak pollution season Coordination with NASA Media attention: KHOU, the Houston Chronicle, National Public Radio…

Early Analysis Shows Impact of Remote Forest Fires July 19 th and 20th High ozone levels in Houston Air mass trajectories show air came from West Coast

Early Analysis Also Shows Local Production of Ozone Launches on Aug. 7 am & 2 pm Low levels in morning & High levels in afternoon Local production of ~600 tons of O 3 per day.

Sharing Data with NASA and the Scientific Community Data available on web: Part of NASA project to examine transport of pollution across U.S. and the Atlantic U. of Houston Models Proposals to NASA to continue this research.

Sustainability Assessment Through Continued Data Acquisition Continued monitoring of O 3 above Houston with regular flights Better understanding of O 3 problem: remote vs. local sources More effective solutions to meet the EPA 1-hour and 8-hour standards Community awareness

1)Motivation 2)Work to Date 3)Future of Project Rice University Tropospheric Ozone Pollution Project (RU-TOPP) Gary A. Morris