News in Brief:
LAR receives National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation Award
(September 2007) LAR received an NSF MRI award for their proposal titled, "Acquisition of an Integrated Atmospheric Chemistry Mobile Laboratory"
The award provides support to obtain a mobile trailer with a suite of instruments for field research on atmospheric aerosols. This mobile laboratory will allow simultaneous measurements of gas phase species, particulate phase chemical and physical properties, and boundary layer dynamics in an integrated approach for aerosol studies. The major research instruments to be acquired are an aerosol LIDAR to measure vertical profiles of aerosols and clouds, a Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer to measure particle size distributions, a Particle in Liquid Sampler/Ion Chromatograph for collection and chemical analysis of water-soluble ionic components, and a Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometer for the quantification of gas phase precursors of ozone and aerosols.
Supporting instruments to measure key chemical species (ozone, carbon monoxide, reactive nitrogen, and sulfur dioxide) and a basic weather station will also be included.
Atmospheric Chemistry Mobile Laboratory
The mobile laboratory will be used in field experiments to study the relationship between precursor gases, their chemical transformations, and the resulting impacts on atmospheric oxidants and aerosols. These measurements address questions relevant to global climate change, feedback mechanisms between the biosphere and atmosphere, regional atmospheric chemistry, and impacts of the deposition of anthropogenic emissions and photoproducts on ecosystem health.
The mobile laboratory will provide critical infrastructure for field research projects at Washington State University and in collaboration with others related to the impact of biogenic, urban, and agricultural emissions. The resulting data will support a detailed description of atmospheric dynamics and chemistry for comparison with chemical transport models of oxidants and particulate matter. The laboratory will be used for the education and training of undergraduate and graduate students, and should also help with student recruitment.
LAR Receives EPA-STAR Grant
With the three-year, $900,000 grant, researchers at LAR will continue to look at the impacts of global climate change on the Pacific Northwest region. The new grant will allow the researchers to improve the models and their uncertainties, so that they have a better understanding of the potential impact of climate change on future air quality. LAR researchers will use a combination of computer models that predict future climate change, meteorology and emissions to look at 36 kilometer grids in the continental U.S. and a 12-kilometer grid throughout the Pacific Northwest. The researchers are particularly focused on how particulate matter and ozone levels will be affected in the future, as these pollutants are particularly important for regulatory agencies to set policies. The new work will also allow the researchers to gain understanding of how wilderness areas will be affected.
NASA Grant Funded (see related link)
With a three-year NASA grant, WSU Professor Brian Lamb and colleagues will be gathering data from NASA satellites and using it to check and improve air quality forecasting in the Northwest.
Lamb's group plans to use the NASA satellite products to support LAR's air-quality modeling system, AIRPACT. Developed by LAR in 2001, AIRPACT is one of the first operating air quality forecast systems in the country. The system is run year-round on a daily basis in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington and gathers data on weather, temperature, time, date, and pollution emissions to predict the concentration of ozone, particles, and air toxins as they move through the region. The information is used by numerous agencies to assist in deciding whether to issue an air quality alert.
Information from the NASA satellites provides a missing link for the AIRPACT model. The satellites take daily measurements of carbon monoxide concentrations at the global or regional scale, providing a clear picture of those concentrations throughout the Northwest. Researchers can then determine how much of the pollutant is present on the edges of their modeling area. For example, pollutants traveling from Asia over the Pacific Ocean can be monitored for their impact on the Puget Sound region. The accuracy of model predictions will also be checked by comparing them to the satellite measurements.
With better information going to the AIRPACT model, agencies from throughout the Northwest who use the model will be able to provide better predictions of regional pollutant levels that might be hazardous to area residents.
Kara Yedinak receives International Association
of Wildland Fire Scholarship
The $2500 award will support her PhD research involving
the evaluation and application of a coupled
atmosphere-fire model to better understand the role of
fire with regards to air quality. [more]
LAR undergraduate Heather Hamilton won the Novice Researcher Award in physical sciences at the College of Sciences Undergraduate Research Poster Competition on April 4, 2008. Heather also placed second in environmental research.
LAR undergrad Drew Polley selected to attend the NCAR Undergraduate Leadership Workshop in Boulder, Colorado, June 16–20, 2008.
LAR student Jeremy Avise receives CEA Graduate Student Excellence Award
This College of Engineering and Architecture award recognizes outstanding accomplishments by graduate students. Selected recipients have demonstrated a strong record of professional recognition, professional development, scholarly productivity, interdisciplinary research, and outreach during their graduate studies. A reception is scheduled for Sept 20, 2007 to recognize the recipients, each of whom have been awarded $5,000.
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
During the spring and summer of 2007, nine undergraduates from WSU were invited to participate in research related to ongoing LAR programs. These students each worked on an individual project with guidance and mentoring from faculty and graduate students. At an end-of-summer symposium, each student presented posters of their work. The finalist was selected and invited to present their work at an upcoming National Research Conference. Brandon Little received the honor and he participated in the American Physical Society 60th Annual Meeting of the Division of Fluid Dynamics in Salt Lake City, Utah, Nov. 18-20, 2007.
Learn more about student research opportunities.
AIRPACT-3 Regional Air Quality Forecast System
During the past several years, LAR has developed one of the nation's first numerical air quality forecast systems. It operated on a daily basis for the Pacific Northwest. During the summer of 2006, researchers enhanced the system by working with the Forest Service to automatically include wildfire pollutant emissions so that now, for the first time, the daily forecast system also includes the transport and dispersion of smoke and other pollutants from Northwest wildfires. This is the first time in the U.S. that the impact of wildfires on regional chemistry and air quality has been considered in a daily numerical forecast system.