http://esrl.noaa.gov/csd/calnex/scienceplan.pdf

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CalNex 2010 An Ozone PM Air Quality and
Climate Change Field Study Planned for
California May-June, 2010
One Focus Investigation of Longer-Range Transport
WRAP-CalNex Meeting Boulder, 9 June 2009
http//esrl.noaa.gov/csd/calnex/scienceplan.pdf
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CalNex Platforms
NASA B-200, DOE G-1 aircraft Carbonaceous
Aerosol in Sacramento area
NOAA WP-3D
CIRPAS Twin Otter aircraft SOA in Los Angeles
NOAA R/V Ronald H. Brown
NOAA O3 and Aerosol LIDAR Aircraft
Multi-Agency Collaboration to Field Ground-based
Remote and In Situ Instrumentation, and Ozone
Sondes
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Air Quality Implications of Ozone in Air
Entering the West Coast of North America
O3 design value 3 year average of 4th highest
daily maximum 8-hr O3 average
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Air Quality Implications of Ozone in Air
Entering the West Coast of North America
O3 non-attainment area in North Sacramento Valley
lies inland from Trinidad Head Coastal mountain
ranges separate valley from Pacific
Focus on summertime (June, July, August)
O3 design value 3 year average of 4th highest
daily maximum 8-hr O3 average
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Air Quality Implications of Ozone in Air
Entering the West Coast of North America
O3 non-attainment area in North Sacramento Valley
lies inland from Trinidad Head Coastal mountain
ranges separate valley from Pacific
Midday during sea breeze
Summertime O3 minimum in Pacific marine boundary
layer (MBL)
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Air Quality Implications of Ozone in Air
Entering the West Coast of North America
O3 non-attainment area in North Sacramento Valley
lies inland from Trinidad Head Coastal mountain
ranges separate valley from Pacific
Summertime O3 minimum in Pacific marine boundary
layer (MBL) Strong vertical gradient, with broad
spring-summer maximum at 2 km
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Air Quality Implications of Ozone in Air
Entering the West Coast of North America
O3 non-attainment area in North Sacramento Valley
lies inland from Trinidad Head Coastal mountain
ranges separate valley from Pacific
Summertime O3 minimum in Pacific marine boundary
layer (MBL) Strong vertical gradient, with broad
spring-summer maximum at 2 km One standard
deviation above 2 km average approaches NAAQS
What altitude inflow accounts for background O3
in North Sacramento Valley?
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Air Quality Implications of Ozone in Air
Entering the West Coast of North America
Use correlations between O3 measured at different
sites and by sondes to help answer question below
Look at Tuscan Butte site in Sacramento Valley
What altitude inflow accounts for background O3
in North Sacramento Valley?
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Air Quality Implications of Ozone in Air
Entering the West Coast of North America
Use correlations between O3 measured at different
sites and by sondes to help answer question below
30 days of example data Diurnal cycle clear in
1-hr data
What altitude inflow accounts for background O3
in North Sacramento Valley?
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Air Quality Implications of Ozone in Air
Entering the West Coast of North America
Use correlations between O3 measured at different
sites and by sondes to help answer question below
Daily maximum 8-hr O3 averages capture regional
variation Use interpolated max 8-hr O3 average
for all correlations
What altitude inflow accounts for background O3
in North Sacramento Valley?
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Air Quality Implications of Ozone in Air
Entering the West Coast of North America
Use correlations between O3 measured at different
sites and by sondes to help answer question below
Daily maximum 8-hr O3 averages capture regional
variation Use interpolated max 8-hr O3 average
for all correlations Correlate as a function of
time offset between data sets
Correlate surface data with sonde as a function
of altitude
What altitude inflow accounts for background O3
in North Sacramento Valley?
208 summertime sondes 1997-2008
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Air Quality Implications of Ozone in Air
Entering the West Coast of North America
Use correlations between O3 measured at different
sites and by sondes to help answer question below
Sonde average 1 - 2.5 km
Maximum 8-hr average at Tuscan Butte correlates
with sonde, but about 1 day later Tuscan Butte O3
about 13-15 ppbv higher than sonde O3 3.4 days
convolution of all time scales involved
What altitude inflow accounts for background O3
in North Sacramento Valley?
208 summertime sondes 1997-2008
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Air Quality Implications of Ozone in Air
Entering the West Coast of North America
Use correlations between O3 measured at different
sites and by sondes to help answer question below

• 4 sites
• Redding, Tuscan Butte in valley
• Lassen at 1.8 km on far side
• Yreka outside valley to north

What altitude inflow accounts for background O3
in North Sacramento Valley?
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Air Quality Implications of Ozone in Air
Entering the West Coast of North America
Use correlations between O3 measured at different
sites and by sondes to help answer question below
Significant correlation between sonde (1 2.5
km) and all surface sites.
What altitude inflow accounts for background O3
in North Sacramento Valley?
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Air Quality Implications of Ozone in Air
Entering the West Coast of North America
Use correlations between O3 measured at different
sites and by sondes to help answer question below
Significant correlation between sonde (1 2.5
km) and all surface sites. 15 to 30 hour delay
between sonde (1 2.5 km) and surface sites
Cause of correlation On-shore flow aloft
transported inland and mixed down to all surface
sites.
What altitude inflow accounts for background O3
in North Sacramento Valley?
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Air Quality Implications of Ozone in Air
Entering the West Coast of North America
Use correlations between O3 measured at different
sites and by sondes to help answer question below
A chemists schematic view of transport that
drives correlations
Sonde samples on-shore flow at 1 2.5 km, which
mixes down to inland sites 15-30 hrs later
What altitude inflow accounts for background O3
in North Sacramento Valley?
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Air Quality Implications of Ozone in Air
Entering the West Coast of North America
What is the bottom line here? Tuscan Butte in
Northern Sacramento Valley
On average, O3 in background air 50 ppbv, net
photo. prod. 15 ppbv total 65 ppbv On
exceedance days, background O3 59 ppbv, net
photo. prod. 22 ppbv total 81 ppbv Unit slope
suggests that surface maximum O3 is directly
proportional to background Background O3 alone
can exceed NAAQS
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Air Quality Implications of Ozone in Air
Entering the West Coast of North America
Thoughts Implications

• Chemical measurements provide useful tracer for
  transport study
• Achieving NAAQS may not be possible with only
  local and regional control efforts
• Accurate modeling of California O3 requires
  global model to reproduce background plus
  mesoscale model for transport in complex terrain
• Similar transport patterns likely operate in
  other regions of complex terrain

Question for CalNex 2010 What happens further
downwind?
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Transport of pollution downwind from California
Marine O3 is transported further downwind. How
does it evolve and mix to the surface?
California O3, PM and precursors are added to
marine inflow. How does this pollution escape
from California and mix to the surface downwind?
4 Questions for CalNex 2010 Is transport out of
California slow, relatively constant leakage, or
intermittent, rapid surges? Do the Sierras and
other mountain ranges represent transport
barriers, or a transport mechanism? Do California
emissions leak around the mountains through lower
elevations? Can California emissions be directly
observed at surface sites in or aloft over
downwind states?
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Transport of pollution downwind from California
Marine O3 is transported further downwind. How
does it evolve and mix to the surface?
California O3, PM and precursors are added to
marine inflow. How does this pollution escape
from California and mix to the surface downwind?

• Tools for CalNex 2010
• NOAA WP-3D aircraft
• NOAA O3 and Aerosol LIDAR Aircraft
• Radar wind profiler network
• Ozone sonde network
• NASA B-200 with High Spectral Resolution Lidar
  Research Scanning Polarimeter

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A Network of daily O3 sondes combined with
aircraft could greatly help to answer these
questions
Planned CalNex O3 sonde network, additional sites
would be desirable
Red Stars Upwind sites Funded by NOAA
Orange Stars Permanent sites, could be upgraded
to daily launches
Granby
Blue Stars 4 additional sites desired
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Rationale for this suggested network
configuration Trinidad Head A background site,
where sondes are already launched, and upwind of
the ozone non-attainment region of northern
California. Point Reyes A background site
upwind of Sacramento and San Francisco. A
portable ground station would have to be deployed
here. San Nicolas Island A background site
upwind of LA and San Diego. The Navy has
indicated that they would be interested in
operating this site and already have the
necessary equipment plus 24 sondes. NOAA could
supplement this site with additional
sondes. Morro Bay A background site roughly
halfway between Point Reyes and San Nicolas
Island, upwind of the southern San Joaquin
Valley. Portable ground station
required. Barstow Downwind of LA. A portable
ground station would be required. Oakdale A
small town downwind of San Francisco and Point
Reyes and upwind of Yosemite National Park where
ozone has been increasing. A portable ground
station would be required. No information on a
launch facility, it's just a town in the right
place. Redding Downwind of Trinidad Head and
within an ozone nonattainment region even though
it has a fairly low population. Upwind of Mt.
Lassen ozone monitor. Portable ground station
required. Boulder There has been some interest
from western air quality managers in
participating in CALNEX and looking at downwind
air pollution. Boulder would be an easy site for
monitoring downwind ozone. Has an existing
launch facility. Granby This site is directly
upwind of Boulder but west of the Continental
Divide, so it's as close as you can get to the
Front Range and still measure upwind ozone.
Portable ground station required. Kelowna and
Bratt's Lake If the Canadians are interested in
looking at long range ozone transport to eastern
Canada then these permanent sites could be
activated.
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2010 Field Study Contacts

• David Parrish
• NOAA/ESRL/Chemical Sciences Division303-497-5274
  
• David.D.Parrish_at_noaa.gov
• Tom Ryerson
• NOAA/ESRL/Chemical Sciences Division303-497-7531
• Thomas.B.Ryerson_at_noaa.gov
• Tom Moore
• WRAP
• 970-491-8837
• mooret_at_cira.colostate.edu