Science Questions

  • Atmospheric Dynamics and Transport
    1. What is the fate of plumes during the night and day/night transitions Transport?
    2. How does the sea-breeze influence the peak/duration of urban O3/PM concentrations?
    3. How does the sea-breeze circulation affect regional O3/PM concentrations?
    4. How does entrainment/detrainment influence the concentration of pollutants near the surface?
    5. How far are precursors transported overnight?
    6. What factors control the height and intensity of mixing of the PBL? Do these factors vary between urban and rural areas?
  • Ozone Formation and Distribution
    1. What is the influence of biogenic VOCs on production/evolution of O3/PM on emissions from point sources?
    2. How is O3/PM formation/evolution altered when point sources are in the urban plume?
    3. What is the influence of biogenic emissions on evolution of O3/PM in Dallas/Fort Worth versus the Houston urban plume?
    4. What effect does Cl2 chemistry have on odd hydrogen production and overall reactivity?
    5. What are the relative rates/contribution of anthropogenic and biogenic VOCs?
    6. Does the rate of photochemical formation of O3/PM change with wind direction over the urban regions of Houston or Dallas/Fort Worth?
    7. What is the fate of NOx in urban and power plant plumes during the night time transport? How much NOy is removed/converted during the night? How much is available to participate in photochemistry the following day?
    8. What is the spatial distribution of pollutants sources? What does this say about source receptor relationships?
    9. What are the factors that control the rate and amount of O3 and PM in urban and power plant plumes? How fast? How much? How efficient?
    10. What is the effect of intense point sources of VOC and NOx on the rate and efficiency of PM formation.
  • Aerosol Formation, Growth, and Distribution
    1. What are the factors that control the formation, characteristics, and distribution of PM2.5 in eastern Texas?
    2. What is the chemical composition of PM2.5 in rural and urban areas.
    3. How is the composition and morphology of PM2.5 influenced by transport in the marine boundary layer? What is the role of marine aerosols?
    4. What is the relationship between secondary aerosol and ozone formation?
    5. Are their differences in the rate, efficiency and amount of PM in urban and power plant plumes?
    6. What factors control aerosol nucleation, and growth, and size distributions?
    7. What is the influence of natural and anthropogenic VOCs on the formation and optical properties of PM2.5?
    8. How well is the organic fraction of PM2.5 mass quantified by the FRM?
    9. Where do high regional backgrounds of O3 and PM2.5 come from?
  • Emission Inventories
    1. What are the primary aerosol sources and how do they compare with inventories?
    2. Are the high values of observed VOC/NOx ratios due to inaccuracies in the emissions inventories of hydrocarbons, NOx, or both?
    3. Are large, unscheduled, and undocumented VOC releases involved in unusually high ozone events near the Ship Channel?
    4. How well are biogenic emissions represented in the inventories?
  • Modeling
    1. How well do current Air Quality models represent the concentrations and physical distribution of pollutants in the atmosphere?
    2. Do regional NOx, SO2, VOC, CO measurements compare well with model predictions?
    3. Are chemical and mixing processes accurately represented in models?
    4. How well do model predictions of the sensitivity of O3 to emissions changes compare to other indicators of O3 sensitivity?