ED31G-3497:
Characterization of Pollution Transport into Texas Using OMI and TES Satellite and In Situ data, and HYSPLIT Back Trajectory Analyses: implications for TCEQ State Implementation Plans and High School/Undergraduate STEM Education

Wednesday, 17 December 2014
Christohper Boxe1,2, Delisha Bella3, Jessica Khaimova4, Johnathan Culpepper1, Nabib Ahmed5, Adam Belkalai5, Jarret Ealy1, Isabella Arroyo6, Maxine Lahoumh6,7, Oren Jenkins6, Samori Emmanuel8, Julien Andrews9, Dejian Fu10, Longtao Wu11, Yunsoo Choi12, Garry Morris13, Gregory B Osterman14, Leon P Johnson1 and Shermane A. Austin15, (1)Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York, Environmental Science & Chemistry, Brooklyn, NY, United States, (2)CUNY Graduate Center, Chemistry Division, Earth and Environmental Science Division,, Manhattan, NY, United States, (3)SUNY at Albany, School of Public Health, Albany, NY, United States, (4)Brooklyn College, Earth and Planetary Science, Brooklyn, NY, United States, (5)Brooklyn Technical High School, Brooklyn, NY, United States, (6)Khaili Gibran International Academy High School, Brooklyn, United States, (7)5Khaili Gibran International Academy High School, Brooklyn, NY, United States, (8)Valley Stream South High School, Long Island, NY, United States, (9)Medgar Evers Preparatory High School, Brooklyn, NY, United States, (10)JPL / Caltech, Pasadena, CA, United States, (11)Jet Propulsion Lab-MLS, Pasadena, CA, United States, (12)University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States, (13)Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN, United States, (14)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (15)Medgar Evers College, CUNY, Brooklyn, NY, United States
Abstract:
Using an online trajectory analysis tool NASA, ArcGIS, Satellite and EPA in situ data, we assess whether high pollution events in Texas are primarily sourced locally or remotely. We focus satellite data that exemplify high O3 and NO2 over Texas’s lower troposphere. Four day back trajectory analyses of all dates show that upper-, mid-, and lower-tropospheric air over Texas, containing high O3, is transported from the Gulf of Mexico, Southeast USA, Midwest USA, Northeast USA, the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Mexico, etc. Only day showed air at 1 km is sourced within Texas. Satellite data show O3 enhancements in the boundary layer and O3 and NO2 enhancements via tropospheric column profiles. These enhancements complement four-day trajectory analysis. This study provides a viable basis for more quantifiable and accurate information for developing effective air quality State Implementation Plans.

STEM Impact: (i) D. Bella was an NSF-LSAMP undergraduate research mentee with me at Medgar Evers College-CUNY; she received a B.S. in Environmental Science (and a Chemistry Minor) and is now a Ph.D. graduate student at University at Albany’s School of Public Health. (ii) J. Khaimova is an undergraduate Geology and Planetary Science B.S. major at Brooklyn College-CUNY. I have supported Jessica’s summer internship in summer 2013 as a CUNY Summer Research Fellow, where she is currently an NSF-REU research mentee at Pennsylvania State University’s Meteorology Department. (iii) J. Culpepper received his B.S. in Environmental Science from MEC-CUNY and will be a Ph.D. student, Fall 2014 at University of Iowa’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. (iv) S. Gentle was a high school researcher with me within ACS’s Project SEED Program for high school students. S. Gentle will start her undergraduate career Fall 2014 at Pennsylvania State University and seeks to attain a B.S. in Chemistry. (v). All parties, including high school and undergraduate researchers seek to attend medical/graduate school to pursue an M.D/Ph.D. in a STEM-discipline.