A13Q-05:
The role of bay breezes and regional transport on a high surface ozone episode during the Houston, Texas DISCOVER-AQ field campaign
Monday, 15 December 2014: 2:40 PM
Christopher Loughner1, Melanie B Follette-Cook2, Kenneth E Pickering2 and Mark Joseph Estes3, (1)University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD, United States, (2)NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (3)TX Comm Environmental Quality, Austin, TX, United States
Abstract:
The highest observed surface ozone concentrations in the Houston metropolitan area in 2013 occurred on September 25, which coincided with the Texas DISCOVER-AQ (Deriving Information on Surface Conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality) field campaign. Surface ozone was elevated throughout the Houston metropolitan area. Maximum 8-hour average ozone peaked along the western shore of Galveston Bay, reaching 124 ppbv, almost 50 ppbv above the current EPA standard of 75 ppbv, at La Porte Sylvan Beach. Continental air pollution from the north and northeast was transported into the Houston metropolitan area where it mixed with locally generated emissions. A bay breeze circulation formed causing pollutants that were transported out over the water in the morning to recirculate back inland where they mixed with freshly emitted pollution near the bay breeze convergence zone. The highest surface ozone concentrations were reported near the bay breeze front at La Porte Sylvan Beach. This ozone episode will be presented using measurements made during the DISCOVER-AQ field campaign and WRF and CMAQ model simulations.
