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