University of Wyoming researchers are on a quest to discover why big-city pollutant is now appearing in sparsely populated area
The March 22 issue of Upstream, The International Oil & Gas Newspaper, includes several articles on the Upper Green River Valley in Wyoming. One of the articles, "Field working to find quality solution," discusses the work of Rob Field (pictured at right with his instrument laddened SUV) and researchers at the University of Wyoming who are driving thousands of miles through the Pinedale Anticline natural gas field to find out why a big-city pollutant is appearing outside Pinedale, Wyoming, which has a population of 2030.
The article describes what the researchers are doing, and how they are doing it. "The back of Field’s sports utility vehicle whirs with high-powered scientific instruments connected to rooftop sensors that will measure concentrations of ozone, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and methane, as well as weather conditions," and "The methane detector, made by air quality instrument specialist Picarro [G2204 analyzer], is calibrated with such precision that it ticks up slightly when we pass a herd of cows."