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Evolving Understanding of Pollutant Transport from Asia to North America

Evolving Understanding of Pollutant Transport from Asia to North America. Richard (Tony) VanCuren Research Division, California Air Resources Board Department of Applied Science, UCD WRAP 5-23-06. TransPacific Transport to North America: The contradiction of gas and aerosol data. MOPITT CO

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Evolving Understanding of Pollutant Transport from Asia to North America

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  1. Evolving UnderstandingofPollutant TransportfromAsiatoNorth America Richard (Tony) VanCuren Research Division, California Air Resources Board Department of Applied Science, UCD WRAP 5-23-06

  2. TransPacific Transport to North America:The contradiction of gas and aerosol data MOPITT CO 2000 TOMS Aerosol April15-May6 1998

  3. The April 1998 Asian Dust Storms: a Natural Experiment Image after Husar, R. B. et al., J. Geophys. Res. 106: 18,317 –18,330, 2000.

  4. Asian Dust is UbiquitousAround the Northeastern Pacific VanCuren & Cahill, 2002

  5. Comparative Frequencies of Asian Dust Across North America

  6. Asian Aerosol Chemistry at Western Cordillera Sampling Sites • Two Asian components: • Primary - Dust & combustion • Mass correlation 0.87 (<2.5um) • Secondary - Aged biomass smoke • Mass correlation 0.17 (<2.5um) • Mean Asian aerosol fraction: • 75% of Fines (<2.5 mm dia.) • 60% of Total (<10 mm dia.) • Principal Components from: • 1234 IMPROVE 24-hr filters • March - October 1988-1999 • Crater Lake, OR and Mt. Lassen, CA VanCuren, 2003

  7. Dusty Asian Plume Siberian(?) Biomass Smoke Aerosol Composition March – October(Transport Season)Crater Lake / Mt. Lassen • Mean Asian fraction: • 75% of Fines (<2.5 mm) • 60% of Total (<10 mm) COARSE 2.9 ± 1.9 mg/m3 FINE 3.8 ± 2.0 mg/m3 OTHER CARBONACEOUS SO4= SOIL NO3-

  8. ITCT-2K2 Aerosol Sampling Sites

  9. Marine mode Medium to coarse sea salt (2-6 mg/m3) Weak sulfur (.2-.4 mg/m3) Continental mode Coarse Si, Fe, Ca, Al, Na, K Strong fine sulfur (1-2 mg/m3) Mineral & reacted Na Weak sea salt (.2-.6 mg/m3) MARINE 5/19 CONTINENTAL 4/22 Trinidad Head Aerosol Composition Modes

  10. Back Trajectory 4/23/02 - Trinidad Head

  11. Trinidad Head, Trinity Alps, & Mauna Loa Continental Aerosols’Al - Elemental Ratios(Holmes & Zoller, 1996) Trinidad Head Trinity Alps

  12. ITCT-2K2 Findings: 1 - Dominant Modes Concordant Montane AerosolSingle dominant aerosol Asian origin confirmed by soil element profiles Concentration varies but continuously presentMBL Disconnects Coastal Site from Free TroposphereSea salt & local combustion – infrequent tropospheric mixing

  13. ITCT-2K2 Findings: 2 - Air Mass Mixing State Soil Mixing Model Air Mass Influence

  14. ITCT-2K2 Findings: 3 - Soil Mixing State Diurnal oscillation of sources Coarse - strong local sources and upslope transport Fine - dominated by tropospheric fumigation

  15. Asian Sources Explain “Anomalous” Regional Aerosol Events 2/24/1996

  16. Regional Aerosol Chemistry:Feb 21 & 24, 1996 2/21/96 2/24/96

  17. Back-trajectories - 2/24/96 Craters of the Moon Bryce Canyon Grand Canyon

  18. Sample Global Model Results • Cameron-Smith, P. et al., (2005), Impact of Long-Range Dust Transport on Northern California in Spring 2002, Internal Report Lawrence Livermore Lab • Holzer, M., T. M. Hall, and R. B. Stull (2005), Seasonality and weather-driven variability of transpacific transport, J. Geophys. Res., 110, D23103, doi:10.1029/2005JD006261. • Park, R. J. et al. (2004), Natural and transboundary pollution influences on sulfate-nitrate-ammonium aerosols in the United States: Implications for policy, J. Geophys. Res., 109, D15204, doi:10.1029/2003JD004473. • Heald et al. Transpacific transport of Asian anthropogenic aerosols and its impact on surface air quality in the United States, Submitted to J. Geophys. Res.

  19. Cameron-Smith, P. et al., (2005), Impact of Long-Range Dust Transport on Northern California in Spring 2002, Internal Report Lawrence Livermore Lab

  20. Holzer, M., T. M. Hall, and R. B. Stull (2005), Seasonality and weather-driven variability of transpacific transport, J. Geophys. Res., 110, D23103, doi:10.1029/2005JD006261.

  21. Holzer, M., T. M. Hall, and R. B. Stull (2005), Seasonality and weather-driven variability of transpacific transport, J. Geophys. Res., 110, D23103, doi:10.1029/2005JD006261.

  22. Park, R. J., D. J. Jacob, B. D. Field, R. M. Yantosca, and M. Chin (2004), Natural and transboundary pollution influences on sulfate-nitrate-ammonium aerosols in the United States: Implications for policy, J. Geophys. Res., 109, D15204, doi:10.1029/2003JD004473. “Bulk aerosol measurements from the DC-8 aircraft indicate that 40% of non-sea-salt sulfate (nss-SO4=) on average was incorporated in dust particles [Jordan et al., 2003]…. “The observation shows strong outflow in the 0- to 5-km column. The model also shows an enhancement in that column but is lower than observations by up to a factor of 2.

  23. Heald et al. Transpacific transport of Asian anthropogenic aerosols and its impact on surface air quality in the United States, Submitted to J. Geophys. Res.

  24. Concluding Thoughts • The coast ranges and Sierra-Cascade generally prevent Pacific marine boundary layer air from reaching the continental interior of North America. • TransPacific Transport is strongest in spring, but occurs year-round. • The free troposphere “background” aerosol contains “natural” desert dust, anthropogenic dust, and combustion products from Asia: ¼ soil; ¼ SO4=; 2/5 carbonaceous aerosol. • North-westerly winds associated with “clean air corridors” commonly carry Asian aerosols, thus the “clean 20%” in the West is significantly influenced by global pollution levels. • At “clean” western IMPROVE sites, as much as 3/4 of PM2.5 and 2/3 of Coarse Particles may come from Asia. • Emissions growth and control efforts in Asia may modify visibility in North America.

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