Assessment of Regional Methane Emission Inventories through Airborne Quantification in the San Francisco Bay Area.

This study derives methane emission rates from 92 airborne observations collected over 23 facilities including 5 refineries, 10 landfills, 4 wastewater treatment plants (POTWs), 2 composting operations, and 2 dairies in the San Francisco Bay Area. Emission rates are measured using an airborne mass-balance technique from a low-flying aircraft. Annual measurement-based sectorwide methane emissions are 19,000 ± 2300 Mg for refineries, 136,700 ± 25,900 Mg for landfills, 11,900 ± 1,500 Mg for POTWs, and 11,100 ± 3,400 Mg for composting.

Spatial variations of particulate matter and air toxics in communities adjacent to the Port of Oakland.

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) sponsored the West Oakland Monitoring Study (WOMS) to provide supplemental air quality monitoring that will be used by the BAAQMD to evaluate local-scale dispersion modeling of diesel emissions and other toxic air contaminants for the area within and around the Port of Oakland. The WOMS was conducted during two seasonal periods of 4 weeks in summer 2009 and winter 2009/2010. Monitoring data showed spatial patterns of pollutant concentrations that were generally consistent with proximity to vehicle traffic.

Rate of gas phase association of hydroxyl radical and nitrogen dioxide.

The reaction of OH and NO(2) to form gaseous nitric acid (HONO(2)) is among the most influential in atmospheric chemistry. Despite its importance, the rate coefficient remains poorly determined under tropospheric conditions because of difficulties in making laboratory rate measurements in air at 760 torr and uncertainties about a secondary channel producing peroxynitrous acid (HOONO). We combined two sensitive laser spectroscopy techniques to measure the overall rate of both channels and the partitioning between them at 25°C and 760 torr.

Adjoint sensitivity analysis for a three-dimensional photochemical model: application to Southern California.

An adjoint method was used to investigate the sensitivity of peak ozone at selected sites in Southern California to nearly 900 model inputs including surface emissions, reaction rate coefficients, dry deposition velocities, boundary conditions, and initial conditions. Simulations showed large changes in ozone and ozone sensitivities at three sites investigated between summers 1987 and 1997 due to emission reductions. However, only small changes in ozone and ozone sensitivities were predicted between 1997 and 2010.

Adjoint sensitivity analysis for a three-dimensional photochemical model: implementation and method comparison.

Photochemical air pollution forms when emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO(x)) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) react in the atmosphere in the presence of sunlight. The goal of applying three-dimensional photochemical air quality models is usually to conduct sensitivity analysis: for example, to predict changes in an ozone response due to changes in NO(x) and VOC emissions or other model data. Forward sensitivity analysis methods are best suited to investigating sensitivities of many model responses to changes in a few inputs or parameters.

Evaluation of incremental reactivity and its uncertainty in Southern California.

The incremental reactivity (IR) and relative incremental reactivity (RIR) of carbon monoxide and 30 individual volatile organic compounds (VOC) were estimated for the South Coast Air Basin using two photochemical air quality models: a 3-D, grid-based model and a vertically resolved trajectory model. Both models include an extended version of the SAPRC99 chemical mechanism. For the 3-D modeling, the decoupled direct method (DDM-3D) was used to assess reactivities.