Dillon Dodson

The University of Wyoming

Major: Earth System Science,
Atmospheric Science
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Timothy Bertram
Research Mentor: Steve Schill
The residual layer is a layer of pollution from the previous day that is
suspended above the stable boundary layer during the night and morning
hours.
The residual layer is a layer of pollution from the previous day that is
suspended above the stable boundary layer during the night and morning
hours.
= Potential Temperature
Potential Temp is the temperature a parcel of air at P would have if brought
adiabatically to the surface (Po)
The residual layer is a layer of pollution from the previous day that is
suspended above the stable boundary layer during the night and morning
hours.
= Potential Temperature
Potential Temp is the temperature a parcel of air at P would have if brought
adiabatically to the surface (Po)
The residual layer is a layer of pollution from the previous day that is
suspended above the stable boundary layer during the night and morning
hours.
= Potential Temperature
Potential Temp is the temperature a parcel of air at P would have if brought
adiabatically to the surface (Po)
The residual layer is a layer of pollution from the previous day that is
suspended above the stable boundary layer during the night and morning
hours.
= Potential Temperature
Potential Temp is the temperature a parcel of air at P would have if brought
adiabatically to the surface (Po)
Time= Mid-Afternoon
Mixed Layer
Free Atmosphere
Time= Just before sunrise
Residual Layer
Free Atmosphere
Nocturnal Boundary Layer
Time= Mid-morning
Residual layer
Free Atmosphere
Nocturnal Boundary Layer
Time= Mid-morning
Residual layer
Free Atmosphere
Nocturnal Boundary Layer
Time= Afternoon
Residual layer
Free Atmosphere
Nocturnal Boundary Layer
Mixing
Residual layer
Free Atmosphere
Nocturnal Boundary Layer
! Contribute to an increase in surface pollution
! Help better predict air quality for the next day
From UCLA Magazine
! Transport of ozone from the stratosphere to the troposphere
causes stratospheric ozone to decrease and tropospheric ozone to
increase.
" Stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE) influences the observed high-surface
ozone levels in major cities by small extent (8%16%) (Ganguly, 2012)
! Long range transport increases pollution rate,
" Two sources
! At home source (pollution emitted in the LA basin)
! Transported source (pollution emitted away from LA basin)
" Home +Away=More pollution
! Data obtained from June 25
th
, 2014 on the NASA
DC-8 (flight 5)
# NAV Data
# UHSAS (Ultra-High Sensitivity Aerosol Spectrometer)
" Measure particle count and size
# PTG (Photochemical Trace Gas)
" Measure concentration of Ozone
# Whole Air Samples
! HYSPLIT (Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian
Integrated Trajectory Model) from Air Resources
Laboratory (ARL)
! WRF (Weather Research & Forecasting Model)
from archived forecast data from FSU
Identify parcels of high ozone concentration
Palmdale
Central Valley
Santa Barbara
Identify parcels of high ozone concentration
Over Santa Barbara Channel (SBC)
Over the Southwest Central Valley (SW CV)
Central Valley
Palmdale
Santa Barbara
Identify parcels of high ozone concentration
Over Santa Barbara Channel
Identify parcels of high ozone concentration
Over Santa Barbara Channel
Identify parcels of high ozone concentration
Over the Southwest Central Valley
Identify parcels of high ozone concentration
Over the Southwest Central Valley
What we expect to see for:
! Residual Layer
" Dirty air (Polluted)
" Moist, relatively high relative humidity (RH)
" Large particle count
" Located at the top of the PBL Height
! Stratospheric Air (intrusion)
" Clean Air (No Pollution)
" Very dry, Extremely Low RH
" Small particle count
" Located relatively high (5+km (16000+ft))
! Long Range Transport
" Dirty air (if it came from an urban environment)
" Dry, relatively low RH
" Large/Medium particle count
" Located between PBL and tropopause
Spike in Ozone
Dip in Relative Humidity
Spike in Ozone
Dip in Relative Humidity
Santa Barbara Channel Southwest Central Valley
Altitude
7115-10340 ft
Relative Humidity
2.74-5.73%
Altitude
8096-10770 ft
Relative Humidity
2.74-7.69%
Santa Barbara Channel Southwest Central Valley
Planetary boundary layer heights from
June 24
th
(day before flight 5)
PBL height over Santa Barbara Channel
~1312 ft (400m)
PBL heights over Southwest Central
Valley
~3936-5248 ft (1200-1600m)
High ozone base for SBC located at:
7115 ft
High ozone base for SW CV located at:
8096 ft
# 7115 ft >>1312 ft
# 8096 ft >5248 ft
Skew-T
Glorified Vertical
profile
Temperature shows
tropopause
Beginning of
stratosphere
Stratosphere location
~46379 ft
14140 m
Skew-T
Glorified Vertical
profile
Temperature shows
tropopause
Beginning of
stratosphere
Stratosphere location
~46379 ft
14140 m
For SBC
10770<<46379 ft
FOR SW CV
10340<<46379 ft
Overall particle concentration overlaid with ozone concentration
High ozone values show layer we are concentrating on
Over a 560 second span (9.33min)
Over Santa Barbara
Clear increase in particle
concentration
Over Southwest Central Valley
Medium/neutral particle
count
Over Santa Barbara
Clear increase in particle
concentration
Over Southwest Central Valley
Neutral particle count
High [CO]/[CO2] hints at polluted air
More CO from surface source, such as combustion.
Combustion- hydrocarbon + O2 CO2 + H2O
Incomplete combustion- hydrocarbon + O2 CO + H2O
High [CO]/[CO2] hints at polluted air
More CO from surface source, such as combustion.
Combustion- hydrocarbon + O2 CO2 + H2O
Incomplete combustion- hydrocarbon + O2 CO + H2O
Clear increase in Pollutants in high
ozone layers.
Ethyne-partial combustion of methane
Propane-natural gas processing and
petroleum refining
Benzene-petrochemical
Clear increase in Pollutants in high
ozone layers.
Ethyne-partial combustion of methane
Propane-natural gas processing and
petroleum refining
Benzene-petrochemical
! Requirements satisfied:
" Polluted Air
" Larger particle count in layer
! Requirements not satisfied:
" Moist Air
! Dry Air
" Located at boundary of Planetary Boundary Layer
! Above PBL
! Requirements satisfied:
" Dry Air
! Requirements not satisfied:
" Located somewhat high (above 16000 ft)
! Located below 16000 ft
" Clean Air
! Polluted Air
" Small Particle count
! Large particle count
! Requirements satisfied:
" Polluted Air
" Larger/medium particle count in layer
" Dry Air
" Located Between PBL and Stratosphere
HYSPLIT back trajectories show parcels of air came from Asia
For both the layer of high ozone in SBC and SW CV
Santa Barbara Channel Southwest Central Valley
! Parcels of high ozone are too high and too dry to be
residual
! Parcels of high ozone are too polluted and too low to be
stratospheric
! Parcels of high ozone are the results of long range
transport from Asia
" Confirmed by
! HYSPLIT back trajectory, pollution trace gas vertical profile, RH and Ozone vertical Profile,
and particle concentration.
! Established a method for identifying the origin of low
elevation ozone parcels by using vertical profiles of
different measured parameters
! Dr. Timothy Bertram
! Steve Schill
! Dr. Emily Schaller
! Rick Shetter
! NASA
! NSERC
UND
! DC-8 flight crew
! Bertram Group
" Abby, Allie, Harrison, Laith, Tori, Taia, Justin
! Dr. Barry Lefer
! Dr. Don Blake
! SARP 2014