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The mountain basins of northern Utah, including the urban regions around Salt Lake City and Provo, and the rural regions around Logan, experience some of the most severe particulate matter (PM) air pollution in the U.S.  These events are associated with winter meteorology known as persistent cold air pools (PCAPs), which trap surface emissions within an altitude range below that of the surrounding terrain.  A key to understanding this air pollution and to providing scientific information applicable to mitigation strategies is measurement of the vertical structure and chemical composition within these PCAPs during both daytime and nighttime.  The was a combined aircraft and ground based investigation.  The NOAA Twin Otter is a light aircraft that had an instrument payload specifically targeted toward wintertime PM.  The data set and analysis provide a new understanding of atmospheric chemical mechanisms during winter relevant to air quality in northern Utah and other regions with severe winter air pollution worldwide.

Selected papers

Franchin, A., D.L. Fibiger, L. Goldberger, E.E. McDuffie, A. Moravek, C.C. Womack, E.T. Crosman, K.S. Docherty, W.P. Dube, S.W. Hoch, B.H. Lee, R. Long, J.G. Murphy, J.A. Thornton, S.S. Brown, M. Baasandorj, and A.M. Middlebrook, Airborne and ground-based observations of ammonium-nitrate-dominated aerosols in a shallow boundary layer during intense winter pollution episodes in northern Utah. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 2018. 18(23): p. 17259-17276.  

Womack, C.C., E.E. McDuffie, P.M. Edwards, R. Bares, J.A. de Gouw, K.S. Docherty, W.P. Dubé, D.A. Fibiger, A. Franchin, J.B. Gilman, L. Goldberger, B.H. Lee, J.C. Lin, R. Long, A.M. Middlebrook, D.B. Millet, A. Moravek, J.G. Murphy, P.K. Quinn, T.P. Riedel, J.M. Roberts, J.A. Thornton, L.C. Valin, P.R. Veres, A.R. Whitehill, R.J. Wild, C. Warneke, B. Yuan, M. Baasandorj, and S.S. Brown, Wintertime ammonium nitrate aerosol pollution in urban areas: NOx and VOC control as mitigation strategies. Geophys. Res. Lett., 2019. in press.