Air Quality in the Central Savannah River Area May 22, 2001

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Air Quality in the Central SavannahRiver
AreaMay 22, 2001
Michael E. Chang School of Earth Atmospheric
Sciences, and Center for Urban and Regional
Ecology
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Q Why should we really care about air? A Each
day a typical adult may consume...

• 2 - 10 lbs. of food (1000 - 3000 calories)
• 1 - 6 lbs. of fluids (12 - 96 oz.)

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What is smog?

• Origin London (smoke fog smog)
• Common usage all forms of air pollution, but
  principally those of a photochemical nature -
  ozone and (to a lesser extent until recently)
  particulate matter.
• Origin Jed Clampett, Beverly Hillbillies
  (smog small hog)

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Good Ozone / Bad Ozone
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Ground-level Ozone Formation
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
Nitrogen Oxides (NOx)
Ozone (O3) Smog

Combustion Processes
Fuels, Paints, Solvents, Vegetation
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Smog Trends -- Augusta and Elsewhere Annual
Peak Observed Concentration, 1974 - 2000
EPD, US EPA
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Smog in Georgia(Year 2000)

• of days over proposed stds.
• Atlanta.46
• Macon.17
• Columbus..9
• Augusta.6
• North GA Mtns...16
• South Central GA.6
• Savannah..1
• South Coastal GA.0

• of days over Federal AQ stds.
• Atlanta.11
• Macon...3
• Columbus..1
• Augusta.1
• North GA Mtns.0
• South Central GA.0
• Savannah...0
• South Coastal GA.0

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Basis for Augusta Nonattainment

• EPD Monitor at Bayvale Elem. School (est. 1989)
• Number of exceedances of 8-hour ozone standard
• 1997 1998 1999 2000
• 5 14 8 6
• Number of exceedances of 1-hour ozone standard
• 1997 1998 1999 2000
• 0 0 0 1

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Peak Observed 8-hour Averaged Ozone
Concentrations (ppmv) in Augusta 1997-2000
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Peak Observed 1-hour Averaged Ozone
Concentrations (ppmv) in Augusta 1997-2000
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Where does Augusta stand?
June 2000 Governor Barnes recommends EPA
designate 21 metro Atlanta counties, plus Bibb
(Macon), Richmond (Augusta), and Muscogee
(Columbus) counties as nonattainment for the
proposed ozone standard.

• EPD hasnt done nearly enough studies to
  determine what needs to be done. Metro Atlanta
  however, is absolutely our first priority. It
  has to be. It has the worst problems.
• -- Harold Reheis
• Director, GA EPD

APPROVED Spring 2001
Pending Supreme Court ruling Spring 2001
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FALL LINE AIR QUALITY STUDY

• Over the next 3 years (2000-2002), the FAQS seeks
  to assess urban and regional air pollution,
  identify the sources of pollutants and pollutant
  precursors, and recommend solutions to realized
  and potential poor air quality in the Augusta,
  Macon, and Columbus metropolitan areas.

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Georgias historical AQ problem Atlanta
GA EPD ozone monitoring site
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Georgias air quality problem now
Atlanta, Augusta, Macon, Columbus,
Leslie.
Home grown pollution?
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Georgias air quality problem now
Atlanta, Augusta, Macon, Columbus,
Leslie.
Or big city transport?
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Georgias air quality problem now
Atlanta, Augusta, Macon, Columbus,
Leslie.
Or regional scale?
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Georgias air quality problem now
Atlanta, Augusta, Macon, Columbus,
Leslie.
Or combination?
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Peak Observed 8-hour Averaged Ozone
Concentrations (ppmv) in Augusta 1997-2000
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Formulating a hypothesis for Augusta
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Ozone (ppbv)
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For more informationwww.cure.gatech.edu/faqs.asp
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FAQS Phase I

• May 1 - December 31, 2000
• Preliminary Data Analysis
• Pilot Field Study

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Correlations between Georgias Ozone Monitors
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Occurrences of Exceedances in Columbus,
Georgia and across the Southeastern US (2000)
Number of Sites Exceeding 8-hour ozone NAAQS
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Ozone Air Quality as a Function of Wind Speed and
DirectionAugusta, Georgia 1997-1999
N
NE
NW
Good Moderate Unhealthy for Sensitive
Groups Unhealthy
Wind Speed (mph)
E
W
SW
SE
S
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Forming a Hypothesis for the State.
Atlanta and Macon share an airshed that is
capable of generating significant ozone
independent of the region.
Columbus and Augusta, are more closely related
to the larger regional airshed, but also may be
responsible for a small but significant amount of
local ozone production.I
Leslie??
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The Augusta Pilot Study

• June 25 - July 10, 2000
• Upwind / downwind study
• Characterizing the physical
• and chemical composition
• of the local atmosphere.

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Observations from the Air Quality Trailer
Macon Augusta Columbus
Wind Spd. Ozone
Periodicity ? daily cycle of ozone (low in AM,
high in PM), and winds
(lighter in early AM, peaking in early PM)
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Observations from the Air Quality Trailer
Macon Augusta Columbus
Spikes ? plume influence
CO SO2
Bimodal ? rush hour influence
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Ground-level Ozone Formation
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
Nitrogen Oxides (NOx)
Ozone (O3) Smog

Combustion Processes
Fuels, Paints, Solvents, Vegetation
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Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5)
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Particle Compostion - No matter location or time,
sulfate and organic carbon dominate.
Macon Augusta Columbus
Satellite Sites
Mobile Lab
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Augusta Pilot Study Summary

• Upwind / downwind experiment not much success -
  yet.
• Some evidence of SO2 plume impacts ? coal
  burning.
• VOC profile different from Atlanta and other
  FAQS
• cities, however concentrations of highly
  reactive
• isoprene are similar or greater ? may mean
  Augusta
• is NOx limited. Other VOCs may be good
  tracers.
• PM primary composition is organic carbon and
  sulfate.

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FAQS Phases II and III
Emission Inventory Air Quality Modeling
Field Study
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New and Upgraded Air Quality Monitoring in
Columbia County
Riverside Park 2001 -
Lakeside High School 2000 - 2001 R.I.P.
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Peak Observed 8-hour Averaged Ozone
Concentrations (ppmv) in Augusta 1997-2000
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Formulating a hypothesis for Augusta
93
Ozone (ppbv)
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Filling in the Numbers
93
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For more informationwww.cure.gatech.edu/faqs.asp