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DOE OSTI2022

Into the net zero emissions and climate change control: From solid carbon waste to effective solar convertors

Here, in this work, we demonstrate the potential for solar-to-heat conversion of carbon byproducts and their outstanding effects to reduce anthropogenic emissions. Those carbon byproducts are soots (biomass, evaporated carbon, etc.) as well as morphed graphenes. Our results cover optical characterization to demonstrate their suitability as heat capacitors and solar-to-heat convertors. Our raw materials are sustainable and currently considered environmental pollutants that require true attention to minimize global warming effects. Fortunately, they are ideal candidates to reduce the carbon footprints and can contribute towards a true net-zero environmental transition. We explore and demonstrate that soots are among the most competitive materials to transform solar energy into heat due to their absorption capacity, and durability. These materials are more competitive than commercial products and other known solar convertors demonstrating the superior thermosolar benefits. The best candidate is biomass with solar absorptivity, light emission, and cost reduction of 96, 85% and 15-fold, respectively, when compare to commercial products. Biomass and soot have comparable or better solar conversion characteristics, and sustainability than pristine carbon nanostructures and they are up to 3 orders of magnitude cheaper.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2026

Tendencies of Soil Microbial NO Emissions During HI‐SCALE as Predicted by a Nitrification/Denitrification Scheme

Many atmospheric chemical processes, including the formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA), are strongly modulated by the reactions of NO and NO 2 (NO x ). Though NO x is controlled by anthropogenic emissions near urban areas, in rural areas soil microbes can be a significant contribution to NO emission globally. The relative rates of emissions of different nitrogen-containing species (e.g., NO, N 2 O, HONO, and N 2 ) are strong functions of soil properties such as temperature, moisture content, pH, and soil carbon and nitrogen pools. However, typical large-scale biogeochemical models either express these emissions simplistically, or not at all. Here we investigate the potential impact of soil NO emissions on atmospheric chemistry and SOA formation over regional and monthly time scales, specifically the 2016 spring and summer Intensive Observational Periods (IOPs) of the Holistic Interactions of Shallow Clouds, Aerosols and Land Ecosystems (HI-SCALE) field campaign. We implement the soil NO nitrification/denitrification parameterization of Rasool et al. (2019) into the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem), supplemented by a 1-km soil moisture analysis. We then simulate both IOPs over the U.S. Great Plains, evaluating against ground stations and flight data. We show that soil NO emissions can account for a large fraction of total NO x and locally increase O 3 concentrations by up to 25%, while alleviating negative biases of gases and aerosols toward observations. Soil moisture and temperature changes between IOP1 and IOP2 lead to overall differences in emissions, but with large regional variability due to heterogeneous surface characteristics.

Atmoshpheric Chemistry↗

DOE OSTI2022

Widespread Wildfires Over the Western United States in 2020 Linked to Emissions Reductions During COVID-19

Widespread wildfires struck western United States in 2020, directly damaging properties and threatening human lives. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly spread across the globe in 2020, which disrupted human activities and resulted in substantial reductions in anthropogenic emissions. Here, we investigate the effects of the emissions reductions of aerosols, precursors, and greenhouse gases during the pandemic on wildfire weather conditions in 2020 over western United States by using an earth system model together with observational data. We show that the COVID-19 emissions reductions in model experiments increased surface air temperature and decreased precipitation and relative humidity due to a weakened moisture transport, which explains 10-40% of the observed increase in the risk of wildfires over western United States in 2020. In conclusion, this study suggests that COVID-19-related abrupt emissions reductions have an unexpected influence on wildfires, highlighting a different but important role of human activities in affecting wildfire risks.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS2016

Formaldehyde Column Density Measurements as a Suitable Pathway to Estimate Near-Surface Ozone Tendencies from Space

In support of future satellite missions that aim to address the current shortcomings in measuring air quality from space, NASA's Deriving Information on Surface Conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality (DISCOVER-AQ) field campaign was designed to enable exploration of relationships between column measurements of trace species relevant to air quality at high spatial and temporal resolution. In the DISCOVER-AQ data set, a modest correlation (r2 = 0.45) between ozone (O3) and formaldehyde (CH2O) column densities was observed. Further analysis revealed regional variability in the O3-CH2O relationship, with Maryland having a strong relationship when data were viewed temporally and Houston having a strong relationship when data were viewed spatially. These differences in regional behavior are attributed to differences in volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. In Maryland, biogenic VOCs were responsible for approx.28% of CH2O formation within the boundary layer column, causing CH2O to, in general, increase monotonically throughout the day. In Houston, persistent anthropogenic emissions dominated the local hydrocarbon environment, and no discernable diurnal trend in CH2O was observed. Box model simulations suggested that ambient CH2O mixing ratios have a weak diurnal trend (+/-20% throughout the day) due to photochemical effects, and that larger diurnal trends are associated with changes in hydrocarbon precursors. Finally, mathematical relationships were developed from first principles and were able to replicate the different behaviors seen in Maryland and Houston. While studies would be necessary to validate these results and determine the regional applicability of the O3-CH2O relationship, the results presented here provide compelling insight into the ability of future satellite missions to aid in monitoring near-surface air quality.

Surface Conditions from Column and Vertically Reso↗

NASA NTRS1993

Measurements of nitric acid, carboxylic acids, and selected aerosol species for the NASA/GTE Pacific Mission - West (PEM-WEST)

The research investigation funded through this grant to the University of New Hampshire was performed during a major field expedition conducted by the NASA Tropospheric Chemistry Program. The NASA Global Tropospheric Experiment (GTE) executed an airborne science mission (PEM-WEST A) aboard the NASA Ames DC-8 over the Pacific Ocean during Sep./Oct. 1981. The atmosphere over the central Pacific Ocean is the only major region in the Northern Hemisphere that is relatively free from direct anthropogenic influence. Thus, this environment is ideally suited to study the natural biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, ozone, sulfur, and aerosols without serious confounding problems related to anthropogenic emissions. Asian sources account for about 17 percent of the global budgets of nitrogen oxides (NO(x)) and sulfur dioxide (SO2). The Pacific Rim region therefore provides the opportunity to study the anthropogenic impact on natural atmospheric chemical cycles. The PEM-WEST A flights were focused on contrasting the chemistry of 'clean' air over the central Pacific with anthropogenically impacted air advected off the Asian continent. The principal objectives of PEM-WEST A were to investigate the atmospheric chemistry of ozone (O3) and its precursors, and to study important aspects of the atmospheric sulfur cycle over the western Pacific Ocean. Measurements conducted by the University of New Hampshire contributed directly to both of these objectives. Subsequent PEM-WEST field missions are planned by GTE in the mid-1990's to contrast atmospheric chemistry documented during PEM-WEST A with other time periods. This report presents preliminary findings from the PEM-WEST A field mission. Data interpretation is currently ongoing with the goal of manuscript submission of scientific results to a special issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres in Feb. 1994. The reader is strongly encouraged to review this suite of profession articles to appreciate the overall scientific findings and benefits of the PEM-WEST A field mission.

Talbot, Robert W.↗

DOE OSTI2023

Climate effects of future aerosol reductions for achieving carbon neutrality in China

To limit the global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels, beyond which the most dangerous impacts of climate change will occur, achieving carbon neutrality by the mid-21st century is essential. As the largest developing country and a significant contributor to carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions, China has announced its ambitious climate commitment to pass carbon peak before 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. Both climate policies and regional clean air actions have been implemented for reductions in fossil fuel emissions, including the emissions of short-lived aerosols and precursors. Furthermore, in the context of pursuing carbon neutrality in China, aerosol reductions due to clean air actions and pollution control policies are very likely to have a great impact on climate. In this study, climate effects of aerosol reductions due to China's clean air actions under localized future emission scenarios are investigated using the Community Earth System Model version 1 (CESM1). Fully coupled and atmosphere-only experiments in years of carbon peak (2030) and carbon neutrality (2060) are performed with anthropogenic emissions of aerosols and precursors under “Current-goals” (Current) and “Carbon-Neutral” (Neutral) scenarios from the Dynamic Projection for Emissions in China (DPEC) model that consider socioeconomic development, climate policy, and pollution control actions (Figs. S1–S4 online). In addition, a present-day emissions simulation (PD) is conducted as the reference case (Supplementary materials online). Another sensitivity simulation is also conducted, with black carbon (BC) emissions set to follow the Neutral experiment but other emissions kept at the present-day levels (Neutral_BC), to quantify the relative roles of reducing strongly absorbing BC and other aerosols on future climate towards carbon neutrality. Greenhouse gases concentrations are kept at the 2015 levels in all simulations (Text S1 online).

Yang, Yang↗

NASA NTRS2004

Regional and Global CO and Aerosol Correlations: An Integrated Approach of Surface, Satellite, and Aircraft Measurements and Model Simulations

We investigate regional and global CO and fine mode aerosol correlations by combining GOCART model simulations with various measurements from surface (CMDL /CO and AERONET / aerosol), satellite (MOPl3T / CO and MODIS / aerosol), and aircraft. CO mixing ratios and aerosol concentrations are examined using surface and aircraft measurements on several representative regions. Satellite observations provide the comparisons of CO column and aerosol fine model AOD at global scale. Numerical model simulation allows us to compare CO and aerosol properties without temporal and spatial limitation and with the capability to trace emissions by isolating different somces. Our zonal mean comparisons confirm the previous researches that the variations of CO and aerosol properties are out of phase by several month. over northern hemisphere middle latitudes where anthropogenic emissions dominate. Over the biomass burning dominating regions, such as southern hemisphere (SH) extra-tropical zone, the concentration and column properties of CO and aerosol show more agreement. Long- term transport and local chemistry drive the biggest phase shift of CO and aerosol properties over remote SH ocean regions. There are much more complicated relationships CO and aerosol properties over stations and small regions due to emission, transport, and local chemistry.

Bian-Hui-Sheng↗

NASA NTRS2021

Present and future aerosol impacts on Arctic climate change in the GISS-E2.1 Earth system model

The Arctic is warming 2 to 3 times faster than the global average, partly due to changes in short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs) including aerosols. In order to study the effects of atmospheric aerosols in this warming, recent past (1990–2014) and future (2015–2050) simulations have been carried out using the GISS-E2.1 Earth system model to study the aerosol burdens and their radiative and climate impacts over the Arctic (>60°N), using anthropogenic emissions from the Eclipse V6b and the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) databases, while global annual mean greenhouse gas concentrations were prescribed and kept fixed in all simulations. Results showed that the simulations have underestimated observed surface aerosol levels, in particular black carbon (BC) and sulfate (SO2−4), by more than 50 %, with the smallest biases calculated for the atmosphere-only simulations, where winds are nudged to reanalysis data. CMIP6 simulations performed slightly better in reproducing the observed surface aerosol concentrations and climate parameters, compared to the Eclipse simulations. In addition, simulations where atmosphere and ocean are fully coupled had slightly smaller biases in aerosol levels compared to atmosphere-only simulations without nudging. Arctic BC, organic aerosol (OA), and SO2−4 burdens decrease significantly in all simulations by 10 %–60 % following the reductions of 7 %–78 % in emission projections, with the Eclipse ensemble showing larger reductions in Arctic aerosol burdens compared to the CMIP6 ensemble. For the 2030–2050 period, the Eclipse ensemble simulated a radiative forcing due to aerosol–radiation interactions (RFARI) of −0.39 ± 0.01 W/sq. m, which is −0.08 W/sq. m larger than the 1990–2010 mean forcing (−0.32 W/sq. m), of which −0.24 ± 0.01 W/sq. m was attributed to the anthropogenic aerosols. The CMIP6 ensemble simulated a RFARI of −0.35 to −0.40 W/sq. m for the same period, which is −0.01 to −0.06 W/sq. m larger than the 1990–2010 mean forcing of −0.35 W/sq. m. The scenarios with little to no mitigation (worst-case scenarios) led to very small changes in the RFARI, while scenarios with medium to large emission mitigations led to increases in the negative RFARI, mainly due to the decrease in the positive BC forcing and the decrease in the negative SO2−4 forcing. The anthropogenic aerosols accounted for −0.24 to −0.26 W/sq. m of the net RFARI in 2030–2050 period, in Eclipse and CMIP6 ensembles, respectively. Finally, all simulations showed an increase in the Arctic surface air temperatures throughout the simulation period. By 2050, surface air temperatures are projected to increase by 2.4 to 2.6 °C in the Eclipse ensemble and 1.9 to 2.6 °C in the CMIP6 ensemble, compared to the 1990–2010 mean. Overall, results show that even the scenarios with largest emission reductions leads to similar impact on the future Arctic surface air temperatures and sea-ice extent compared to scenarios with smaller emission reductions, implying reductions of greenhouse emissions are still necessary to mitigate climate change.

Aerosols↗

DOE OSTI2022

Abrupt emissions reductions during COVID-19 contributed to record summer rainfall in China

Record rainfall and severe flooding struck eastern China in the summer of 2020. The extreme summer rainfall occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, which started in China in early 2020 and spread rapidly across the globe. By disrupting human activities, substantial reductions in anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols might have affected regional precipitation in many ways. Here, we investigate such connections and show that the abrupt emissions reductions during the pandemic strengthened the summer atmospheric convection over eastern China, resulting in a positive sea level pressure anomaly over northwestern Pacific Ocean. The latter enhanced moisture convergence to eastern China and further intensified rainfall in that region. Modeling experiments show that the reduction in aerosols had a stronger impact on precipitation than the decrease of greenhouse gases did. We conclude that through abrupt emissions reductions, the COVID-19 pandemic contributed importantly to the 2020 extreme summer rainfall in eastern China.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS2020

Interannual Variability and Trends of Combustion Aerosol and Dust in Major Continental Outflows Revealed by MODIS Retrievals and CAM5 Simulations During 2003-2017

Emissions and long-range transport of mineral dust and combustion-related aerosol from burning fossil fuels and biomass vary from year to year, driven by the evolution of the economy and changes in meteorological conditions and environmental regulations. This study offers both satellite and model perspectives of interannual variability and possible trend of combustion aerosol and dust in major continental outflow regions over the past 15 years (2003-2017). The decade-long record of aerosol optical depth (AOD, denoted as t), separately for combustion aerosol (τ(sub c)) and dust (τ(sub d)), over global oceans is derived from the Collection 6 aerosol products of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard both Terra and Aqua. These MODIS/Aqua datasets, complemented by aerosol source-tagged simulations using the Community Atmospheric Model Version 5 (CAM5), are then analyzed to understand the interannual variability and potential trend of τ(sub c) and τ(sub d) in the major continental outflows. Both MODIS and CAM5 consistently yield a similar decreasing trend of -0.017 to - 0.020 decade(exp -1) for τ(sub c) over the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea that is attributable to reduced emissions from North America and Europe, respectively. On the contrary, both MODIS and CAM5 display an increasing trend of +0.017 to +0.036 decade(exp -1) for τ(sub c) over the tropical Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal, and the Arabian Sea, which reflects the influence of increased anthropogenic emissions from South Asia and Middle East in the last two decades. Over the northwestern Pacific Ocean that is often affected by East Asian emissions of pollution and dust, the MODIS retrievals show a decreasing trend of - 0.021 decade(exp -1) for τ(sub c) and -0.012 decade(exp -1) for τ(sub d), which is however not reproduced by the CAM5 model. In other outflow regions strongly influenced by biomass burning smoke or dust, both MODIS retrievals and CAM5 simulations show no statistically significant trends; and the MODIS observed interannual variability is usually larger than that of the CAM5 simulation.

Hongbin Yu↗

NASA NTRS2002

Interesting Scientific Questions Regarding Interactions in the Gas-aerosol-cloud System

The growth of human population and their use of land, food and energy resources affect the Earth's atmosphere, biosphere and oceans in a complex manner. Many important questions in earth sciences today deal with issues regarding the impact of human activities on our immediate and future environment, ranging in scope from local (i.e. air pollution) to global (i.e. global warming) scale problems. Because the mass of the Earth's atmosphere is negligible compare to that found in the oceans and the biosphere, the atmosphere can respond quickly to natural and/or manmade perturbations. For example, seasonal 'ozone hole' formation in the Antarctic is a result of manmade CFC emissions in just the last 40 years. Also, the observed rise in global temperatures (known as global warming) is linked to a rapid increase in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas concentrations (emitted primarily by combustion processes) over the last century. The Earth's atmosphere is composed of a mixture of gases, aerosol and cloud particles. Natural and anthropogenic emissions of gases and aerosols affect the composition of the Earth's atmosphere. Changes in the chemical and physical makeup of the atmosphere can influence how the Earth will interact with the incoming solar radiation and the outgoing infrared radiation and vise versa. While, some perturbations are short-lived, others are long-lived and can affect the Earth's global climate and chemistry in many decades to come, In order to be able to separate the natural effects from anthropogenic ones, it is essential that we understand the basic physics and chemistry of interactions in the gas-aerosol-cloud system in the Earth's atmosphere. The important physics and chemistry that takes place in the coupled gas-aerosol-cloud system as it relates to aircraft observations are discussed.

Tabazadeh, Azadeh↗

NASA NTRS2020

Historical and Future Changes in Air Pollutants from CMIP6 Models

Poor air quality is currently responsible for large impacts on human health across the world. In addition, the air pollutants ozone (O3) and particulate matter less than 2.5 µm in diameter (PM2.5) are also radiatively active in the atmosphere and can influence Earth's climate. It is important to understand the effect of air quality and climate mitigation measures over the historical period and in different future scenarios to ascertain any impacts from air pollutants on both climate and human health. The Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) presents an opportunity to analyse the change in air pollutants simulated by the current generation of climate and Earth system models that include a representation of chemistry and aerosols (particulate matter). The shared socio-economic pathways (SSPs) used within CMIP6 encompass a wide range of trajectories in precursor emissions and climate change, allowing for an improved analysis of future changes to air pollutants. Firstly, we conduct an evaluation of the available CMIP6 models against surface observations of O3 and PM2.5. CMIP6 models consistently overestimate observed surface O3 concentrations across most regions and in most seasons by up to 16 ppb, with a large diversity in simulated values over Northern Hemisphere continental regions. Conversely, observed surface PM2.5 concentrations are consistently underestimated in CMIP6 models by up to 10 µg m−3, particularly for the Northern Hemisphere winter months, with the largest model diversity near natural emission source regions. The biases in CMIP6 models when compared to observations of O3 and PM2.5 are similar to those found in previous studies. Over the historical period (1850–2014) large increases in both surface O3 and PM2.5 are simulated by the CMIP6 models across all regions, particularly over the mid to late 20th century, when anthropogenic emissions increase markedly. Large regional historical changes are simulated for both pollutants across East and South Asia with an annual mean increase of up to 40 ppb for O3 and 12 µg m−3 for PM2.5. In future scenarios containing strong air quality and climate mitigation measures (ssp126), annual mean concentrations of air pollutants are substantially reduced across all regions by up to 15 ppb for O3 and 12 µg m−3 for PM2.5. However, for scenarios that encompass weak action on mitigating climate and reducing air pollutant emissions (ssp370), annual mean increases in both surface O3 (up 10 ppb) and PM2.5 (up to 8 µg m−3) are simulated across most regions, although, for regions like North America and Europe small reductions in PM2.5 are simulated due to the regional reduction in precursor emissions in this scenario. A comparison of simulated regional changes in both surface O3 and PM2.5 from individual CMIP6 models highlights important regional differences due to the simulated interaction of aerosols, chemistry, climate and natural emission sources within models. The projection of regional air pollutant concentrations from the latest climate and Earth system models used within CMIP6 shows that the particular future trajectory of climate and air quality mitigation measures could have important consequences for regional air quality, human health and near-term climate. Differences between individual models emphasise the importance of understanding how future Earth system feedbacks influence natural emission sources, e.g. response of biogenic emissions under climate change.

Air pollutants↗

DOE OSTI2022

Nature-based solutions in mountain catchments reduce impact of anthropogenic climate change on drought streamflow

Quantifying how well Nature-based Solutions can offset anthropogenic climate change impacts is important for adaptation planning, but has rarely been done. Here we show that a widely-applied Nature-based Solution in South Africa – invasive alien tree clearing – reduces the impact of anthropogenic climate change on drought streamflow. Using a multi-model joint-attribution of climate and landscape-vegetation states during the 2015–2017 Cape Town “Day Zero” drought, we find that anthropogenic climate change reduced streamflow by 12–29% relative to a counterfactual world with anthropogenic emissions removed. This impact on streamflow was larger than corresponding reductions in rainfall (7–15%) and reference evapotranspiration (1.7–2%). Clearing invasive alien trees could have ameliorated streamflow reductions by 3–16% points for moderate invasions levels. Preventing further invasive alien tree spread avoided potential additional reductions of 10–27% points. Total clearing could not have offset the anthropogenic climate change impact completely. Invasive alien tree clearing is an important form of catchment restoration for managing changing hydroclimatic risk, but will need to be combined with other adaptation options as climate change accelerates.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2024

Impact of Anthropogenic Aerosol Transport on Cloud Condensation Nuclei Activity During Summertime in Qilian Mountain, in the Northern Tibetan Plateau

Here in this study, we conducted field campaigns at two mountain-top observatories on the Qilian Mountains (QLM) in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau of China, which plays a vital role in sustaining water resources for the downstream arid and semi-arid regions. The two observatories, Waliguan Baseline Observatory (WLG) and Laohugou station (LHG), are situated on the eastern and western edge of the QLM, respectively. The objectives of this study were to examine the properties of atmospheric aerosols, CCN concentrations (NCCN) at varying supersaturation levels (SS = 0.2%–1.0%), and the hygroscopic nature of aerosols in the QLM, especially during the formation of orographic cloud. Notably, the average aerosol concentration and N CCN was approximately 2–3 factors higher at WLG compared to LHG. The chemical compositions of aerosols were primarily dominated by sulfate and organic aerosol (OA) at these two sites. A very high hygroscopicity parameter of aerosol calculated using chemical composition was observed at these two sites (0.37 ± 0.03 at LHG vs. 0.30 ± 0.04 at WLG). Enhanced aerosol loading episodes impacted by anthropogenic emission were observed at these two sites. Exploration on high-loading cases at each site, we found that the CCN activity was dominated by aerosol size, but the chemical processes of aerosol during the formation of orographic cloud could also be important in CCN activity, especially for low SS conditions. These findings collectively underscore the significant impact of anthropogenic air plumes on CCN concentrations in the QLM and their potential influence on precipitation patterns.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS2015

Quantifying Sources and Sinks of Reactive Gases in the Lower Atmosphere Using Airborne Flux Observations

Atmospheric composition is governed by the interplay of emissions, chemistry, deposition, and transport. Substantial questions surround each of these processes, especially in forested environments with strong biogenic emissions. Utilizing aircraft observations acquired over a forest in the southeast U.S., we calculate eddy covariance fluxes for a suite of reactive gases and apply the synergistic information derived from this analysis to quantify emission and deposition fluxes, oxidant concentrations, aerosol uptake coefficients, and other key parameters. Evaluation of results against state-of-the-science models and parameterizations provides insight into our current understanding of this system and frames future observational priorities. As a near-direct measurement of fundamental process rates, airborne fluxes offer a new tool to improve biogenic and anthropogenic emissions inventories, photochemical mechanisms, and deposition parameterizations.

emission↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Improving Regional Air Quality Forecasting Through Chemical Data Assimilation and Dynamic Emissions Adjustment

Poor air quality (AQ) is one of the most important human-health and environmental problems facing the United States (US). In addition to the detrimental impacts on human- and environmental-health, poor AQ has an economic cost of ~5% of the US gross domestic product (~$790 billion). AQ managers use AQ analyses and modeling to better understand, anticipate, and avoid poor AQ events. Our research focuses on improving AQ analysis/forecast skill, predictability, and emission estimates through improved and more efficient: (i) modeling and data assimilation strategies; (ii) dynamic emissions adjustment strategies; and (iii) use of satellite remote-sensing Earth observations (e.g., MOPITT, IASI, MODIS, OMI, TROPOMI, TEMPO, etc.). This seminar will review: (i) regional chemical weather forecasting/data assimilation with dynamic emissions adjustment with WRF-Chem/DART; (ii) strategies for efficiently assimilating satellite retrieval profiles with ‘compact phase space retrievals’ (CPSRs); (iii) results from joint assimilation of multiple satellite retrievals at medium (12 km × 12 km) and high (4 km × 4 km) spatial resolutions; and (iv) results from observing system simulation experiments (OSSEs) to investigate whether we can recover COVID-period anthropogenic emissions by assimilating synthetic TEMPO NO2 tropospheric column retrievals with dynamic emissions adjustment. Biographical Sketch: Dr. Mizzi is a Senior Research Fellow working and Dr. Johnson at the NASA Ames Research Center. He holds BA and MS degrees in Environmental Science from the University of Virginia, MS and PhD degrees in Applied Mathematics from the University of Colorado at Boulder (CUB), and a JD degree (with an emphasis in Environmental Law) from the University of Colorado School of Law. He worked at the National Center for Atmospheric Research for nearly 25 years on global atmospheric modeling, dynamic and physical initialization, regional hybrid data assimilation, and most recently on regional chemical data assimilation. He also worked as an environmental attorney and consultant for nearly 15 years. He is an expert in numerical modeling and is recognized internationally as a leading expert in regional, chemical data assimilation with dynamic emissions adjustment. Dr. Mizzi became affiliated with NASA Ames in March 2020 to work on improving AQ analysis/forecast skill, predictability, and ‘top-down’ emissions adjustment though the assimilation of Earth observations. An emphasis of his current work is developing methods for assimilating synthetic TEMPO retrievals to quantify the expected benefits of TEMPO relative to existing AQ observations.

Arthur P. Mizzi↗

NASA NTRS1988

The cycle of biogenic sulfur compounds over the Amazon Basin. I - Dry season

The concentrations of SO2, methylmercaptan, dimethylsulfide, H2S, aerosol sulfate, and methanesulfonate over the Amazon Basin during the July/August dry season were determined from samples collected by the NASA research aircraft. The results indicate that biogenic emissions represent an important, if not the dominant, source of sulfur to the atmosphere over Amazonia. Per unit area, the wet continental tropics appear to have about the same reduced sulfur emission flux as the oceanic area average (about 6 nmol/sq m per min), consistent with the fact that the aerosol sulfate concentration over the Amazon Basin is similar to the excess sulfate levels over the remote oceans. However, since the wet tropical continents represent only about 3 percent of the earth's surface, their global contribution is modest; it is also small relative to the anthropogenic emissions from fossil fuel burning.

Andreae, M. O.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Global average concentration and trend for hydroxyl radicals deduced from ALE/GAGE trichloroethane (methyl chloroform) data for 1978-1990

An optimal estimation inversion scheme is utilized with atmospheric data and emission estimates to determined the globally averaged CH3CCl3 tropospheric lifetime and OH concentration. The data are taken from atmospheric measurements from surface stations of 1,1,1-trichloroethane and show an annual increase of 4.4 +/- 0.2 percent. Industrial emission estimates and a small oceanic loss rate are included, and the OH concentration for the same period (1978-1990) are incorporated at 1.0 +/- 0.8 percent/yr. The positive OH trend is consistent with theories regarding OH and ozone trends with respect to land use and global warming. Attention is given to the effects of the ENSO on the CH3CCl3 data and the assumption of continuing current industrial anthropogenic emissions. A novel tropical atmospheric tracer-transport mechanism is noted with respect to the CH3CCl3 data.

Prinn, R.↗