AGS-FIRP Track 3: Salt Lake City Summer Ozone Study (SLC-SOS)

Colorado State University, Fort Collins CO

Investigators

Abstract

This field campaign is focused on gaining a better understanding of the mechanisms for atmospheric ozone formation throughout the Wasatch Front near Salt Lake City Utah. During the summer of 2024, aircraft-based measurements of ozone and the precursors leading to its formation will be made in the atmosphere around Salt Lake City. This research is focused on improving the photochemical modeling that predicts the formation of high ozone concentrations. The results are expected to contribute to the development of mitigation strategies that can help reduce ozone pollution around Utah’s Wasatch Front. This project will: (1) assess how increased albedo from exposed salt flats may be enhancing photochemistry in polluted air masses that can then be transported back into the Salt Lake Valley by the lake breeze; (2) identify hypothesized large primary sources of formaldehyde and other oxygenated volatile organic compounds that influence ozone production; (3) investigate whether anthropogenic emission inventories, such as the EPA’s National Emission Inventory, miss a significant amount of reactive carbon or nitrogen oxide fluxes; and (4) diagnose how the addition of wildfire smoke changes the sensitivity of ozone production in the urban environment. This project supports a postdoctoral scholar and several graduate and undergraduate students. There will also be public events during the field campaign to describe ozone pollution and its formation and discuss the specific challenges associated reducing it in the region. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.