| NSF Org: |
AGS Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | June 21, 2019 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | May 19, 2021 |
| Award Number: | 1918850 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Yu Gu
ygu@nsf.gov (703)292-8796 AGS Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
| Start Date: | July 1, 2019 |
| End Date: | June 30, 2023 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $207,477.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $248,964.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2020 = $136,743.00 FY 2021 = $41,487.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
105 GARFIELD AVENUE EAU CLAIRE WI US 54701-4811 (715)836-3405 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
105 Garfield Avenue Eau Claire WI US 54702-4004 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Physical & Dynamic Meteorology |
| Primary Program Source: |
01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.050 |
ABSTRACT
The research project seeks new understanding of the exposure to air pollutants across large areas of land and water near Lake Michigan by taking measurements of meteorological variables and ozone near the lake with an unmanned aerial system (UAS) at altitudes near the surface up to 400 feet. Communities at the shorelines of Lake Michigan have been negatively impacted by poor air quality for decades. The main pollutant of concern is ozone formed from atmospheric chemical reactions promoted by airborne emissions from urban activities, ample sunlight, and the smooth stable atmosphere. Lake Michigan generates its own local meteorology. When the warm air from the surrounding land flows over the relatively cold water, the air flow can transport urban emissions over the lake for a long distance with high pollutant concentration. Meanwhile the urban emission can be transported upward over the heated land surface, forming large spatial variations of ozone concentration. Consequently, air movements with different pollutant concentrations and chemical reactions can impact air quality in the area surrounding the lake. The field measurement will provide airborne air-quality measurements beyond the traditional measurement at fixed ground monitoring stations and airborne measurements with manned aircraft at higher altitudes from previous field campaigns. These measurements are ideal for improving air quality forecast models in the Great Lakes region for capturing near-surface features.
The UAS involved in this study will be a C-Astral Bramor fixed-wing unmanned aerial system with a meteorological sensor package on board. The specific objectives of flying the UAS are to a) characterize lake-breeze characteristics of near shore circulation onset and vertical variations along the shoreline of Lake Michigan, b) capture the development or movement of convergence zones/fine scale circulations within a lake-breeze frontal region from offshore to onshore over time, and c) monitor ozone gradients, characteristics of chemical circulation patterns within marine-influenced inversions at the shoreline over time at low altitudes. The use of the UAS to fly pre-programed data collection missions would allow scientists to elucidate pollutant transport in the region of lake-breeze circulation for understanding connections between small scale circulations with broader air quality repercussions.
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.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Intellectual Merit
The investigation into lake breeze impacts on shoreline meteorology and ozone using unmanned aerial vehicles lead to an improved understanding of the vertical layering of pollutants at a shoreline location along Lake Michigan. Several intensive measurement periods targeted poor air quality days impacted by lake breeze circulations. The use of unmanned aerial vehicles allowed us to measure the vertical profile of ozone up to 120 m above ground level and interrogate how the vertical profile relates to an atmosphere which was not mixing during lake breeze. The dome of stagnant air over Lake Michigan appears to contain layering of ozone within it, instead of a dome of well-mixed pollutants. As a lake breeze moves that marine air over land, it tends to develop a very small layer of mixing near the surface and inverted air (air which gets hotter with altitude) above the surface. The uncrewed aerial systems could investigate the lowest area of the atmosphere where manned aircraft cannot linger and remote sensing instrumentation can have a dead zone of non-measurement. These observations showed that in June for multiple years the lowest 100 m of atmosphere had rapidly changing conditions in both meteorology and ozone.
Broader Impacts
The improved understanding of the vertical profiles of the atmosphere in a location impacted by both poor air quality and lake breeze can lead to improved modeling of air quality in the region, with the ultimate goal of targeting better emissions controls to improve air quality. The vertical profiles can also help to better target satellite efforts to measure tropospheric gases, as the non-mixing structure of the lower atmosphere above Lake Michigan can be used as a model for shoreline or Great Lakes area. This work was conducted by 12 undergraduate students who conducted field work, co-authored manuscripts and presented their work at regional and national meetings. The educational impact of participating in a research project with collaboration partners across different universities and government agencies allowed a broader understanding to those students of the collaborative nature of scientific research.
Last Modified: 10/12/2023
Modified by: Patricia Cleary
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