Year: 2021
Type: article
Abstract: The composition of wildfire smoke particulate matter (PM) was investigated during a 2018 smoke episode in the San Francisco Bay Area and compared to non-wildfire periods. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of passive PM samples deployed at four sites exhibited a higher concentration of submicron, spherical, carbonaceous PM (“tar balls”) during the wildfire period compared to the non-wildfire period. Coarse ash aluminosilicates and potassium bearing particles were enhanced as well. Disproportionately more UV light was absorbed by PM during the wildfire period than during the non-wildfire period, indicating a higher organic content consistent with the observed tar balls. An indoor PM sample from a residence operating a medium-efficiency furnace filter during the smoke episode exhibited fine, carbonaceous PM comparable to outdoors, but reduced coarse ash PM. Indoor/outdoor ratios for PM2.5, PM10-2.5, and PM10 were 0.6, 0.1, and 0.5 respectively. SEM of the wildfire furnace filter revealed a greater proportion of tar balls compared to a non-wildfire filter. Relatively rare particles enriched in Cu, Zn, Sn and Pb were observed in wildfire samples, but not in non-wildfire samples. Higher concentrations of Cu, Zn, and Pb during the wildfire were confirmed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) of the furnace filter. The use of low-cost passive samplers enabled rapid deployment at multiple locations and indoors and outdoors during the wildfire episode. These measurements suggest smoke impacts were regional in scale and similar across sites, though local variations in PM2.5 magnitudes, particle types, and confounding by local sources were observed.Copyright © 2021 American Association for Aerosol Research
Source: Aerosol Science and Technology
Authors: Tamara L. Sparks, Jeff Wagner
Institution: California Department of Public Health
Language: English
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Awards: AMBIENT EXPOSURE TO PM2.5 IS ONE OF THE TOP GLOBAL HEALTH CONCERNS. REMOTE SENSING AND GLOBAL MODELING ARE KEY TOOLS FOR ASSESSING HEALTH IMPACTS FROM AMBIENT EXPOSURE TO PM2.5 AND FOR QUANTIFYING THE BENEFITS OF AIR POLLUTION CONTROL STRATEGIES AS THE DISTRIBUTIONS AND SOURCES OF PM2.5 CAN NOT BE SUFFICIENTLY QUANTIFIED BY IN SITU MEASUREMENTS ALONE IN MANY PARTS OF THE WORLD ESPECIALLYDEVELOPING REGIONS WHERE AIR QUALITY IS A BURGEONING ISSUE.OBJECTIVES: THIS PROJECT WILL EXPAND UPON PREVIOUS WORK PROVIDING REMOTE-SENSING AND MODEL-BASED ESTIMATES OF EXPOSURE AND HEALTHIMPACT RESPONSE COEFFICIENTS TO THE CLIMATE AND CLEAN AIR COALITION (CCAC) OF THE UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME. THIS WORK STEMS FROM A CCAC INITIATIVE TO DEVELOP AND APPLY NATIONAL ACTION PLANNING TOOLKITS WHICH ALLOWS MEMBER NATIONS TO RAPIDLYESTIMATE AIR QUALITY AND CLIMATE IMPACTS OF ARRAYS OF MITIGATION OPTIONS AS PART OF THEIR DECISION-MAKING PROCESS. THROUGH AQAST NASA DATA ARE CURRENTLY USED WITHIN THE INITIAL VERSION OF ONE SUCH TOOL -- THE LEAP-IBC TOOLKIT. FOR OUR CORE PROJECT WE WILL CONTINUE TO STRENGTHEN THE APPLICABILITY AND SCOPE OF LEAP-IBC THROUGH UPDATES TO THE REMOTE SENSING OBSERVATIONS AND MODELING FRAMEWORK USED IN THE TOOLKIT. WE WILL IMPLEMENT NEW MULTI-SATELLITE FUSION CONSTRAINTS ON SURFACE-LEVEL PM2.5 FROM CALIPSO MISR MODIS AND SEAWIFS DIRECTLY INTO LEAP-IBC FOR IMPROVED ACCURACY AND KM-SCALE EVALUATION OF AIR POLLUTION EXPOSURE. THE ADJOINT OF A NASA GLOBAL ATMOSPHERIC CHEMICAL MODEL (GEOS-CHEM) IS USED TO ESTIMATE THE RESPONSE OFPOPULATION-WEIGHTED PM2.5 CONCENTRATIONS TO EMISSIONS FROM ANY SPECIES SECTOR OR LOCATION AND WILL BE EXTENDED TO SERVE ALL CCAC MEMBER NATIONS AND TO PROVIDE HIGH-RESOLUTION PRODUCTS FOR CITIES INCLUDED IN THE CCAC URBAN HEALTH INITIATIVE. DELIVERY OF THESE RESULTS DIRECTLY INTO LEAP-IBC WILL HELP SERVE AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES ACROSS A BROAD SET OF COUNTRIES AND REGIONS ENGAGED INCCAC ACTIVITIES. QUALIFICATIONS: TO SUCCESSFULLY ACCOMPLISH OUR CORE OBJECTIVES WE WILL DRAW FROM CONSIDERABLE EXPERTISE IN SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL USE OF REMOTE SENSING DATA AND AIR QUALITY MODELING (HENZE) DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT (ANENBERG) ANDENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH (KINNEY). FROM EXPERIENCE ON BOTH THE RESEARCH AND AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT SIDES OF MULTIPLE AQAST PROJECTS WE ARE ALSO ABLE TO IDENTIFY LEAD AND CONTRIBUTE TO TIGER TEAM ACTIVITIES WITH CLEARLY SCOPED DELIVERABLES AND OUTCOMES ACROSS A BROAD RANGE OF TOPICS OTHER THAN THOSE HIGHLIGHTED IN OUR CORE PROPOSAL SUCH AS AIR QUALITY TOXICS URBAN HEAT ISLANDS AND EPIDEMIOLOGY.IMPACT: THIS PROJECT IS HIGHLY RESPONSIVE TO THE H-AQAST SOLICITATION AS WE PROPOSE TO USE BOTH MULTI-SENSOR SATELLITE PRODUCTS AND NASA EARTH SYSTEM MODELING TO CONTRIBUTE TO ACTIVE AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS. THIS DIRECTLY ADDRESSES TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND AIR QUALITY POLICY; AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT APPROACHES IN NUMEROUS COUNTRIES;EVOLVING POLICY NEEDS ARISING FROM INTERACTIONS AMONG AIR POLLUTION HEALTH AND CLIMATE CHANGE; AND THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS THAT ADDRESS THESE ISSUES. QUANTIFIABLE SOCIETAL IMPACTS INCLUDE AN EXPANDED BASE OF NATIONAL AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS USING THESE TOOLS THE IMPROVEMENTS THESE TOOLS MAKE TO THEIR ABILITIES TO ESTIMATE AIR POLLUTION EXPOSURE AND ENHANCEDCAPABILITIES FOR ESTIMATING HOW THIS EXPOSURE RESPONDS TO DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL MITIGATION EFFORTS. THIS WORK BUILDS DIRECTLY FROM AQAST FUNDED ACTIVITIES THAT LAID THE GROUNDWORK FOR THESE PROJECTS MATCHED BY SUPPORT PROVIDED BY THE CCAC. THE RESULTS WILL FACILITATE BROADER ADOPTION OF SATELLITE-BASED PM2.5 EXPOSURE ESTIMATES WITHIN ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS THE UN US STATE DEPARTMENT WORLD BANK AND WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION AND EXPAND A SUSTAINED USER-BASE AMONG THESE ORGANIZATIONS FOR NASA PRODUCTS AND HAQAST, RECENT SPACE-BASED AND MODELING CAPABILITIES COMBINED WITH OVER A DECADE OF HIGH-QUALITY U.S. AIR POLLUTION MEASUREMENTS AND PUBLIC HEALTH RECORDS OFFER NOVEL OPPORTUNITIES TO QUANTIFY CHANGING AIR POLLUTION LEVELS AND ASSOCIATED HEALTH EFFECTS. THERE IS A GROWING NEED FOR HEALTH IMPACT TOOLS THAT DRAW ON MODELS AND SATELLITE PRODUCTS TO QUANTIFY AND PRIORITIZE SOURCES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO ADVERSE HEALTH IMPACTS. WE PROPOSE TO COMBINE SATELLITE PRODUCTS GROUND-BASED MEASUREMENTS AND EARTH SYSTEM MODELS TO: 1) CONDUCT A MULTI-POLLUTANT HEALTH IMPACT ANALYSIS FOR AT LEAST THE PAST DECADE OVER NEW YORK STATE (NYS); 2) ATTRIBUTE BACKGROUND VERSUS U.S. ANTHROPOGENIC SOURCES THAT CAN BE LINKED WITH HEALTH ANALYSES ON DAILY TO INTER-ANNUAL TIME SCALES AND 3) ESTIMATE UNCERTAINTIES IN SATELLITE-BASED AND MODELING APPROACHES TO SOURCE ATTRIBUTION AND TO EXPOSURE MAPPING AT MULTIPLE TIME AND SPACE SCALES. SPECIFICALLY WE WILL GENERATE ANNUAL SEASONAL AND WHERE POSSIBLE DAILY EXPOSURE MAPS FOR OZONE FINE PARTICULATE MATTER (PM2.5) AND NITROGEN DIOXIDE (NO2) OVER NYS FOR AT LEAST THE PAST DECADE BY COMBINING EXISTING SATELLITE PRODUCTS (INCLUDING MULTI-SENSOR FUSION PRODUCTS) WITH GROUND-BASED MEASUREMENTS. WE WILL EXPLOIT HIGH-RESOLUTION MODELS INCLUDING EXISTING NYS DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION (NYSDEC) SIMULATIONS FOR PAST AND PRESENT STATE IMPLEMENTATION PLANS TO EVALUATE THE TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL SCALES FOR WHICH RELIABLE EXPOSURE ESTIMATES CAN BE DERIVED FROM CURRENT SATELLITE PRODUCTS AND TO DEMONSTRATE THE POTENTIAL FOR FUTURE ADVANCES WITH INSTRUMENTS ABOARD GEOSTATIONARY PLATFORMS (E.G. TEMPO). BY APPLYING STATISTICAL MODELS (STANDARD POISSON TIME SERIES REGRESSION AND CASE-CROSSOVER) WE WILL ESTIMATE SPATIOTEMPORAL ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN AIR POLLUTION LEVELS AND HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS AND EMERGENCY ROOM VISITS IN NYS.OUR NYS ANALYSES WILL INFORM THE NYS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (NYSDOH) SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM (ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH TRACKING PROGRAM) AND SERVE AS A MODEL FOR OTHER REGIONS. WE WILL PROBE DAILY TO SEASONAL VARIABILITY IN INDIVIDUAL BACKGROUND SOURCES (E.G. STRATOSPHERIC INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT FROM CANADA MEXICO AND ASIA AND WILDFIRES) IN TWO MODELS (GEOS-CHEM AND GFDL AM3) USED TO ESTIMATE BACKGROUND POLLUTANT LEVELS AND TO PROVIDE BOUNDARY CONDITIONS FOR REGIONAL REGULATORY MODELING IN SUPPORT OF NATIONAL AMBIENT AIR QUALITY STANDARD AND REGIONAL HAZE RULE PLANNING. FOR INTERNATIONAL POLLUTANT TRANSPORT WE WILL ALSO DRAW ON A BROAD SET OF MODEL SIMULATIONS COORDINATED BY THE TASK FORCE ON HEMISPHERIC TRANSPORT OF AIR POLLUTION. SATELLITE PRODUCTS AND IN SITU OBSERVATIONS WILL BE ANALYZED ALONGSIDE THESE MODELS TO IDENTIFY CONSTRAINTS ON ANTHROPOGENIC VERSUS BACKGROUND SOURCES AND TO PROVIDE UNCERTAINTY ESTIMATES. OUR PROPOSED APPROACH IS A STEP TOWARDS IDENTIFYING SOURCE-SPECIFIC EXPOSURE PATTERNS NEEDED TO QUANTIFY ACCOMPANYING HEALTH IMPACTS FOR USE IN DECISION-MAKING.PI FIORE BRINGS OVER A DECADE OF EXPERIENCE ANALYZING MODELS AND OBSERVATIONS FOR SOURCE ATTRIBUTION ON MULTIPLE SPACE AND TIME SCALES RANGING FROM INDIVIDUAL POLLUTION EPISODES TO DECADAL SHIFTS IN THE BALANCE OF BACKGROUND VERSUS ANTHROPOGENIC POLLUTANT SOURCES AS WELL AS POLLUTANT INTERACTIONS WITH WEATHER AND CLIMATE. CO-I KINNEY BRINGS 30 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN AIR POLLUTION EPIDEMIOLOGY AND EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT AND OVER A DECADE OF LEADING INTEGRATED ASSESSMENTS OF THE HEALTH CONSEQUENCES OF CLIMATE CHANGE INCLUDING THROUGH AIR POLLUTION. AS A MEMBER OF NASA AQAST FIORE EXPANDED HER PRIOR EXPERIENCE CONDUCTING POLICY-RELEVANT SCIENCE AND DELIVERING INFORMATION TO THE AIR QUALITY POLICY COMMUNITY AND ESTABLISHED NEW RELATIONSHIPS WITH U.S. STATE AND REGIONAL AIR QUALITY MANAGERS. AS PART OF H-AQAST OUR TEAM WILL ALSO ADD A STRONG ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVE BUILDING UPON AND EXPANDING EXISTING RELATIONSHIPS WITH SCIENCE AND POLICY STAFF AT U.S. EPA AND AT NYSDOH., SATELLITE-DERIVED PM2.5 GRIDS WITH DISPERSION MODEL DOWNSCALING: PM2.5 DATA TO SUPPORT COMMUNITY-SCALE AIR QUALITY HEALTH RESEARCH AND POLICY DEVELOP
OpenAlex ID: W3135309013