Acquisition of a Mobile Tower System for Interdisciplinary Atmospheric Research

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0949263EmanuelThis award will fund acquisition of a mobile land-atmosphere research tower allowing flux measurements in the Southern Appalachian Mountains which are stressed by land use changes, pollution, development, invasive organisms and climate change. The proposed instrumentation will support understanding interactions between terrestrial and atmospheric environments. The tower system will be used in short- to intermediate-term mass and energy fluxes measurements over southern Appalachian landscapes; trace gas and aerosol sample collection for assessing regional air quality and climate issues; atmospheric deposition studies and deposition controls on southern Appalachian landscapes; high precision precipitation data collection for understanding precipitation processes and controlling factors in the region; and experimental design flexibility that cannot be achieved with a similarly equipped fixed tower. The instrumentation will support multiple departments including Geology, Biology, Chemistry, Geography and Physics and will also support the Appalachian Atmospheric Interdisciplinary Research (ApplAIR) Program. The latter program supports regional issues with air quality, meteorology, climate and bioshpere-atmospheric interactions. The requested mobile towers will support the permanent tower currently operated through AppAIR. The instrument will incorporated into student research projects and coursework within the five relevant departments and will serve an interdisciplinary program in Environmental Science. Field work will be coordinated with the McKinney Geological Teaching Museum for public outreach. The PI will leverage NSF research funding for transporting and deploying the tower systems. Use will be prioritized by the PI with preference given to funded research projects. The PI has ample experience setting up, deploying and using the requested field-based instrumentation. ***