Collaborative Research: Characterization of Sources and Processes of Primary and Secondary Particulate Matter (PM) and Precursor Gases in the California-Mexico Border Region

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The California-Mexico border region suffers from high levels of air pollution due to a large and expanding population, industrial growth, transportation and agriculture. In this project, researchers will investigate cross-border transport of pollutants and their impacts on regional air quality and climate through the collection and analysis of field data. The observational component of the work includes ground-based measurements along the California-Mexico border region, utilizing a combination of a central fixed site that will house state-of-the-science instruments to measure gases, aerosols, radiation and meteorological parameters and a mobile laboratory that can measure surface-atmosphere exchange fluxes using eddy covariance. The study will be complemented by measurements provided by Mexican colleagues at the fixed site and several mobile units for criteria pollutants and meteorological parameters. The main scientific objectives are to (1) characterize the emissions from major sources in the California-Mexico border regions, (2) determine the spatial and temporal variability in anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and traditional air pollutants, and (3) elucidate the transport and transformation of these emissions and assess their impact on local and regional air quality and climate. A planned NOAA and California Air Resources Board study will provide additional data to aid in the analysis of these subjects.The Intellectual Merit of the project is to assess the sources and processing of particulate matter and its precursors in the border region and their effects on regional air quality and climate. The analysis tasks will much better define the interplay of emissions and secondary particle formation, the diurnal evolution of fine particulate matter chemical composition under degraded air quality conditions, atmospheric processing of aerosols, particularly soot-containing particles, and their transport and transformation. The Broader Impacts of the research include the direct involvement of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in the tasks, and improved collaboration between U.S. and Mexican scientists and students. Results from the study will be directly presented to California and Mexican Government officials and will inform the development of air quality management strategies to reduce adverse human health, ecosystem, and climate impacts.