RUI: Using GIS to Integrate the NOAA HYSPLIT Model with Surface-Based Air Quality and Mercury Deposition Data

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111.5）资助的。大气气域，即向指定位置或该位置上方的气团贡献污染物和/或污染物的表面区域，先前已被定义为空间和时间静态。 宾夕法尼亚州滑石大学的朱莉·斯诺博士和杰克·利文斯顿博士以及圣克鲁斯的加州大学的彼得·韦斯-彭齐亚斯博士将通过探索空气区的可变性来解决对更有意义的空气区划定的需求。此外，该研究还将探讨空气流域的时空变化与空气质量和汞沉积变异性的关系，并评估对空气质量化学和汞沉积率变化产生重大影响的环境因素。该项目将包括三个目标：（1）根据长期反向轨迹趋势划定大气影响流域（空气区），这将有助于分析这些流域的空间和时间变异性。(2)确定气区几何形状与空气质量之间的关系（包括对标准污染物和汞沉积的具体考虑）。研究的这一部分将整合环境保护局公开提供的空气化学数据和宾夕法尼亚州汞沉积网络（MDN）公开提供的汞沉积数据。(3)创建一个网站，为ArcGIS平台提供一个用户友好的空气区划定扩展，该扩展与美国国家海洋和大气管理局HYSPLIT轨迹模型集成，用作研究和教学工具。可用的扩展将允许用户根据给定时间段和位置的反向轨迹路径的频率来描绘贡献盆地，用于定义空气流域及其可变性、量化空气流域污染输入和了解区域空气运输的工具的开发将以新的方式整合现有方法和技术。在此过程中，该项目将重新考虑区域空气运输的时间和空间变化，并提高我们对宾夕法尼亚州空气质量和汞沉积变化的理解。虽然这项工作对指导空气质量政策至关重要，但在制定准确的空气质量预报方面同样重要，这将改善个人和社区的健康。该项目的最终成果是通过网页公开提供的ArcGIS扩展，将为研究区域空气质量和教授本科生提供一个独特的工具;该工具将使个人能够探索任何特定地点的区域大气传输。Slippery Rock大学的本科生将参与网页的开发、文档的编写和最终用户问题的故障排除。将通过同行审查的出版物和介绍广泛传播成果。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111.5).Atmospheric airsheds, surface areas that contribute contaminants and/or pollutants to a defined location or the airmass above this location, have been previously defined as spatially and temporally static. Dr.s Julie Snow and Jack Livingston at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Peter Weiss-Penzias at the University of California, Santa Cruz will address the need for more meaningful airshed delineations by exploring the variability of airsheds. Further, the research will examine how temporal and spatial changes in airsheds relate to air quality and mercury deposition variability and evaluate environmental factors that significantly affect changes in air quality chemistry and mercury deposition rates. The project will incorporate three objectives: (1) Delineate atmospheric contribution basins (airsheds) based on long-term back trajectory trends, which will allow for the analysis of spatial and temporal variability of these basins. (2) Determine the relationship between airshed geometry and air quality (including specific considerations of criteria pollutants and mercury deposition). This portion of the research will integrate air chemistry data that is publicly available from the EPA and mercury deposition data that is publicly available from the Mercury Deposition Network (MDN) with airsheds in Pennsylvania. (3) Create a website to host a user-friendly airshed delineation extension for the ArcGIS platform that integrates with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration HYSPLIT trajectory model for use as a research and teaching tool. The available extension will allow the user to delineate contribution basins based on the frequency of back trajectory paths for a given time period and location.The development of tools for defining airsheds and their variability, quantifying inputs of pollution to the airsheds, and understanding regional air transport will integrate existing approaches and technologies in a novel way. In doing so, the project will reconsider the temporal and spatial variability in regional air transport and improve our understanding of air quality and mercury deposition variability in Pennsylvania. While this work is critical to directing air quality policy, it is equally important in developing accurate air quality forecasts, which will improve the health of individuals and communities. The final result of the project, an ArcGIS extension made publicly available via a webpage, will provide a unique tool for examining regional air quality and teaching undergraduate students; the tool will enable individuals to explore regional atmospheric transport for any given location. Undergraduate students at Slippery Rock University will participate in the development of the webpage, the authoring of documentation, and troubleshooting end user concerns. The dissemination of results will occur broadly through peer reviewed publications and presentations.