Spectroscopic measurements of atmospheric composition and evolution for an improved understanding of air quality and climate change

空气质量和气候变化是紧迫的健康和环境问题，经济后果日益严重。省政府和联邦政府都颁布了立法，1)限制人类排放的影响空气质量的大气微量气体的浓度，2)减少导致气候变化的温室气体的排放。空气质量和气候变化的问题是由以下因素联系起来的：1)能源生产、交通运输、加热和烹饪燃烧、农业和工业中常见的微量气体排放源；2)光化学烟雾产生中涉及的许多气体，如挥发性有机物和臭氧，本身就是强大的温室气体；3)由于气候变化，烟雾产生的化学反应速率发生了变化；(4)气候变化影响大气污染扩散、输送和冲刷的气象条件变化。这种复杂性要求不断和扩大获取大气成分的高质量数据集，以便测试和提高对空气质量、天气和气候预报模式中实施的大气化学和动力过程的理解。我新成立的研究项目满足了这一需求，同时解决了加拿大政府四个战略研究领域之一（“环境科学与技术”）以及三个项目（“天气和环境服务”，“气候变化和清洁空气”，“合规促进和执法-污染”），满足了加拿大环境部的两个战略成果（对天气和气候变化的知情决策，最大限度地减少污染威胁）。它将通过在圣玛丽大学建立对流层遥感实验室，大大扩大哈利法克斯和加拿大大西洋地区对与空气质量和气候变化有关的大气微量气体的测量能力。利用傅里叶变换红外光谱技术将实现以下长期研究目标：表征和理解大气过程、组成、变化和长期变化；2 .在远距离（跨界）污染运输和气候变化的背景下评估空气质量政策和法规的有效性；3 .在经济变化的背景下评估温室气体减排目标的有效性；通过精确、准确、时间密集和空间多样的近地表微量气体浓度和排放观测，挑战空气质量模型和卫星观测。在短期内，将对一系列挥发性有机化合物、臭氧、氮氧化物、硫氧化物、一氧化碳和其他与空气质量和温室效应有关的微量气体进行连续和高时间分辨率的测量，以确定固定和移动的单个源（船舶羽流、烟囱）、线排放源（道路）和扩散源（农田、燃料木材燃烧）的特征。这些数据将与空气质量健康指数公共咨询工具以及有关空气质量不良事件导致的发病率（疾病）和死亡率的现有信息相关联。比较的目的是改善该指数，该指数最能服务于儿童、老年人和病人等最弱势群体。最后，收集的数据还将用于地方和区域法规，如新斯科舍省环境法中的空气质量法规和温室气体法规。这将有助于确保加拿大政府颁布减少大气污染物的法令，在这种情况下以尽可能小的经济影响带来最大的健康效益。

Air quality and climate change are pressing health and environmental issues with growing economic consequences. Both provincial and federal governments have enacted legislation to 1) limit the concentration of human-emitted atmospheric trace gases that affect air quality and 2) reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. The problems of air quality and climate change are connected by 1) common emission sources of trace gases in energy production, transportation, heating and cooking combustion, agriculture and industry, 2) the fact that many gases involved in photochemical smog production, such as volatile organic compounds and ozone, are powerful greenhouse gases themselves, 3) changing chemical reaction rates for smog production due to a changing climate, and 4) changing meteorological conditions affecting the dispersion, transport and washout of air pollution due to a changing climate. This complexity requires the ongoing and expanded acquisition of high-quality data sets of atmospheric composition in order to test and improve the understanding of atmospheric chemical and dynamical processes implemented in forecasting models of air quality, weather and climate.My newly established research program meets this need while addressing one of four strategic research areas of the Government of Canada (“Environmental Science and Technologies”) as well as three programs ("Weather and Environmental Services”, “Climate Change and Clean Air”, “Compliance Promotion and Enforcement – Pollution”) satisfying two strategic outcomes of Environment Canada (Informed decisions on changing weather and climate, Minimizing threats from pollution). It will significantly expand the Halifax and Atlantic Canada measurement capability of atmospheric trace gases relevant to air quality and climate change through the establishment of the Tropospheric Remote Sensing Laboratory at Saint Mary’s University. Using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic techniques the following long-term research goals will be met:1. Characterizing and understanding atmospheric processes, composition, variation, and long-term change;2. Assessing the effectiveness of air quality policies and regulations in the context of long-range (trans-boundary) pollution transport and climate change;3. Assessing the effectiveness of greenhouse gas emission reduction targets in the context of a changing economy;4. Challenging air quality models and satellite observations with precise, accurate, temporally dense and spatially diverse observations of near-surface trace gas concentrations and emissions.In the short-term, continuous and high temporal resolution measurements of a broad suite of volatile organic compounds, ozone, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, carbon monoxide and other trace gases relevant to air quality and the greenhouse effect will be made, characterizing stationary and mobile individual sources (ship plumes, stacks), line emission sources (roads) and diffuse sources (crop fields, fuel wood combustion). These data will be correlated with the Air Quality Health Index public advisory tool as well as information available on morbidity (disease) and mortality rates attributed to poor air quality episodes. The aim of the comparison is to improve the Index, which best serves our most vulnerable populations of children, seniors and the ill. Finally, data gathered will also be used to inform local and regional regulations, such as Air Quality Regulations and Greenhouse Gas Regulations in the Nova Scotia Environment Act. This will help ensure that Canadian governments are enacting reductions in atmospheric pollutants that lead to the greatest health benefits with the smallest economic impacts possible under the circumstances.