Research Projects

The proposed research is a key component of the CalNex 2010 Study, a major field campaign planned by ARB and NOAA, that will improve the understanding and characterization of sources and processing of organic aerosols in the South Coast Air Basin (SoCAB) of California. Recent studies in the eastern portion of the SoCAB have established the importance of SOA (secondary organic aerosol) in summer. Sources of this SOA as well as specific emission sources of the primary organic aerosol (POA), however, remain highly uncertain. The proposed work will address these uncertainties in organic aerosols through deployment during CalNex 2010 of a high-resolution Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) at a supersite in the Los Angeles area. In conjunction with other gas- and particle-phase measurements from NOAA and other research groups and newly developed mass spectrometric techniques, this research will identify both primary and secondary components of organic aerosol, characterize the sources and chemical properties of these components, and test state-of-the-science SOA models. The project will provide critically needed information on organic aerosols in the South Coast Air Basin - unique, high-resolution AMS data sets and comprehensive POA/SOA analyses; these will better inform policy decisions regarding both climate change and air quality.