Today, aircraft emissions that impact air quality represent a relatively small contribution to overall regional emissions. With a projected 2-3 times growth in aviation transport sector over the next two decades, some aviation emissions are expected to increase. The National Vision for Aviation and Environment, which forms the basis for the environmental strategy of the Next Generation Air Transportation System, states that the significant environmental and health impacts of air quality caused by aviation emissions will be reduced in absolute terms notwithstanding the anticipated growth in aviation. In order to understand and evaluate the potential role of aviation emissions in air quality, the FAA has initiated this research project through PARTNER. The main science objective of this project is to quantify the potential incremental contribution of aviation emissions to air quality though their interaction with the background air. Towards this objective, we are developing and refining tools and analyses to model aviation emissions at multiple scales – from plume-scale (to model the exhaust of a single aircraft engine) to local-scale (in the vicinity of an airport to model multiple aircraft) to regional-scale (to model multiple airports over the continental United States) to study aviation impacts on air quality using state-of-the art modeling tools that incorporate one-atmosphere treatment for ozone, particulate matter and hazardous air pollutants. The research carried out under this project will exchange information with PARTNER projects on emissions and health impacts. The lessons learned under this project will help to develop methodology for air quality analysis to aid airport operators in preparing Environmental Assessment and Environmental Impact Statements in support of National Environmental Policy Act requirements, specifically using an integrated measurement and modeling approach. Additionally, this research project will help to consider potential tradeoffs amongst emissions, and to inform comprehensive policy analyses for aviation management that are being pursued under other PARTNER research projects.
Improved understanding of aviation impact on air quality at multiple spatial and temporal scales.
Center for Environmental Modeling for Policy Development, Institute for the Environment, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill.
Sarav Arunachalam, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, sarav@email.unc.edu
Adel Hanna, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, ahanna@email.unc.edu
Christopher Sequeira, christopher.sequeira@faa.gov
1. Baek, B.H., S. Arunachalam, A. Holland, Z. Adelman, A. Hanna, T. Thrasher, and P. Soucacos (2007) Development of an Interface for the Emissions Dispersion and Modeling System (EDMS) with the SMOKE Modeling System. In Proceedings of the 16th Annual Emissions Inventory Conference - “Emissions Inventories: Integration, Analyses and Communication," Raleigh, NC, May 2007.
2. Arunachalam, S., B.H. Baek, A. Holland, Z. Adelman, F.S. Binkowski, A. Hanna, T. Thrasher and P. Soucacos (2008). An Improved Method to Represent Aviation Emissions in Air Quality Modeling Systems and their Impacts on Air Quality, In Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Aviation, Range and Aerospace Meteorology, New Orleans, LA, Jan 2008 http://ams.confex.com/ams/pdfpapers/135626.pdf (pdf 336K)
3. Arunachalam, S. (2008). Multiscale Simulations and Analyses of Impacts of Aviation Emissions on Ambient Air Quality, Presented at the OMEGA International Conference on Airport Air Quality, Royal Aeronautical Society, London, October 2008 http://omega.mmu.ac.uk/Air-Quality-Conference/Sarav%20Arunachalam.pdf (pdf 1.4MB)
4. Arunachalam, S., B.H. Baek, F.S. Binkowski, B. Wang, Neil Davis, A. Hanna, and W. F. Hutzell (2008) “A Modeling Study to Assess Air Quality Impacts of Air Toxics from Aircraft and other Sources at an Urban Airport – Case Study for Providence – T.F. Green," presented at the CRC Mobile Source Air Toxics Workshop, Dec 2008
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