Atmospheric chemical transformations, which define the impact associated emissions of primary pollutants, have a strong seasonal dependence. In the warmer and more photochemically active summer months, strong oxidant formation leads to the rapid production of multiple secondary pollutants, such as ozone and organic aerosol. In winter, short-lived primary pollutants (NOx, VOC, SO2) oxidize more slowly, often driven by multiphase processes, and consequently affect wider geographic areas downwind of source regions. Not only are the processes uncertain, but there is little data from field intensives to constrain models.
The WINTER study was an NSF funded project that supports collaborative research between the Thornton group at University of Washington and NOAA that to provide aircraft-based measurements to address fundamental questions about wintertime chemical transformation. The NSF C-130 was based in Langley, Virginia and executed 13 research flights spanning the region from New England to Atlanta, and the Ohio River Valley to the Atlantic Ocean.
Selected Papers
Shah, V., L. Jaeglé, J.A. Thornton, F.D. Lopez-Hilfiker, B.H. Lee, J.C. Schroder, P. Campuzano-Jost, J.L. Jimenez, H. Guo, A.P. Sullivan, R.J. Weber, J.R. Green, M.N. Fiddler, S. Bililign, T.L. Campos, M. Stell, A.J. Weinheimer, D.D. Montzka, and S.S. Brown, Chemical feedbacks weaken the wintertime response of particulate sulfate and nitrate to emissions reductions over the eastern United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2018. 115(32): p. 8110. http://www.pnas.org/content/115/32/8110.abstract
McDuffie, E.E., D.L. Fibiger, W.P. Dubé, F. Lopez Hilfiker, B.H. Lee, L. Jaeglé, H. Guo, R.J. Weber, J.M. Reeves, A.J. Weinheimer, J.C. Schroder, P. Campuzano-Jost, J.L. Jimenez, J.E. Dibb, P. Veres, C. Ebben, T.L. Sparks, P.J. Wooldridge, R.C. Cohen, T. Campos, S.R. Hall, K. Ullmann, J.M. Roberts, J.A. Thornton, and S.S. Brown, ClNO2 Yields From Aircraft Measurements During the 2015 WINTER Campaign and Critical Evaluation of the Current Parameterization. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 2018. 123(22): p. 12,994-13,015. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD029358
McDuffie, E., E., L. Fibiger Dorothy, P. Dubé William, F. Lopez‐Hilfiker, H. Lee Ben, A. Thornton Joel, V. Shah, L. Jaeglé, H. Guo, J. Weber Rodney, J. Michael Reeves, J. Weinheimer Andrew, C. Schroder Jason, P. Campuzano‐Jost, L. Jimenez Jose, E. Dibb Jack, P. Veres, C. Ebben, L. Sparks Tamara, J. Wooldridge Paul, C. Cohen Ronald, S. Hornbrook Rebecca, C. Apel Eric, T. Campos, R. Hall Samuel, K. Ullmann, and S. Brown Steven, Heterogeneous N2O5 Uptake During Winter: Aircraft Measurements During the 2015 WINTER Campaign and Critical Evaluation of Current Parameterizations. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 2018. 123(8): p. 4345-4372. https://doi.org/10.1002/2018JD028336
Fibiger, D.L., E.E. McDuffie, W.P. Dubé, K.C. Aikin, F.D. Lopez-Hilfiker, B.H. Lee, J.R. Green, M.N. Fiddler, J.S. Holloway, C. Ebben, T.L. Sparks, P. Wooldridge, A.J. Weinheimer, D.D. Montzka, E.C. Apel, R.S. Hornbrook, A.J. Hills, N.J. Blake, J.P. DiGangi, G.M. Wolfe, S. Bililign, R.C. Cohen, J.A. Thornton, and S.S. Brown, Wintertime Overnight NOx Removal in a Southeastern United States Coal-fired Power Plant Plume: A Model for Understanding Winter NOx Processing and its Implications. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 2018. 123(2): p. 1412-1425. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2017JD027768